S2E15: We put a lawnmower carburetor on our Saturn and then take it on the street.

Season 2 Episode 15 . The crew at Robot Cantina's workshop modify a 1997 Saturn SC1 by putting a lawnmower carburetor on the engine and then they take the car out for a series of road tests. During the episode they encounter many challenges but they somehow managed to complete the testing. Will the Saturn get better gas mileage?... tune in and find out.

Check out ThunderHead289 302 Ford V8 with a lawnmower carburetor

The walls in our new studio are bare, if you want to send swag please send it to:
Robot Cantina
207 S. Sedgwick Ave
P.O. Box 28
Haven KS, 67543

[guerrillaradio]

I have a feeling Thunderhead's air valve and Arduino combination is a crucial part of the mix.

[kenjohnson]

I'd like to see a dedicated fresh air inlet hose from the front of the grill direct to the carburetor and, separately, a oversized hose from the grill to the carb that would surround the carb and would isolate it from the hot engine compartment air. I am very happy to see others pick up on what ThunderHead289 has started!!!

[donnamarie]

That car was doing 42 mpg before? Hell that's amazing. Don't touch it!!

[jasongoldsack]

To combat the vapor lock you can put coils of fuel line in a coffee can and fill it with ice. You can seal the top of the can.
That will cool the fuel going into the carb.
We used to do this all the time for consistency when drag racing.
It was called a cooling can..and they make them.. but we made our own back in the day.

[redneckcomputergeek]

Racing Lawn mowers the vapor lock does not surprise me on that carb. As I told Thunder a Kohler 27hp Pumper carb would be a way better Lawn tractor carburetor choice. Feel free to use the Email address posted on my channel's about section if you would like some carb talk. Making lawn tractors that do 0 to 40mph+ in 100ft is my thing :)

[guyapeterson]

Have you ever considered using a steam engine in your experiments? The fuel flexibility would be endless.

[tk]

I'd love to see a propane conversion in the future.

[EricErnst]

Although the carb is smaller, it limits the airflow. The stock throttle body is actually decently efficient. The carburetor gives you more finite control of the lower airflow settings, but anything above wide open throttle, it's a huge restriction in airflow. The same power could be made at a much lower throttle position with the stock throttle body.
I'm impressed that you got close to the fuel economy of efi; the constant trimming of the air:fuel ratio is hard to beat with an old school carb.
One note, is the fuel tank still pretty full on the Saturn? If so, that may be where some of your performance loss has occurred. If you add 70-100lbs of fuel from a full tank vs your 0-60 test on fumes with the efi, it's a difference in the test weight. Economy and performance will look slightly worse than the baseline test.
I couldn't help but bust out laughing while seeing your wipers scrub away at the windshield as you drove on. I found it very funny. My 2 year old and 4 year old were wondering what I found so funny. They did like the blue tractor that you passed so I had to rewind that part a few times.
Thanks for the entertainment and information in this video. Keep up the good work and have a Happy Independence Day!

[rkg]

Thanks for doing these videos. I appreciate your unique automotive/electrical skill set.

[DasKmbH]

That's something I wanted to try since the age of 19, thanks for this experiment. :) Also thanks for converting (or using) metric and litres/100km, this makes it *so* much more relaxed to watch your videos for most Europeans... ;)

[bookie]

I think for giggles a Mikuni vm34 is a solid motorcycle carb that might yield better performance and be a little less likely to vapor lock.

[jackmitchell]

Really enjoying your videos. Just found the channel and these experiments are very entertaining. Thanks and keep it up. Looking forward to the next segment on the diesel portion of the series.

[shark]

This reminds me of when I was stationed in Guam, a civilian, that I worked with, had a small pickup truck, that he put motorcycle carbs on, and he had the windshield washer spray water into the intake. He claimed it ran fast, and the water injection was like a turbo. But I never saw it. He only talked about.

[MattTheBeegBrain]

You cannot comprehend how excited I am to see a kubota diesel saturn!

[patrickbodine]

You might not have gotten there fast, but you still got there.
"Hill Billy Hood Scoop" had me rolling!😁

[BurchellAtTheWharf]

Maybe if you extended the carburetor away from the intake manifold to get it away from the heat it might help your vapor lock issue and could also give you some ram Air effect for slightly better performance

[Dis-Emboweled]

As soon as you took of and said it was 96 degrees... I thought vaper lock .. then 2 seconds later, you said it! 🤣

There's not too many of us left who have experienced that. Just ask my 81 bronco back in the summer of 91!! 🤣🤣🤣

[yetti_]

woooo!! missed you last sunday :( but I understand these awesome videos take time!! i’m busy right now, but i got the notification and saved it!! can’t wait to watch at lunch

[caseyjones]

Amazing work! Thanks for the data! I imagine a Kabuda diesel will use less fuel, than a run of the mill Kubota diesel 😁

[daveunderwood]

I'm doing the same thing with a '53 M38a1 Jeep with the original 134 hurricane engine. After watching this video, I'm beginning to believe that it really only works, mpg wise, with a 300 or bigger motor. With a larger motor, it causes more of a vacuum in the intake, pulling apart and atomizing the fuel better. Like Thunderhead 289 says, timing is very important to. It takes a guru like him to dial everything in and sync it all together. Great video. Good to see others trying other versions of this experiment.