Today, I’m turning the clock all the way back to July 1979, about 6 years before current PHR tech editor, Liz Miles, was born. In a story titled, “Dyno Tuning For Mileage,” PHR staffer, Doug Marion, takes the family truckster, a 1974 Chevelle Malibu, to Edelbrock’s then new state-of-the-art emissions dyno testing facility.
It’s fun to see the ’74 Chevelle being put through its paces in the article, and reading about all the ins and outs of emissions testing. Doug did a great job showing how the folks at Edelbrock attacked the engineering challenges of meeting the new smog laws, which incidentally are even stricter today.
I particularly enjoyed the fact that PHR was into these GM Colonnade-style coupes back then. Doug points out that 1974 was the last year for the big-block 454 in California. A close look at the photos shows that the license plate on the Chevelle says “LAST 454.” The dyno testing that was done that day was not for power tuning, but for mileage and emissions. The changes included ignition timing, carb jetting, air cleaner, and a tune-up (new plugs, points, and condenser). Fuel economy went from 9.5 mpg to 14.5 mpg, with no increase in emissions.
Through 1979 and 1980, a few more stories were done on the ’74 Chevelle, including an RV cam swap, and an Edelbrock intake. We wonder if this car is still around. If you live in California, and you’ve got a ’74 Chevelle with a plate that says “LAST 454,” drop us a note.