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Just saying hey to everybody, im 21, out of KY, here (finally) because I bought a giant 87 chevy van as an impulse at an as-is auction. i just wanted to put some speakers in it, but everything i did beget something else and now im building up a custom interior from pretty much scratch. Upon finding out she gets 11 mpg from an old small block (surprise!) TBI 305, im afraid the same phenomenon is happening under the hood. I dont have the capital or expertise for an engine swap, but i refuse to believe some careful tuning and the right parts cant make a roadtrip cruiser out of the 305 yet. You don't have to read anymore. Very exciting to have finally stumbled here!

For those going on, might as well kill two birds here:
Without the obvious solution of reducing displacement or going diesel, what's next best? Reducing rpm to as low as possible? Reducing throttle restriction? More power/taller gears? Lowering peak torque rpm? How much hp do i really need to keep this thing at 70 mph? What components determine rpm operating range? What's the tallest rear end I can safely put on? *sigh* so many questions, so many factors. I care about FE/gradeability at 70 mph, and only 70 mph, and for that narrow application im sure there's a hard fast answer I just havent found yet. At any rate im learning new tricks here by the minute (WAI? Boattails?? Wow!) on topics where information is ordinarily very very rare. Keep up the awesome work everyone!