I have a 351w with a two barrel carb. . I get horrible gas mileage(9.7mpg). As I have antique tags I no longer have any emission restrictions. My question is what type of carb and distributor should I get so I can bypass all emission hookups. Can I use my present carb after plunging off certain ports. Can I use a distributor from a previous year. Any input would be helpful.

 

I would tell you to get a 4bbl carb either Motorcraft/Holley or Edelbrock. Once a tune up is done and the carb dialed in correct you should be good to go. For ignition I would run a duraspark 2 system. There are some threads here about it, it is supposed to up mpgs, give more power, and require less work on your starter. In reality I would figure your truck would pry max out on mpgs some where in the neighhbor hood of 12-15. Supposedly by 460 big block gets 10-12 according to the previous owner which I would be really happy with.

 

Duraspark is junk. Throw a msd 6al on it. I did an egr delete on my 86 460 with an edelbrock carb and ditched the duracrap for a complete msd setup. Went from 7mpg to 13.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by pengintamer

Duraspark is junk.

What makes you say this?

Most guys out here will dispute your claim but everyone is entitled to their own
opinion.

 

It is possible for a 4bbl carb to get better mileage than your 2bbl, since the 4bbl will be running on two smaller barrels up front if you keep your foot out of it. Edelbrock or Holley, either one will work well and let the engine breath a little better with a 4bbl intake to go along with it. I would do this in stages, and not mess with the ignition at first.

 

Thanks for giving me on what procedures I have to take to remove all the emissions.

 

I will definately differ with you on that. I used to own a carburetor and ignition shop. The Duraspark II is a very reliable system. Anything that requires several shots at firing the plug can't be that good. The only factory ignition system I really found unreliable was the Chrysler system, the one with the dual ballast resistor. You learned to carry a spare module and resistor plus tools.

I would say the biggest reason for your improvement probably came from the carburetor and a better ignition advance curve. The advance curve can be done with the Duraspark distributor very easily, the basic internal advance system hasn't changed since the late 50s.