Fuel Mileage, etc.
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Junior User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 70
Likes: 1
Fuel Mileage, etc.
Hi all-
Well, I finally got my old truck road worthy enough to make the 2 1/2 hour trip from my parents house to where I live, and the old girl did pretty well considering it has sat the better part of 8 years, only being driven on Sundays and whenever my Grandpa got the itch to go for a cruise. I'll have to get some pics up of the truck now. It looks a lot different after I buffed the paint out.
Aside from getting a little warm after a couple hours on the highway, the only thing I need to work on is the fuel mileage. I have been getting about 11, no matter if I'm on the highway or in town.
302, 2bbl carb, c6 transmission- Carb was recently rebuilt, but I found some things wrong, so I may need to re-adjust some things.
I have already ordered a new distributor cap and rotor, as well as plug wires and a coil. I just put a set of new autolite plugs in too.
Any hints to help improve my mileage? It's not a daily driver, but I would like to have it running top-notch. I think it ought to get about 18-23, but that's just a thought.
Thanks for any help,
Andrew
Well, I finally got my old truck road worthy enough to make the 2 1/2 hour trip from my parents house to where I live, and the old girl did pretty well considering it has sat the better part of 8 years, only being driven on Sundays and whenever my Grandpa got the itch to go for a cruise. I'll have to get some pics up of the truck now. It looks a lot different after I buffed the paint out.
Aside from getting a little warm after a couple hours on the highway, the only thing I need to work on is the fuel mileage. I have been getting about 11, no matter if I'm on the highway or in town.
302, 2bbl carb, c6 transmission- Carb was recently rebuilt, but I found some things wrong, so I may need to re-adjust some things.
I have already ordered a new distributor cap and rotor, as well as plug wires and a coil. I just put a set of new autolite plugs in too.
Any hints to help improve my mileage? It's not a daily driver, but I would like to have it running top-notch. I think it ought to get about 18-23, but that's just a thought.
Thanks for any help,
Andrew
Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 868
Likes: 3
From: New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
15 sounds about right to me also, I've tried every engine/trans combo out there and the best I got was 15 with a 302 auto and 15 with a 351m auto. My 429 and 460 both run about 13/14 if I'm being real gentle. But whose gentle with that kind of power. The best mod for fuel milage I think you could do is buy a good 4 barell intake and carb. Should increase cruising milage and have more play power as well.
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TEXAS!!!
You could always go electric... put the batteries in the toolbox in the bed and run the lead to the engine area from there. I know it kind of sounds sacrilegious, but it keep dentsides on the road instead of parked because gas costs too much. I've seen some homebrew electric conversions done to Jeep Cherokees (even with 4WD) that worked really well. I'm not saying you could drive cross-country, but with the right batteries our trucks should get +/- 90 miles to a "tank" of DC electricity. That's enough for most of us to be able to be able to make our dentsides our daily-drivers.
Only problem is that it'll cost about $6000 by the time you buy everything.
Only problem is that it'll cost about $6000 by the time you buy everything.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 574
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From: Paragould Ar
I don't drive like a grandpa and I have gotten 20 on a regular basis in my old '77 302/C4. I just swapped in a 302/C6 into the blue truck in my signature and haven't had a chance to figure milage but I can tell its pretty good. I think the C6 wil pull the milage back some but I still figure it will be better than 15.
Andrew go out and get a tach and a vacuum gauge. Once you get the complete tune-up done take it out for a spin and watch the vacuum get it to its highest point and that will be your best milage. If it is way off your desired cruise speed note the RPM then you can figure what gear you need to get the speed and MPG coming on at the same time
Andrew go out and get a tach and a vacuum gauge. Once you get the complete tune-up done take it out for a spin and watch the vacuum get it to its highest point and that will be your best milage. If it is way off your desired cruise speed note the RPM then you can figure what gear you need to get the speed and MPG coming on at the same time
Tuned
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 295
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
my 77 with a DEAD TIRED 351m/c6/ 3.55 gaers, got 16mpg average, loaded or empty, and i got almost twent going to and from college
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Tuned
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From: Ohio
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Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,069
Likes: 3
the best thing i have found so far is i run a 800 cfm edelbrock i played around with the jets/rods and now get an honest 15.5 to 16 with my 501 stroker moter with the gear venders over drive the exaust is now a light tan color instead of black sooty when i ran the 750 holy carb so its running fairly lean a easy 1 mpg can be had just by removing the 10 lb factory fan and installing an electric one and on the hyway my electric never comes on as you have plenty of air flow at 60 mph regurds joe
Junior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
From: Evansville, IN
For what it's worth:
A long, long time ago Holley produced an "Economaster" 450 carb. I replaced the 302 in my '79 just before hurricane Katrina was used as an excuse to double the price of gas. Anyway, I wrote to Holley in August 2005 explaining I still had the original Motorcraft 2150 (on the OEM single plane manifold) and wondered if ithe Economaster I remembered seeing ads for was still being produced (it isn't). And, if not, what other economical carbs they might recommend.
Here's their reply:
"Holley offers the 2300 model # 0-7448 that is 350 cfm and can be jetted easily by the customer to strive for better mileage. The jets are easy to purchase for this carburetor and easy to change. We also offer the Motorcraft 2 barrel # 64-5089 rebuilt but jets are not easy to purchase for these. We can’t insure better mileage but at least it is something the customer can tune with jetting to try to get the mileage improvement."
As it turns out, I just rebuilt my original carb and my mileage went from around 10 MPG to about 12. That doesn't sound great, but it's a 20% improvement.
A long, long time ago Holley produced an "Economaster" 450 carb. I replaced the 302 in my '79 just before hurricane Katrina was used as an excuse to double the price of gas. Anyway, I wrote to Holley in August 2005 explaining I still had the original Motorcraft 2150 (on the OEM single plane manifold) and wondered if ithe Economaster I remembered seeing ads for was still being produced (it isn't). And, if not, what other economical carbs they might recommend.
Here's their reply:
"Holley offers the 2300 model # 0-7448 that is 350 cfm and can be jetted easily by the customer to strive for better mileage. The jets are easy to purchase for this carburetor and easy to change. We also offer the Motorcraft 2 barrel # 64-5089 rebuilt but jets are not easy to purchase for these. We can’t insure better mileage but at least it is something the customer can tune with jetting to try to get the mileage improvement."
As it turns out, I just rebuilt my original carb and my mileage went from around 10 MPG to about 12. That doesn't sound great, but it's a 20% improvement.
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 592
Likes: 1
From: Tooele, UT
Hell im gettin 12-14 with my 390 and 315s with 410s. That is all highway I im agine its about half that around town. I also have an edelbrock 650 and manifold. We did have to jet down the carb a jet size but it runs good.
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 550
Likes: 0
From: N. IL
With the average car payment being $475/ month you sure can buy a lot of fuel.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,203
Likes: 2
From: where the deer and antelo
Last week I went on a 2500 mile round trip to Iowa and back. 23.9 MPG @ 70 mph empty. It drops down to about 20 MPG @ 75 mph. 16 to 18 MPG pulling loaded trailers 70 plus mph.
1979 F250 4X4 Super Cab. 3.54 gears, 265/75/16 tires, Cummins diesel engine, NV4500 transmission, NP205 transfer case, Dana 60 axle front and rear.
1979 F250 4X4 Super Cab. 3.54 gears, 265/75/16 tires, Cummins diesel engine, NV4500 transmission, NP205 transfer case, Dana 60 axle front and rear.