Nothing wrong with the 302. It is FORD, therefore it's excellent (sorry Chevy guys). I have a 302 in my 56. Still have the original steering box and I beam suspension. Plan on keeping, but am really looking at ways of the dropping the truck a few inches.

 

hey dueller, im in saskatoon and looking for a 429 for my 56' , How much is your brother asking and what shape is it in? (I would have private messaged this but I havnt made enough posts yet).

 

John

Accordingy to my neighbor who just passed on, his new 53 F100 with flatty got around 10mpg. He said his 53 was geared ridiculously low and was a fine work truck. But he specifically complained the fuel mpg was tough to take. I suppose you could play with the gears and improve the flatty mpg for cruising.

You'll be happy to know the 351W has made some advancements. My Bronco gets 13 mpg. Empty, loaded, pulling the boat, doesn't matter much. The carbed 302 is the tricky one with it's torque curve in stock form (or lack there of). Get the gears wrong and it will bog and slurp fuel like a 460.

Most all of them have good mpg potential with the correct setup.

 

I hope to get 15 mpg in town and 20 on the highway with my overdrive tranny. I should get better fuel mileage with the 2 barrel than a 4 barrel right? I'm gonna probally get some shorty headers off an '85 and up mustang. They may not be the best but they should flow more than the cast iron manifolds that are on it.

 

Gas in Californicated is rediculous. $2.13 down from $2.29!! So I'm very happy with my 289 getting 17mpg on the highway. Small blocks are great! My buddy is building a 55 with a blown 460. He can't even mount his V-8 emblem over the grill because his auxillary engine-oil cooler is in the way. Remember: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Signed: Giant Killing 289. (John)

 

Nathan
If you have a good Flathead block with no "Bad" cracks, and a crank that doesn't need turned. Why not rebuild that. I'm sure that bearings, rings, gaskets and possibly a new or rebuilt oil pump will be alot cheaper than what you'll spend on swapping out the Three-0-Two. Motor mounts, tranny mounts, shifter, carb, wiring, exhaust, and what ever else is required.
A friend of mine just ran his 34 roadster from Denver to San Jose, to LA. He has a Flathead bored out to 286, big cam and dual carbs. got about 23mpg.

Thats better than John gets sittin in his driveway, ask him what he gets when he has it on the trailer

 

"I hope to get 15 mpg in town and 20 on the highway with my overdrive tranny. I should get better fuel mileage with the 2 barrel than a 4 barrel right?"

Nathan,

All joking aside, you may or may not ever see 20 mpg with a carbed 302. The OD will help. What kind of 2 barrel? A Motorcraft 2300 series is unlikely to knock down 20mpg. A well tuned 4 BBL with small primaries and the secondaries adjusted tight may do better mpg. That's been my experience anyway.

I'll tell you what else has been my experience. Engine swaps find a way to get expensive............ everytime. I never do them to save money anymore. The doodads and wingding clips add up very fast.

 

And if you're really interested in good mpg, don't get good sounding mufflers. Mine sounds best when I'm revin high. John

 

I priced it out to get the flathead running would cost over $1000 and another $500 to fix the tranny. I need get the block tanked, new rings, camshaft, gaskets and valves, motor mounts, need entire exhaust from manifolds, generator rebuilt, starter rebuilt and new electrical components. The tranny needs new gaskets, bearings and several gears. The flatty should also have the pistons replaced as well. The later engine cost looks more promising since I got everything with the engine. Fenders the carb is a Motocraft 2150 351 cfm. When I get my 9" in the other truck with either a 3.50 or 3.00 ratio I could cruise.

 

I can't add much regards gas mileage with a flathead but I can tell you that I worry more about miles to the quart...of oil. I'm workin' on it! Sad but true!

Leaks

 

Nathan


I am probably spouting off bad numbers. Is it the standard Ford 2 BBL used on about every SBF in the 70s? Thats a pretty good carb, but they eat power valves on the slightest pop through the carb. Check that anytime the mpg goes south.

3.00 is way too high for a 302 with OD. You would like the 3.50s with a 5 speed OD. Still knock down real decent mpg. If you lug a motor down too far you don't get better mileage for your trouble.

 

That's the carb but the one I have is from the early '80s. They used two different power valves. One have a vacumn attachment and the other didn't. I have the one that doesn't.

 

for all of you flathead fans who would rather pay a much less price (approximately $1000) for a new flathead, the flatheads are still being built and used in garbage trucks in england.

 

Driving from Minnesota to Seattle my F6 averaged 10 mpg street or highway. Of course it had a bad valve in cyl #6 which probably wasn't even firing, and I could only drive at night to avoid overheating in the August Sun.

Properly rebuilt and tuned I'd expect closer to 13-14 mpg highway. You'd think a F2 or F3 would do a little better compared to my heavier F6 chassis.

 

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Got any info on this? Articles, etc.? Who is making them? That is wild...