After reading many threads here on FTE about members doing mods to their 460's I found myself confused. I thought the old adage was with performance gains came added fuel millage.

My question is simple. If I added the following mods to my 1979 F250 2wd c6 I CC there would be no addition increase in fuel millage??

MSD complete ignition system
Milodon style large capacity oil pan with windage tray
electric fan
double roller timing chain
adjust timing
headers either shorty or long tube
K&N extreme air cleaner
factory carb or equivalent aftermarket cfm style
dual exhaust with crossover tube
C9VE-A heads
remove factory smog pump
maybe a serpentine conversion

There would have to be some kind of increase in mpg, Right?????????

Thanks.

 

Not really. 460s are not made for gas mileage. In fact sometime doing mods hurts mileage. The old adage more air in more fuel out less MPG. I have done many of the mods you suggest & the mileage is the same, more power.
Craig

 

If just doing a nice rebuild and a few mods not much change, but??? my biggest question is on cam and torque converter setup? I think a nice 460 is one thing but if converter not stalled correctly for your application would be the biggest gas mileage factor. Gonna need a nice cam or possibly a hyd roller. helps with internal friction to a point. big oil pan helps get oil off crank or possible windage tray/crank scraper. excessive oil on crank soaks up power to a point. With proper cam and lower spring pressures help with less internal friction means less energy used within engine. many factor come into play for making some mileage with your applicaiton. Also a c-6 can be upgraded to low gear kit with all internal roller berings torrington bearings meaning less friction. helps a little but more stuff to think about. Just some stuff to keep you up at night thinking about. I've lost sleep on this so I figured I'd help you out.

 

"I think a nice 460 is one thing but if converter not stalled correctly for your application would be the biggest gas mileage factor"

What stall TC have you used in past and did u figure what stall is best?

Also what style pan are u using?

Thanks.

 

their many company's out thier. I have ran TCI and hughes converters had better luck with hughes converters in OEM application or Heavy duty applicaiton. www.hughesperformance.com has a xtm43 for I've ran and seem to be pretty durable. I'm running if for a towing application on big tires in a c-6. they have other converters depending on applicaiton. good tech service. If I have to buy another converter I will definetly use hughes again. the cam and converter and gearing have to work together so the better you match these the better the results. another cool web site to check is wallis racing lots of calculators to play with to possibly come up with a answer. On the tires keep them narrow for less rolling resistance and no lift kits. Fot got to mention the converter stator died in my TCI acouple times. went to hughes and no problems the past several years. Same truck and applicaiton and the XTM 43 seems to hold up. 472 ford 450 hrwpwr, 6500lb truck, 40" tires. the blue truck in my avatar, stalling around 1700 for low end torque. I pull the mountains often and haul 4wheelers and light trailors during huntin season is my extreme application. need low stall for slippery conditions on ice and hrspwr is not required and just smooth torque and keep tire slippage to a minimum. If I run my 38"x 11.0" wide tires with 4.56 gears can get mileage around 10 to 11 mpg with proper inflation on interstate. wide tire won't do it for mileage. call hughes and you won't be dissappointed. I have a cam from www.mpgheads.com matched to my converter. pricing is about the same as off the shelf stuff and probably a better cam in some cases. worked out great for my application. Many good company out their and these are 2 I can give a thumbs up to for work and tech support.

 

I run a Hughes HD Towing converter with a Transgo Shift Kit which included the 6 clutch forward pak. I run a stock cam with a Coyles True Roller with the cam advanced 3 degrees past TDC. I run a Holley 4160 600 CFM with a black secondary spring & jetted down. under that is an non EGR Edelbrock Performer manifold I run a 13" open Ford Racing Air Cleaner. 2.5" true dual exhaust with Summit Turbo mufflers. My 86 F250 4x4 has 3:55 gears.
I still get 9-10 mpg empty same as when I bought it as a pure stock truck in 1998 with the stock retarded timing of 8 degrees. Towing a 10,000# TT I just averaged 5.9 mpg when I pulled it 650 miles @ 55-65 mph, to our new home here in Yuma AZ. Before the Hughes & tranny upgrade I was getting 4.5-5.5 mpg towing. I will say the Hughes Converter is really an improvement in towing power.
This topic has been discussed over & over. If you search on this forum you will find I'm sure a bunch of topics covering this question. The bottom line is a 460 Ford & Better Gas Mileage don't mix. There are a few with Fuel Injection that get better mileage. I believe the FI guys get around 12 mpg. But the dream of 15+ is still a dream for most of us. I guess if a guy redesigned the truck & spent real big money anything is possible.

Craig