Enhancing mpg on a 460
 

I just recently bought a 1983 4x4 with a 460 engine. I heard I could increase mpg with headers and a new exhaust system. Is this true? And if so how much mpg could I get for a reasonable price. Also if there are any other tips or affordable ways I can besides laying off the pedal that would be great. Thanks!

Yes the headers will defiantly help, I don't know how much it will increase your mpg. I think your driving style will have alot to do with that.
Also you can look into getting a pre smog timing set pre 1971, your timing from the factory is retarded like 8 deg.
Another thing you could do that is relatively cheap would be to get advance spring kits for your distributor.

I have not tried it on a 460, but I ported the heads on a 351W and changed from a single exhaust system to a true dual exhaust. And it didn't change the MPG at all. The thing ran like a bandit and sounded really good, but the significant increase in exhaust made no difference at all on the MPG.

I don't think headers are worth it either. Your main thing with the 460 will be to lower the rpms. A truck with a 460 was made for pulling loads, and they usually came with 4.10 gears. 3.55's were an option. A overdrive tranny swap would give you measureable results, and give you a quieter ride too, and lower engine wear. You would have to drive it everyday to get any payback in fuel savings, but if you are resourceful, you can find a overdrive tranny and swap it in without much money laid out.

Yeah, headers combined with a few other mods will get you better performance, but don't expect MPG to increase measurably.

My dad invested in one of these in his V10 Ram:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41X5KJNBB1L.jpg

Really shows you how much pedal you're putting into it, and if you can safely keep an eye on it while you're driving, it should help with gas mileage in the long run.

I'll be doing headers on my 460 eventually, plus a true dual exhuast with an H-pipe.

A vacuum gauge is one of the best economy additions you can make. Back in the day some manufacturers, like American Motors, put them on their vehicles that were intended for high MPG. They really help you understand what your right foot is doing.

I read posts like this all the time, all of which are a study in futility.

There's nothing one can do to increase city MPG, if you want better hiway MPG, slow down.

The MPG difference between 55 MPH & 75 MPH is a whopping 40%.

It amazes me that people buy full sized pickups, then complain about the MPG.

I just bought an 87 with this engine and was wondering the same. Took the muffler off to hear the big motor talk and it sounds great but so far after filling up with no ethanol gas I've got 65 miles on it and its on half a tank. Lol talk about a hog

The pickup truck has always been the poster child for conspicuous consumption of Mideast oil, people better understand this when they see what 7-10 MPG costs them.

I really feel for anyone who has to daily drive one of these. The egr has been cut off of mine so I'm thinking it got a tad better mileage when new.

The pickup itself, and these pickups specifically, have horrible aerodynamics. And then the engines needed to haul a load don't magically quit drinking heavily when running light. Part of that's because when these trucks were designed and built we had a 55 MPH national speed limit, so overdrive wasn't thought to be needed. Nor was a lock-up torque converter on the typical automatic. And the price of gas wasn't very high.

Take all of those factors and turn the MPH, and therefore the RPM, up 20% as we do today and most of these these trucks are gas guzzlers, with the 460 being the worst. But, as Dave pointed out, if we can get the RPM down there are gains to be made. So get rid of the C6 and go E4OD or ZF5 and enjoy both better MPG and quieter cruising. And reduce the speed to the low 60's and you will see noticeable gains.

Tricky Dick initiated the double nickel speed limit.

One can buy one hell of a lotta gasoline for what it will cost to swap the tranny, and the paltry 2-3 MPG gain will only be on the highway.

And btw: 1950/56 Packard Ultramatic's had a lock up torque converter. The 1955/56 version was such a turd that Packard 'nuts' refer to it as ULCERmatic!

Yes, he did that in 1974. And we didn't get 65 MPH back until 87/88. I remember that because we lived in the UK then and it was so big of a deal that my mother told me when I called to talk. She thought is was huge.

How much was petrol in the UK at that time?

When I filled the tank of a Vauxhall Astra for the first time that I had rented from Avis in March 1999, while on a 3 week tour of the UK, the cost was approx $7.50 a gallon US.

My memory is quite vague on the price of petrol. This site says the price in the States was about $1.10/gallon, and I remember thinking I was paying the same for a liter in the UK as folks were paying for a gallon in the US. If that's true I was paying about $4.25/US gallon in 87/88.

Who is Tricky Dick? I think of Richard Nixon, who preceded Gerry Ford, who preceded Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer from Georgia whose administration I remember having implemented that.....

Yup. That's the one. Richard Milhous Nixon. Interesting. Spell check can't spell Milhous. I know how to spell it because that was our dog's name. Fitting - he ran off one night.

Tax on fuel accounts for most of the disparity. Hopefully nobody is suggesting that confiscatory gas tax rates are good for anybody. Although, it costs a bunch for a carrier group so it's gonna show up somewhere. Probably inflation and higher ... taxes. Hm.

Anyway, one thing to look at with the big V8s is engine tuning - timing and advance, weights and springs, and vacuum advance. This will add tremendous percentage gains at least, compared to a poorly tuned motor.
Racing motors are setup and optimized for wide open throttle, not for economy. Careful tuning will at least get the most of what is technically feasible.

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You didn't mention whether you had auto or stick. Converting to OD with an auto will get involved and spendy. Converting a stick will cost you parts and a couple hours of your time. City MPG will be crappy regardless, hwy MPG will improve a bit, but don't expect to see the high side of 12MPG no matter what you do. In fact 12 would be optimistic on a 4x4...

A pre-smog timing set and an advance kit for the dizzy, along with setting the base timing to 12 degrees BTDC will help with performance, but take it easy on the gas and it can help MPG a little... probably not enough to be much help, but a little. You would have to do other things to see any significant improvement, but you'll never see a return on your investment.

Or basically what everyone else has said! (great minds think alike...)

I've read other references like this, but what does it mean? (Long time driver, but short time owner. . .)

They use a timing chain and sprockets from a old 429 I believe. This changes the valve timing to a more favorable setting.

There can be gains from playing with the distributor, but a Ford dist is a real pain to play with. If you were serious about doing this, I think I would put a MSD setup, dist and all, where you can more easily mess with the springs and weights. It's not cheap though.

Thanks for the info!

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm putting the EDIS ignition and MegaJolt on my engine. Lock down the distributor, and then it's time for some fun! I'm at about 9000' in elevation and the MegaJolt will make it much easier to find the right timing.

6.5 power valve, cheap and easy.