While waiting to be able to go to VA to pick up the one I wanted, I saw another bird when I was in Nashville and the valve seals on the truck were getting so bad, I went ahead and traded for it, I had to pay more for it than the one I wanted was, but at least it's very low mileage and has a perfect body without one spot of rust. But as slow and poor handling as a 3.8 is, it's just making me want to get a 351 in it right away instead of waiting till I can afford it. At least it's a bird, unfortunately, the body is the only thing that can stay original when I build it. The other shame is that it would make somebody that doesn't care about performance a great car cause it does still run and drive like new. Maybe I'll be able to find a better starting point so I can keep this one like it is for a winter car. BTW, of the 14 t-birds I've had, this is the first 3.8, what should I expect for gas mileage if I use it for a winter and trip car?
About the same (or slightly worse) than a stock 5.0 car. The 3.8 has virtually no fuel economy advantage over the 5.0 because it has to work harder to get (and keep) the car moving.
Yeah I know a 3.8 won't get as good of mileage as a 5.0, I was just wondering how much worse as it is going to have to stay in there for a while due to money being so tight right now. That and I'm going to focus on the chassis before I swap in a 351. Anybody want to trade a 200,000 mile small block and tranny for a 62,000 mile 3.8 and tranny lol
Not a lot of difference - maybe 1-2 MPG at the most