I love your 78 Century what front end is on there?

Looks like a 67 F700 off a dump truck??

 

Be careful that might over heat it under heavy loads.

 

i don't tow trailers or anything heavy in the back.

do these engines ping when you move the timing far enough or do they take it well?

 

If it gets worked hard & pings you will lean out your # 8 cyl & burn a hole. Or with the detonation take out your bearings then your pistons.




You do not want to risk either, Neve let them ping, you are killing it when you do here the little ping

 

I do pretty bad on my 351W about 10mpg if I really baby it.. stock with a intake and 4bbl carb but would love to get more out of it.

 

I got sick and tired of my clutch fan fully engaging when I needed the power the most (usually at a stop light, after sitting with the A/C on), so I ditched it for a Flex-A-Lite flex fan and 2" spacer. Now, when I hit the gas, I can roast my tires! It's beautiful!

Anyway, as a side-effect, I also gained 2 MPG, bringing me to 14 MPG from 12 MPG with 33" tires.

 

will an electric fan work better for mpg apposed to a normal fan on the water pump? what if i cut 2 inches off each blade or directed the flow differently?

 

Electric fans will help increase power and mileage, slightly. But more importantly, removing the mechanical fan makes the water pump bearings last a LOT longer.

 

302s and 351Ws arent as sensitive to advance as other motors, such as the FEs or Clevelands. Some racers at the local track are running 42-44 degrees total timing on their 351Ws, though I wouldnt suggest even trying it in a stock motor, and especially not in a truck. You can bump up the initial timing some, but do it 2 degrees at a time, then test it for awhile. Check a plug to see what's going on inside the chambers.(I'd suggest #4 or #8, since they're the hottest cylinders, therefore the most prone to detonation. If you see tiny specks of aluminum on the plug, you know the piston is shedding from detonation. The electrode strap will also begin to erode from detonation.

And remember that an audible ping isn't where the trouble starts, as pinging can happen when your ear can't detect it, and still cause damage, overheating, and power loss. Be very careful of advance!

 

2x All the little pings are the piston shedding. You might be getting better fuel economy, but it might be creating a lean condition in #8 Be sure to check that plug first. They are the first ot go, Ask me how I know..

Got a real clean 85 Bronco from Oregon, they tuned it up and advanced the timing a little for the trip to Michigan. When they got here it was losing power. She said it was pinging upon accelleration a little. #8 had zero compression. She sold me the truck for $1800 bucks. We just threw in a 87 HO 5.0 in it then we were good to go. I miss that truck. Never opened it up just threw it away.

 

I usually get 13-16 mpg city/hwy. Seen as high as 17 and as low as 9 depending on conditions/time of year. Summer months on the highway it seems to do the best, but when it's drinking winter grade gas and runnin around in 4WD, it's pretty thirsty.

My rig-
1996 XL
129K
302
M50D
3.55
31" BFG ATs

Upgrades I've done-
3" exhaust
K&N FIPK
Upgraded coil, cap/rotor, wires/plugs gapped to .055, runnin timing at 12.75*

May be able to expirement with the timing a bit more to see what I can get out of her, but she's runnin well enough now. The K&N only made a marginal performance improvement, the exhaust and ignition system upgrade really worked some magic though.

 

That seem huge difference so I did math on mpg for my bronco and 97 F150 4.2L

bronco get 16 mpg highway that what I been check all website mostly 14-18 mpg.

F150 get 23 mpg highway I know because I check it. Stay at 65 mph with cruise control with no ac in summer.


1 year I would say 40,000 miles for gas price like $2.80

Bronco would cost me 2,500 gallons for $7,000

F150 would cost me 1,739 gallons for $4,869

That huge difference for me with low pay job.

I am think sell bronco in spring but we will fix all stuff before sell it then buy F150 in spring from Uncle in-law he is replaced with 07 Lincoln Mark LT from my Uncle.

 

that doesn't make any sense. why would a f150 do that much better then a bronco if it has the same drivetrain but with a pickup box instead of a topper

 

I don't understand but I thought Bronco with 302 plus AOD should get better on mpg but I am still mystery how it could be weigh 6,000 where extra metal.


F150 is supercab with short bed. gear ratio 3.55 Limited slip, tire is 235/75/16. Engine is V6 4.2L

 

since adding one to my 88 im getting between .5 and 1 mpg better (knocked down 18.3 the other day, and it has ALL of its smog parts still on it).