A.M.E.C. Economy Run II - Fonda, New York 10/5/08

[sno779]

Blownb310

Besides being a hypermiler, I'm also a collector of vintage Micro and Mini cars and the memorabila that goes along with them. I have a few "Small Cars" and "Small Car Parade" magazines from the 50s and 60s that mention a NY event that sounds very much like the event you are bringing back to life. The club name is different, but the first year of the event, place, distance, speeds, ton miles, weighing and other rules sound very simular. The club mentioned in the old magazine is the Republic Aviation Co. Employees Motor Sports club. (This is the company that built my 1947 Republic Seabee RC-3 amphibian airplane) Is your club an outgrowth of this Republic club? Some of the numbers from the old days were very impressive and they didn't have hybrids, SGII, GPS or other modern tools. The winner of the 1958 event got 70.34 actual MPG and 91.43 ton MPG in a Volvo and the 1959 winner got 97.4 actual and 122.5 ton MPG driving a Triumph TR3. There was an NYPD detective, George Spagna, that was active in the early events that scored a 75.6, 99.85, 129.5, 60.96, 66.95 in VWs and Porsche's. I wonder if he's still around? Due to bad weather they only had a little less then 70 cars in the 58 and 59 events but were prepaired for 150. Sounds like a fun event and I wish I could join you , but it's a long way from Phoenix. Have fun, save gas.....Louis

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by pdk

I'm certainly interested, but I don't know if I could make it yet. I'll stay tuned and try to give a definite answer one way or the other by week's end.

Excellent, thanks Peter.

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by sno779

Blownb310

Besides being a hypermiler, I'm also a collector of vintage Micro and Mini cars and the memorabila that goes along with them. I have a few "Small Cars" and "Small Car Parade" magazines from the 50s and 60s that mention a NY event that sounds very much like the event you are bringing back to life. The club name is different, but the first year of the event, place, distance, speeds, ton miles, weighing and other rules sound very simular. The club mentioned in the old magazine is the Republic Aviation Co. Employees Motor Sports club. (This is the company that built my 1947 Republic Seabee RC-3 amphibian airplane) Is your club an outgrowth of this Republic club? Some of the numbers from the old days were very impressive and they didn't have hybrids, SGII, GPS or other modern tools. The winner of the 1958 event got 70.34 actual MPG and 91.43 ton MPG in a Volvo and the 1959 winner got 97.4 actual and 122.5 ton MPG driving a Triumph TR3. There was an NYPD detective, George Spagna, that was active in the early events that scored a 75.6, 99.85, 129.5, 60.96, 66.95 in VWs and Porsche's. I wonder if he's still around? Due to bad weather they only had a little less then 70 cars in the 58 and 59 events but were prepaired for 150. Sounds like a fun event and I wish I could join you , but it's a long way from Phoenix. Have fun, save gas.....Louis

Louis, that is great story and thanks for sharing it. Those were some terrific numbers!

I will run the name of the club you mentioned by our elder members and see if they have heard of it, but I'm sure that we were not an outgrowth of that club. Our club was started by four GE Engineers from Schenectady, NY in 1954.

Mike

[blownb310]

Registered driver's list as of 9-26-08

1. Dave Burnham - 1991 Diesel Jetta - Delanson, NY
2. Dick Vedder - 2000 Ford ZX2 S/R - Johnstown, NY
3. Mark Long - 1997 Dodge Avenger - Staatsburg, NY
4. Mike Kamm - 1977 Datsun B210 - Averill Park, NY
5. Claude Hutchings - 1999 Saab 9-3 - Saquiot, NY
6. Ernie Yue - 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250cc - Mechanicville, NY
7. Ronny Kienhuis - 1972 Citroen SM or 1992 Subaru SVX - Long Island, NY
8. Al Walker - 2004 Toyota Prius - Boston, MA
9. Brian Wilsey - 2003 Mazda Protege - Amsterdam, NY
10. Tom Moeller - 1994 Mazda Miata - Saratoga NY
11. Carl Germain - 1950 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe - Syracuse, NY
12. Bill Clark - 1960 Metropolitan - Endicott, NY
13. Jonathan Bartlett - 2005 Passat TDI wagon [Biodiesel] - Sterling, MA
14. Pam Subik - 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Mayfield, NY
15. Tom Compoli - 1981 VW Rabbit - Schenectady, NY
16. Chris Werner - 1993 Ford Festiva - Troy, NY
17. Eric Hoefer - 2008 Honda Fit - Guilderland, NY
18. Paul Marczak - 1997 Honda Civic DX sedan - Glenville, NY
19. Bob Addis - 1998 VW Beetle TDI - Cohoes, NY
20.

[bestmapman]

Hi Blownb310,

I will not be able to make it for this year. I have another event that is coming up.

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by bestmapman

Hi Blownb310,

I will not be able to make it for this year. I have another event that is coming up.

Thanks for letting me know Jud, so I can open up another spot on the list. Perhaps you can make another one in the future.

Cheers,

Mike

[blownb310]

I wish I had the time to do some aero mods to my Datsun B210 before Sunday, but an engine swap is more than enough at the moment.

For those on this forum who haven't been following a similar thread to this on our A.M.E.C. forum, here's what I'm doing to my '77 Datsun B210 for this event.

Previously the car was modified for speed and power. I used it for hillclimbs and such. I built and modified the 1397cc engine to 1608cc's complete with twin 40mm Dellortos...


It ran terrific but only got 25 mpg. OK so I needed a stock engine for economy run events.


So I removed this original 1397cc engine from my '76 B210 parts car. It sat outside in a field for the last 15 years. It needed some TLC.


I tore it down and freshened it up. This was yesterday.


Today it looks like this and I am installing it. I used an '80 Datsun 210 "mpg" cylinder head with it's smaller round intake ports and small combustion chambers. This head, on the B210 block [with it's flat top pistons] yields about 10.5 to 1 compression ratio. High compression is key for improving gas mileage. I'm waiting on an intake gasket from PA, so a road test will have to wait until Wednesday. I will be fine tuning it with an Innovate LM1 wide band oxygen sensor setup. I hope I get it dialed in by Sunday!

[JusBringIt]

Oh man I missed this boat ...well actually, I'll see if I can trade schedules and compete in the event. I'm in Albany NY, I have a 1999 dodge avenger (auto V6) (and if the route is as good as you say, I should be able to do quite decent, I will let it be known tomorrow if I can participate or not.

[blownb310]

Originally Posted by JusBringIt

Oh man I missed this boat ...well actually, I'll see if I can trade schedules and compete in the event. I'm in Albany NY, I have a 1999 dodge avenger (auto V6) (and if the route is as good as you say, I should be able to do quite decent, I will let it be known tomorrow if I can participate or not.

Thanks Ricardo,

Yes please let me know and I hope you can join us.

Mike

[hobbit]

So what *did* happen to all the other Prius drivers?? [To bring
other readers up to speed, we were also noodling the right way
to do repeatable tank fills, often squirrely because of the
bladder and other fuel-system features...] Guess I've just got
to represent all the HSD jockeys by my lonesome!
.
I'm planning on taking the Saturday to wander around the area
even though I already did a bit of that last weekend on the way
back from the PA energy fest. Then I'll be right in the area
in the morning. I wonder if the scales will be able to detect
how much coffee I'll have on board...
.
I assume these are solo-driver runs, i.e. with a nice clear map
and not laced with the little puzzles that traditional rallies
often throw in?
.
_H*