Prob. not the place to ask this....

[xsonmyeyes]

But since I am a member here and all.... I have a delimma.... I took the mpg reading off my GW, :eek: 8mpg avg!! I am getting ready to do a compression test and will post the results here but I am pondering what to do. My GW has had quite a lot of work and $$ put into it as you can see in my sig BUT...I have a chance to buy a 1952 CJ-3A with the "orig" flathead Ford 4 cyl, converted to 12 volt. Not too bad shape esp. for the year....needs this and that ect... I guess I'm looking for a decent daily driver back & forth to work (less than 10 mil per day) and at 20+ mpg and still being in the Jeep family the cj isn't looking too bad...thing is the guy wants $3K for it. with a top speed of 45-50 I dunno how good this thing would be for a daily commuter. Anybody here have any experience with that old of a CJ?? :confused:

[cu4whln]

53 Cj ?

Dailey driver . . . :eek:

Hmmmm

I don't think those belong in the same sentance. Seriously, brakes, acceleration and handling. Not to mention what "might" happen if someone were to crash into you.

Cjs are super cool... but for wheeling or recreational use.

My opinoin:rolleyes:

[710 Burner]

Well being a member here only entitles you to the special kind of ridicule and harassment one would expect of a family member that we don't normally bestow upon nubes. ;)
Seriously, with an Edlebrock Performer cam and manifold, I would expect you to see numbers in the 16's. This just tells me something is amis here. Unless you are just driving around with your foot on the floor, and there is no vehicle purchase that is going to cure that. It has to come from within.

[Tonka J200]

I have a CJ-2A that I've owned since 1979. In all of those years it's done a couple stints as my "daily driver", and I can tell you from experience that it's not what you want for a commuter car.

First of all, the engine is not a Ford flathead, it's a Willys 134 c.i. and even when they are running perfectly, you'll probably not see 20 mpg. I usually got between 16-18. I think if you kept it down around 35 mph, you might get upwards of 20, but that would be pushing it.

I don't mean to tell you that it wouldn't work as a daily driver, but keep in mind that it's more tractor than car, and it'll take constant tinkering to keep it running and driving right. They're an absolute blast to drive when you WANT to drive them, but when you HAVE to drive them, they can be uncomfortable, noisy, wet (even with a good soft top, they leak like crazy in the rain) and you'll always have that "eau de Jeep" smell from the exhaust. The brakes are marginal at best, the steering is vague, they have vacuum wipers (or should I say "wiper"), usually don't have turn signals and are best suited to lazily tooling down a two-track and not for keeping up with traffic on today's roads.

I'm not trying to tell you not to do it, just relaying my own experience.

[Ristow]

if you want to drive the jeep daily....lose the body lift,put standard size tires on it,and check the tune of the motor. should ber able to do 13 overall with it.

the '52 would be a bad idea,and moneypit.

[joe]

if you want to drive the jeep daily....lose the body lift,put standard size tires on it,and check the tune of the motor. should ber able to do 13 overall with it.

the '52 would be a bad idea,and moneypit.
I agree with both thoughts. Th body lif is not good for mpg's and neither is a low geared CJ.Prolly has in the range of 5:38 gears if 50 is all she'll do. It'll be wound up all the time commuting so mpg's will suck.
Lose the dody lift which you don't need anyway to run 31 inch tires.

[xsonmyeyes]

OK.....OK, the Cj idea is out but...the compression test on the GW is as follows:

105-#8 #7-115
105-#6 #5-110
105-#4 #3-100
105-#2 #1- 70

#1 looks a little shady to say the least. Haynes says Min compression is 120-140 but I would say with the cam it would be a little low but does this seem right??? Between #7 and #1 there is a diff of 45 lbs! :eek:

[incommando]

25 years ago, I DD'd a 2a. It was fun at the time but it would kill me now.

By modern standards, they are somewhat dangerous in terms of steering & braking. You will never get on the highway without fear of getting run over merging off of the ramp and if you made it one you would be worrying about getting shot for holding up traffic that bad. They are cramped if you have any size to you & the seats & suspension were not designed with your comfort in mind.

$3K buys a lot of gas even if you could possibly double your mileage with the 3a. But fixing the GW would probably bring the mileage of the two closer together and keep most of the $3k in your pocket.

[Stuka]

Those are all very low. 120psi is about the lowest you want for a good running engine. Stock is around 150psi. That is most likely the main reason for your poor milage. Spray some oil into the cylinders and do it a agin. If it comes up, you have ring issues (ie: partial rebuild at the very least).

I was able to get a consistent 14.5mpg with my cherokee. Granted it had a manual trans. But even then, you should easily be able to get 13-14 with a 2v carb (I had a 4v).

[justin'sbig7]

cam shouldnt affect compression at all. sounds like you need a ring job or rebuild. try the oil trick previously posted.

i get about 12 mpg out of my stock 2a when i am running steady at 45 mph (not a very fun speed in it)

[bushwood44]

The comp. is way to low time for a rebuild.The short drive to work your not gonna get decent mpg.Mine gets 10 if i drive it to work,but its a short drive to.(18 miles round trip)

[bushwood44]

Oh yeah the 53 cj as a DD no way.Dad had a 54 WillysCJ? that we used to quail hunt out of,it was fun to play in to.Brakes sucked,steering kind of scary over about 30 or 35,no power unless you put it in low.Still i'd love to have one.;)

[DieselSJ]

cam shouldnt affect compression at all.

A cam absolutely can affect the cranking compression. A bigger cam will cause the cranking compression to drop.

There is definitely a problem with #1 though.

[johnwaynejeep2]

Technical Manual says 30psi is the max allowed difference in compression. 70psi is bad. The oil in the cylinder idea is a good way to determine ring status. the oil helps seal up the rings but has no effect on the valves. If you get a big compression spike then the rings are losing compression, if there is no noticeable change then your losing compression through the valves.

[xsonmyeyes]

cam shouldnt affect compression at all.

Yeah, I was going to say something about that but I didn't want to appear argumentative to someone who is trying to help.:)

The way I understand that works is by increasing the lift and duration of the valves it will lower compression and vaccum....right??

I agree that #1 is probably shot...will try the oil test tommorow. So what is the best option on a rebuild?? Get a old engine and rebuild it myself or just break down and order a new longblock?? Hell, I figure by the time I pay for all the machining and running back and forth to the machine shop, shipping on the pistons, new tools I'd have to buy, ect, ect... the longblock would pay for itself!! :banghead:

[Topher]

Generally I like to rebuild my own engines, but, with the warranties you can get from remanufacturers today makes it worth buying one. A good friend of mine works for Advance Auto and he called me the other week and told me that their engines now have a 3 year UNLIMITED mile warranty. I called and checked on a reman Ford 460 last week and it's $1,975 with a $1,000 core. You're looking at a minimum of $1200 for a decent rebuild including your labor.

[xsonmyeyes]

OK....I did the oil test down #1 and it rose to 92#'s, so the rings are going downhill pretty quick in that one. Question is how long do I have before something catostropic goes?? Think it'll make it till springtime so I can save up for a reman. long-block?? And who has the best deal on longs out there??

[Topher]

Advance Auto has a reman engine by Spartan, which is hot run tested, part# DA01 for $1675.00. It has a $300 core charge, and comes with an oil pump kit. You'll have to by the valley pan gasket, but I'm not sure about the other gaskets ie: front cover, valve cover, oil pan. It's worth looking into for that price, especially with a warranty.

[shimniok]

You want to look at carb tuning regarding the mpg. When I had an Edelbrock carb, intake, and comp cams 260H and with the lift & tires I was getting 9-10. Could never get the carb tuned right on that setup. I switched to a Qjet and gained 1-2 mpg.

With the 2150 I tuned for emissions and an original motor with ~ 110k I am getting around 12-13 pretty consistently with better mileage on the hwy -- so, reasonable mileage even with lift & tires is possible. The key was when I tuned the carb quite a bit leaner.

EDIT: I was also getting 11-12mpg or so with the original motor when it was running low compression on a couple cylinders.

Michael

[Topher]

The only way to tune a carb is with a vacuum guage and tach. It takes 45 minutes or so to get one dialed in correctly.:thumbsup:

[shimniok]

The only way to tune a carb is with a vacuum guage and tach. It takes 45 minutes or so to get one dialed in correctly.:thumbsup:

That works great for idle mix.

For calibrating the power, cruise and secondary circuits, I just drive it and see how it behaves. Edelbrock gives great tips in a pdf on their site on how to calibrate the 14xx carbs.

Michael