I have heard the line get a car if I want mpgs, but I don't want a small car I just want 20mpg. To me thats enough to not worry about much. I want to help with a forum of different ideas for those of us who DD our trucks becouse we like them or like me do like many new cars. Much less wanna pay for one.

The truck will not see HD use as it's biggest task will be a Home Depot run, and if I need alot. 2 trips will be just fine. I just something to haul my basic life around mountain bikes, dogs, and larger car parts I need.

I know the FE has wedge chambered heads that is not the best for leaner fuel mixtures, but how bad is it really compared to a traditional D-chamber?

I have a electric fan to re-place my direct drive. Alone this should be a big gain. Especially when added to a set of gears.

I will add headers and a 2 inch dual exhaust. I choose 2" to keep the torque higher where I will drive, and I have a 352FE which is not that big. Small block chevy's do well with this combo so why not a 352FE.

Rear end with sub 3.0 gears. Hopefully 2.70's. I want to get a 70's Lincoln rear becouse they would get the better or best Factory parts available. Plus the gearing I want. My general plans point me towards a 9", but what about the 8.8? Is there something to be gained from going with this rear? I know the explorer rear works well with my planned CV swap, and it has disks brakes. It also can be had cheap enough from a couple of places I know.

To the above I plan to add a C6, but is there another Ford transmission thats good enough for a truck. I thought FMX, but theres not much available for them besides just a shift kit. I want to add a 2200rpm stall convertor to help with traffic type driving. I heard about the C5 but can't find one or real info on one. Essentially I am looking for Ford's version of a TH350. Also a OD is out of my budget for the next few years.

Right now for my future tires I am thinking used 17" Charger rims. and tires. My wifes car has these, and it handles great. It also weighs 1000 pounds more then my truck roughly. So how bad could they be right? I am also thinking 16" Mustang rims. This mostly depends on the wheel well openings, and the desired look. Either one should work well, and in the end both can be had cheap in my area.

I am done with getting my truck truely road worthy, and I have driving it about 100 miles so far and it feels fine. Now I am a few weeks from gathering parts so I wanna nail my ideas down better.

What do you guys think? Anything else I can do with craigslist finds, and looking for the best bag for the buck approach.

 

Make sure that you have a real good vacuum advance pot on your distributor, that made a big diff in my FE. Mine is getting about 15 highway right now with the 4.10 Dana 60, and about 12-13 city all with a 1:1 final drive in the trans. I know that if I went to a 3.54 or so, my mileage would take a nice jump... an alternative for better mileage also is the Gear Vendors under/overdrive... it cost about what a new trans cost's but a few friends of mine have it and what a diff it makes in both acceleration, and mileage. it is like splitting all of your gears, but it just does it without you having to think about it. Keep in mind narrower tires better mileage, Wide tires lessor mileage. Taller tires better mileage. Lighter rims and tires better mileage. I am looking at things with about the same mindset as you, only I still want the pulling power for pulling my son's track car to the raceway. Put the fat girl on a diet! Lose everything that you don't need....

 

Get a vacuum gauge, mount it on the dash. When driving, keep the vacuum as high as possible.

 

Ford and Mercury cars with 390 s regularly got 17 MPG on a freeway drive with 3.0 gears and a stock engine...old people driving
With todays modern cams and with the new fuel injection systems you should be able to make 18-20 mpg with your truck ..IF you dont raise it up in the Air ..keep it stock height a good mileage cam and don't go too wide a tire.
and Biggest thing of all KEEP your right foot off the loud Pedal

Make sure you have a good free flowing dual exhaustand a high gear in final drive

And ofcourse I am assuming a 2wd 1/2 ton ??
If your truck is a 3/4 ton or larger....forget it 15 mpg would be good

 

In referance to the above post's.

I got a couple of good vac advances.

I am a 2wd 1/2 ton

I would do a AOD vs a Gear Vendors becouse of cost.

The Charger or Mustang rims are tall and light enough it should be good as it gets.

 

What about 8.8 vs 9"

 

I prefer the 9"......but the 8.8 is almost as Strong and uses Less Horsepower to turn....8.8 were used in later model 1/2 ton trucks
That being said a 8.8 would get Slightly better fuel mileage with the higher pinion support and less friction..and you would have plenty aftermarket support for it

People forget..it was not the FE being in so much an inefficient engine but the fact that rearends take less power to turn..cams are better even in stock factory engines...Fuel injection..better more efficient transmissions (drivetrains)

With modern modifications better fuel economy is avalible....
the problem is not so much the cost with EFi....Most people spend Thousands on thier trucks..it is the fear of learning more about EFI and new drivetrains
Look at every part of your truck as a way to increase efficiency.

The factories were using wedge combustion chambers in the 90's to get 18-20 mpg..it is not the engine ....but the whole drivetrain
why not move your old truck in to the Future ??

You on the right track...DO NOT get SIDE tracked By bigger is better theories
If MPG is your game

Lonnie

Don't forget the convertor..without lock-up features your will KILL your MPG with a looser than stock convertor

 

Ok I will seriously look at the 8.8 when I am gathering parts.

I have built quite a few cars, but never built one for mpgs. I have gotten good mpg's while looking for a balance between street and fun, but I never before gone for this goal.

I wanna stick with bolt-ons rather then major parts. This has to be a budget build becouse I am in school, and my job future is not to good right now. This truck is going to re-place my payment becouse of the above poor job situation

 

I don't have a truck but a 69 mustang with 428 cj and the best it gets with an egg under the go pedal is 13 mpg. It is stock and has never gotten any better since new.

 

Not apples to apples...You have a CJ ...cam has more overlap...More carb.... Larger runners in the intake and I would Guess 3.90 gears and More Cubes and larger valves....very far from a STOCK 352 or 390

You have the fun factor when you hit the loud pedal right ??

That was Never intended to be a Economy engine

 

Actually it came stock with a 3.50 locker *** end and I changed it to 3.00 last year for highway purposes. No real differece just a little less noise on the highway.

 

That thing must really Fly on the freeway !!

How fast will it run ??

 

Thats not even an apples and oranges comparison. You have an eggplant.

I have a 352FE probily recently rebuilt. That was designed to get the job done, and to pass multiple gas stations on a single fill up.

You have a 428FE Cobra Jet which was designed for racing, and winning at it. I can't remember if it was designed more for NASCAR or Hemi killing. Either way MPGS were not a design requirement.

The fact your getting 13mpg's tells me more about your tuning skills, and or driving habits.

 

You might keep an eye out for a Hone Overdrive unit, probably less $$ than the gear vendors. I have one on my 75 F100, 390, 4X4, 4.10, 4 speed. Shift on the "fly" and it's a approximately a 28% gear reduction. Drops the RPM's on the highway from 3000 down to just over 2000. Really helps the MPG on the open road. I'm also going to look at a little taller tire to help stretch it out.

 

I wish someone would put the HONE overdrives back into production
Maybe at a price of 600 bucks ??.......

It was a good unit..ahead of its time
Finding one is rare today