Alright... Should get my 1960 F-100 back from repair and paint this week and I am ready for the spring driving. (Tore door off from e-brake failure, $5000 in damage, insured, cheap way to repair gas peel under tank nozzle anyway for $500 deductible. NOT TOTALED)

Anyway... getting it back and it is bonus season which means I have some extra green to spend. I like my truck being original which means I still got the 3 on the tree and the 223 L6 engine in it though I am open for suggestions.

I have a new alternator, radiator, starter, hi output coil, recent tune up. Not done timing yet but I may do it to say I did. Truck runs great.

I daily drive my truck to and from coffee and run to the grocery store, hardware store and such. I get 14 miles to the gallon. Gas in California (at least down the street is $4.27 a gallon) I have say $1000-1500 to spend. What can I do to improve mileage. Still have single barrel carb, original manifolds, air cleaner, etc. Ford 9 inch rear with 3.70.

I would go to 4 speed if it made sense, like if I was going to get 20+ mpg at 60 mph where most of my driving is. I'd go 5 if I found a T-5 cheap. Ultimately, I do not want to have to mod too much. Basically if I found the parts for 700-800 and had a shop do it for another $700, I would probably do that for a 4-5 speed tranny that made sense.

MSD Ignition? I did this in my old Porsche and I get 28 mpg on a 40 year old engine. (rebuilt though with bigger pistons, lighter fly wheel and matched intakes) Then I have to maybe change distributor??

Lastly, anyone ever done the Clifford Performance thing with the intake, header, dual muffler, Weber Carb thing? Or a dual/triple carb intake to improve (performance) mileage? I don't want to do anything to stress out the cam too much as I don't know if it has been replaced. The valves look very clean and new and I assume the pistons were done. Truck was mostly restored when I got it and it runs great.

I have the original headers going to a single muffler with dual pipes out the back already.

Basically, if I got 4-5 mpg at highway speed for $1000-1500, with the same power, I'd be happy.

Thoughts?

 

I think I would check out the overdrive units from the 60's....it was a bolt on tailstaock unit, cable actuated and it gave IIRR a 20% od.

 

Those are near impossible to find. I saw one on Craigslist for $200 and didn't react.

 

There is a Inline 6 section of FTE, plus a couple good non-FTE forums,I'd say you should check them out for advice.If you find out they are available, perhaps headers?Not sure if changing out the gears in the differential would cause you to loose to much bottom end with your three-speed or not,but that's a possibility for improving MPG.Have you checked to see what your freeway mileage is?

 

Several things.
Correct timing (or slightly advanced, if you can without getting knock) will help mileage a little. The MSD might help a little also.

Biggest help might be an overdrive. The 3 speed overdrive transmission that was an option would be the way to go if you want to stay original, not all that easy to find, but they are out there.

With your drivetrain, engine mods might not give you much bang for the buck. The mods that might improve fuel mileage would be mostly on the intake side - a less restrictive intake and possibly a progressive 2 barrel carb like the Holley-Webber used on the 2.3 four in the Pintos.

 

Correct timing advance,
Pertronix Electronic Ignition upgrade for Distributor & matching Coil,
Offehauser or Fenton Intake (4v or 2v or deuce 1v or trip 1v set progressively),
Set of Headers,
O/D Tranny (original or modern w/ an adapter).
Had nothing but problems w/ MSD box, so avoid like the plague.

 

Col., do you still have that 223? Could you post your build specs for that,like you did for your 300 in your gallery?Didn't you mention something about a predetermined set of specs, such as "Stage 1,Stage 2, etc.?Where were they from?

Steve

 

T-5 swap might be best bang for the buck. Definitely fine tune the engine. Around town 14-15 sounds good. I have got 22 on the freeway at 55-60 with same set up. The T-5 should allow you to get that at 65. The aero dynamics of the truck hold you back too.

 

I do not know if they make one for the 223, but I have had good results with an Offenhauser Dual Port 360 manifold on a 351M. When driven conservatively mileage improved about 2 mpg. This was with an AFB carb.

 

I have a 223 in my 55 F-100.
I have shaved the head .080" and have a mild RV cam (cant remember the Spec's).
Also have a 57 rear end but I run fairly tall 16" tires also have 10-40 motor oil in the truck four speed (for the last 20 years!)
anyway I have gotten 25 plus mpg. Next I will be installing a Clifford manifold with a webber 38 and headers soon.

 

You are asking a lot to gain 30%. Leave the engine alone, none of the aftermarket intakes will help mileage and with different exhaust you loose the carb heat and that costs you mileage, not gain.
Small things you can do
A hotter ignition and make sure the dist. is curved correctly. A well tuned carb that has the choke opening fully. No brakes dragging. Driving habits, ease away from a stop and coast to the next one. Install a vacuum gauge and strive to drive with it at the highest number possible.
Overdrive will help some but mostly on engine wear because it lowers rpms at cruise, it still takes the same amount of horsepower to maintain a certain rpm.
Case in point; I used to drive a 57 F-350 dually. It had a 312 and a 5.13 rear end. It would get 13.5 on the highway running 60-65, which was probably close to 4000 rpms. I switched to a 4.10 rear end and still got 14, never better.