I've got a 292 +.03 over/w a 700r4, 8.8" 3.73 with 295/40-R20's.

What MPG would you suspect I can get out of that @ 70 MPH?

California Highway speeds in the desert are 70+

Would a 4bbl do better than model 94's on a 3x2 intake?

Thanks !!
Stan

 

I don't have a clue, but I've been curious about using a 292 with an AOD and 3.50 gears. Holley 390 and 30X9.50X 15's should then get me close to that magic 20mpg mark?

 

Probably not with the aod, gearing, and tires alone.
46Y is the most likely to achieve it because his truck is so much lighter.
It'll be tricky in a 4000lb truck. It's going to take tuning and a lot of trial and error.

 

Thanks. Now I know to look for a 46Y. I'll be using a 223 & 4sp to get my '59 on the road and haven't decided where I'll go from here. Possibly with a 46Y and a T5. I have a 3.50 and a 3.89 gear set to work with.

 

That is funny. Charlie is referring to a shorthand of my handle, 46yblock . There arent too many 46y's around .

 

Yuummm, I think this 46Y he's referring to is a person... I think he's a person anyway.

 

Oops, beat me to it. 'Morning Mike.

 

Having no knowledge of any numbering for Y blocks, well, I guess I gave y'all a good laugh. For my purposes, what's the best starting point for a Y block? I'm looking for torque and fuel mileage. HP isn't important. I don't believe in modding a truck to the point where it ain't a truck no mo' . That means hauling gravel, firewood, boat, 5th wheel, real fat women, you get the idea. And that stoopid crossover exh pipe gotsta go.

 

292 is a great starting point and a T-5 (manual) or AOD (automatic) certainly would't hurt. Good luck with your project.

 

For what you want, take a stock 292, rebuild it, zero the deck, install a cam with 2teens degrees at .050, (ie 215 @ .050) a 4v intake, dual exhaust and tune the ignition curve.
A truck can do "light duty" stuff with an even bigger cam. Mine is 226 @.050. I've hauled A Y with a 3speed transmission attached, an automatic transmission, and the engine hoist to unload the stuff. That's easily 1000lbs in the bed. It's noticeably lacking on off idle but I had no doubts that it would get the job done and it did. Were I doing it frequently, I'd rethink my cam choice but I'm not so it works for me. This is something you should consider, particularly if you like the bigger cam sound.

If you have more money to spend, get higher compression heads, stroke the crank, get an aluminum intake, etc.

Don't get too caught up on the mileage thing. If you have a Y in 54-64 ford truck, I think the most you can realistically expect is 15-18. I'm sure you can find ways to squeeze out more but it eventually gets to a point that you spend more on upgrades than you will ever save at the pump. And by the way, there have been posts on this site and other ford truck sites about fuel mileage; the Y typically gets better mileage than any other similar displacement engine that may be swapped, until you get to newer engines with fuel injection and roller cams. So the Y is a great choice for mileage.

 

Charlie, great info, thanks. I like the idea of a slight bit of cam and I'm lees concerned with 'thump' than I am with, well, using it like a truck. I'm thinking about purchasing a friend's 18' 5th wheel. So a high rpm cam ain't my cupotea.
BTW the 5th wheel also needs, um, work. He fell asleep with a cig and torched the interior. May offer him a hunnert bucks. My father used to build campers for a living.

 

Sounds good. And you know, in regards to the cam, the best thing you can do is call your favorite cam grinder, tell him what you want out of the motor, provide any specs he may request about the engine and let him grind it based on that info. It's not easy to swap a cam in a Y so you want to do your best to get it right the first time.

 

Not knocking on the Y here but if economy and truck use is the order of the day what is wrong with the 223 you have? A well tuned 223 with the right gears could probobly turn out low 20s and 55-60mph and provide sufficent oomph to move most common loads at theese speeds.

Might have to get me one of them 46Ys though. Is that a high or low powered Y?

 

I ain't gonna live dat one down am I? I think I'll get a custom plate that says 46Y. Actually you do have a valid point. Seeing how I scored two 223's and transmissions, I'm going that route. Put the running one in and get a t5 for the other one after it's rebuilt. BTW I started a thread in the'57-60 forum if you wanna see my horsetrading score.

 

Sounds like a good idea on the six. They are fun too.