Re: Electric engines give classic cars a recharge

Posted by Richter12x2 On 2020/11/13 12:56:08
I'll play the devil's advocate side then.

My wife has a 1967 Triumph GT6. Thoroughly rebuilt, carbs rebuilt, engine rebuilt, heads converted to run on unleaded gas. It's had two electric fuel pumps and two rebuilt mechanical fuel pumps. It's spent three months with a specialist that has multiple published articles restoring British cars.

On any given day, it might start, and if it does, it might drive okay, and if it does, it might die when it comes to a stop, or when you turn the key off, and it might or might not start up until the engine has cooled for a few hours.

It's a beautiful car, and always gets comments. By anyone who's lucky enough to see it. She doesn't want to drive it because she'll get stranded about 80% of the time, if she drives farther than the end of the street. If she DOES stay on the street, she'll STILL get stranded about 25% of the time. When she DOES want to drive it, I sometimes ask her NOT to, because I'm busy with something and don't have time to go rescue the car and limp it home if it DOES break down.

For the last 5 years though, the main car for us was a Chevy Volt and then a Tesla Model S. The speed is incredible, the fuel savings is wonderful, you get in and it goes, effortlessly. The Triumph, a tiny car with a 2.0L engine gets about 12 mpg. The Tesla, which weighs about 4x as much, gets the equivalent of 100mpg (assuming fuel is $2.00 a gallon. As fuel prices go up, the equivalent mpg goes up as well.) And you know, it always works. There are 3 moving parts in the drivetrain. I've never had to wait to fill it up in the heat or cold, it's always full when I get in it to go somewhere.

Imagine that you had all the style of a classic car, and it effortlessly just went wherever you wanted to go. Just unplug, hop in and turn the key?

That's one reason I'm converting a 1955 GMC Pickup to electric right now. From all appearances, it'll be a normal pickup. Just with some equipment behind the seat where the fueltank would be, and a 130hp AC motor under the hood instead of the 110 hp cast iron 6 cylinder. The whole conversion so far is cheaper than converting to a Chevy v8 crate motor.

I love old cars, but finding parts that ACTUALLY WORK is harder and harder, finding people who know how to fix them is harder and harder, and when I have the rare time to go enjoy them, I want to enjoy them, not wonder why it's not starting THIS time, or having to pump all the gas out because it's been a year since I moved it last time.

After living with a Tesla for years, I'll never go back to gas for a regular car. I enjoy the mechanical engineering of the old cars, and it's not like I'll just junk the old motors. Restore it to perfect running order, maybe even set it up to run on a test stand to show it off. But imagine if you could just jump into a car that's a century old, and drive it effortlessly to the grocery store.

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