"Eleanor"

For those of you who know anything about cars you know what I’m talking about. Heck, even if you’ve seen gone in sixty seconds you’ve heard of the infamous “Eleanor”. And for you non car lovers the name of the car is not really that at all but it’s a beautiful 1967 Mustang GT500. Anyone in their right mind, well unless you’re strictly a Chevy guy, would take this car. It’s a fast piece of art that led the mustangs to the promise land.

It all started back in 66 when mustang created the 289 powered 350GT. Well even though a 350 is a pretty damn fast car, a lot of muscle cars had them or a 305 or a 385. But ford just decided to take a huge leap in 67’ and bring out the 428 big block AKA the GT500. Only 2050 were actually built in 1967 so this is a very rare car and if you think about how fast these cars are its pretty much impossible to get an original. If you’re looking to get your hands on an original and you find one be prepared to spend $100,000+.

This is another one of the cars I’d like to have in my collection, I think I need to hit the lottery. But seriously cant a guy dream….more like drool, but still! These cars are just little pieces of a dream world for me but hey maybe someday I’ll get at least one of my dream cars. My next blog is going to be over the new 2008 500GT, so if you liked this one, just you wait.

Fuel Injection

On newer cars fuel injection has taken over the role of the carburetor. This is primarily due to the fact that the fuel injected engine is much more efficient and reliable than that of the carbureted engine. Fuel injection is much more reliable when it is cold outside and doesn’t have the problems like “flooding” that carburetion does. This is when fuel drips into the engine and “floods” the engine so it cannot be burned.

Fuel injection is a process that is controlled by the vehicles computer system. When you step on the gas the throttle body opens up its valve to allow more air into the engine. The ECU (Engine Control Unit, the computer that controls everything on the engine) senses that more air is being allowed into the engine so it pushes more fuel into the system. There are many different sensors that monitor this and make sure that the ratio of air and fuel being mixed is correct.

The fuel is “injected” into the engine by a number of injectors. These injectors are pulsating valves that are electrically controlled. When a current is run through them the valves magnetically open to allow the fuel to squirt into the engine. The longer the valve stays open the more fuel consumption there will be. The injector’s other job is to make sure that the fuel being put into the engine must be atomized, or made into as fine of a mist as possible. This makes for a cleaner burn and more efficient.

The fuel is brought to the engine by the fuel pump which was stated in a previous blog. The fuel is pressurized in a fuel rail that connects all of the injectors and supplies it with the fuel needed to burn.

The injectors have taken over the carburetion world just like computers have taken over most of the world’s industrial needs. These intricate computer systems along with fuel injection have allowed us to design and produce hybrids and very fuel-efficient vehicles. So the next time you get in your car and start it up, stop and think. There is a lot more going on under the hood than you might think!

Carburetion

One major part of a car that many people do not know about, because of the lack of use of this part on newer vehicles, is the carburetor. A carburetor was put on vehicles before fuel injection was invented to allow the fuel and air mixture to flow into the engine. Carburetion is still used on many smaller engines and racing vehicles because of its ease of repair and the ever important cost aspect.

The carburetor is a small piece of metal made up of an intricate system of holes and valves that allow fuel and air to mix. Some engines can have more than one and they come in several different forms, each providing a different mixture of fuel and air, thus giving you a difference in performance. The most commonly known are single, double, and 4-barrel carburetors.

These carburetors usually are adjustable by small needles that can be screwed in or out to adjust the ratio of fuel to air. If the mixture is running to “rich” it means there is too much fuel in the ratio, and if it is running too “lean” it means there is too much air and not enough fuel. Having a wrong mixture can cause effects on other parts of the engine also, such as the formation of black or white build up on spark plugs.

Even though the carburetor is starting to go out of style because of its inefficiency and unreliability it will still be used because it is a cheaper alternative to fuel injection. Carburetion has been proven to be a huge stepping stone in internal combustion engines. It has been powering things since before the automobile was first put on the assembly line by Ford. Its successor though is making up for all the things lacked, make sure to read my next blog on fuel injection.