Muscle Car MPG?

[Formula413]

Not original or cheap exactly, but a second or third generation small block would do wonders for your FE. My Firebird has an LT1 (second generation) that makes over 300 hp and still gets 23 mpg when driven mainly on the highway in a 3500 pound car. The LS1 (third generation) can do even better. The easier stuff has already been mentioned, good tune, taller gears etc.

[binarycortex]

Originally Posted by tr0n

Long time lurker here. I've recently picked up a 72 Ford Maverick w/the inline six 200cid "indestructible" engine. I'm wondering if anyone else here has gone through the motions of making their own older classic car more fuel efficient and what kinds of things I can do to improve mine?

I've thought about converting to fuel injection, but I really want to keep it as original and cheap as possible at the moment. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Two words. Diesel Swap.

Gale Banks put a Cummins inline six in a Dodge Dakota, Banksified it, DROVE it to the salt flats and busted some records. 222mph in a truck, a diesel truck. As for fuel economy well, I'll let them tell you.

"The test loop was just over 119 miles in length, beginning at the Banks Engineering campus in Azusa, California. The route included a couple of miles on surface streets to the Interstate highway. The rest of the loop was all highway driving on I-210, I-30, and I-15, going north up the Cajon pass (about a 6 percent grade), and then back again for a total of 119.6 miles. All highway driving was done at the posted speed limits of 65 and 70 MPH in sixth gear, which is .73:1 for a final drive ratio of 2.43:l. That’s 1800 to 1900 RPM. The powerful Cummins diesel was just loafing, even up the grade. The total fuel consumed was 5.63 gallons, for an average of 21.24 MPG. Not too shabby for a truck with over 700 HP and 1300 lb.-ft. of torque on tap!"

And I don't think they did very much in the way of aeromods, I saw some moonies but I don't think they even had a toneau cover on the back.

We need to introduce gale banks to basjoos.

Note: Yes I posted this in another area on the forum but...damn!

[maverickman]

Originally Posted by metromizer

Aftermarket EFI would be great, a 4 speed trans swap of rear gear swap too, but most people won't put in that amount of coin or effort, so...

I'd give it a high quality tune up, rebuild the distributor if it needs it (if you can find someone with a distributor machnie, to check the smoothness and advance curve for you, it would be money well spent) Also, find someone with an old Sunnen scope to fine tune the ignition and carburator for you. That is the way the older master mechanics would get those older points and carburator cars to purr like a kitten. Jetting those old carbs for optimum air/fuel ratio will almost always yeild better mpg, but don't confuse the term'jetting' with "hey, I'll just throw on a rebuilt carb from Pep Boys" because that won't do it for you. Jet it to where the plug insulators are light tan to almost white, and it will wake up and run better, use less fuel. Just stay on top of the tune. my 2cents

I'm looking at buying a '70 Maverick with a 200cid, and I was looking for a fuel injection setup, but I couldn't find one. Perhaps you know of a place?

[bgd73]

Originally Posted by tr0n

Long time lurker here. I've recently picked up a 72 Ford Maverick w/the inline six 200cid "indestructible" engine. I'm wondering if anyone else here has gone through the motions of making their own older classic car more fuel efficient and what kinds of things I can do to improve mine?

I've thought about converting to fuel injection, but I really want to keep it as original and cheap as possible at the moment. Any thoughts?

Thanks

I had a zephyr with it. 90hp?
The intake and emmissions of the later 70s was insane, 1972 should have a bit more strength if in typical history of its generation.
A very common weber 32/36, progressive electric choke, and get some advice on the displacement for jetting, it is a conservative one.

My late 70s version was so tight it broke its own intake trying to get air. Somebody built something crazy at ford, I hope your 200 doesn't have what mine did. I had realistic motivation and never went through with it, the weber custom jetted, emmissions removed, excpet for canister, fuel venting and return lines, a newer convertor, away it would have went.

200 cubic inch is a giant, and straight sixxes do not want to run, to get a goal of 30mpg is incredible.

keep an eye on those washers holding the exhaust and intake simultaneous going into the block.

[nemesis]

if I wanted to get better gas mileage I'd at least put a 289 or 302 in it with a 5speed t5 trans. If you don't like that idea and want something that will get 30mpg, well look no farther than 2.3L or 2.3T, both of those were getting over 30mpg on the highway with 3.55 gears, and I could imagine what those could get in a lighter falcon and 2.73 gears, 40mpg wouldn't be out of reach, oh and 2.3T ran 13.5s at 107mph in an 89 mustang while getting 30mpg

[Backtobasics]

I am not as strong in the eco side of things, but I sell HP speed stuff consistantly.

Here is my recipe:

• Keep the straight 6
• Give it a quality tune up, perhaps adding an upgraded CDI ignition box, timing advance to highest point engine will allow without pinging.
• Change all fluids, synthetic in trans and rear end
• repack wheel bearings, synthetic grease
• evaluate current air filter housing....add K&N filter or equivalent, and look into fabricating an air intake. Hot air is best for MPG and warmup, so you could look at capping the end of the stock intake, and draw air from the 'warmup' tube that normally sits off the exhaust manifold. If yours is not setup this way, it could be made to draw air directly off or around the exhaust manifold, for warm air
• exhaust, have moderate diameter (2" or 2.25) exhaust run, as smooth as possible, with a low restriction muffler
• electric fan to replace the mechanical fan

The biggest detriment to your MPG is gears and transmission. The transmission is a non overdrive 1 to 1 ratio. Without overdrive, the car will likely have an ideal conditions around 50-55 MPH. It will go higher, but the sheer number of RPM will hurt MPG regardless of how well tuned the car is.
The rear gears contribute to this. For max MPG you want the smaller number gears, but accelleration off the line suffers. A 2.76 or so ratio will extend the highway happy place higher, but not the same as an OD trans.

Ultimately, I think you best bet is to get the car in great state of tune. Have the carb rebuilt if it is out of your area. Fresh ignition parts, premium quality stuff, plus any little tricks you can think of (indexing the plugs, etc). Reduce intake and exhaust restrictions, reduce drag and friction as much as possible, etc.
The suggestions for driving technique are very valid. Pulse and Glide is key. I have strategic areas on my daily commute where a P&G yields me a long stretch of glide, with the car idling at its lowest point.

A secondary alternative, is a swap to a modern EFI engine and trans.
A 5.0 and 5 speed from Mustang would give more power and torque to get you moving, and the 5 speed would drop RPM on highway for MPG.

[Backtobasics]

In regards to the aluminum head and fuel injection and Cutoff switch:
If I recall correctly, the intake manifold is cast with the head on the 200 inline 6, so that is not possible.
There will not be an off the shelf fuel injection unit. A single 1 bbl throttle body, or 2 bbl throttle body injection off GM trucks could be adapted, but you would have to have someone who can write the chips adjust the firing order for your Ford. You need EFI fuel pump, lines, etc. I think Spectre might have a single bbl universal fuel injection setup, but not sure.
EOC.... Veterans, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see how engine off coasting can be done on a carbureted vehicle. I can turn the car off, but the engine will continue to draw fuel through the carb, into the cylinders. In my younger days, this was a great way to shoot fire out the exhaust, and BOOM, but for eco friendly driving, it is washing down the cylinders, and igniting in the exhaust. Unless someone can tell me differently, I do not see how EOC works on carbs.

[tjts1]

Megasquirt
http://www.megamanual.com/index.html

[Big Dave]

It all depends on how bad you want big results.

You piddle around, you get piddle-around results. To get big results, go big.

You can get 3.00:1 gears for a Maverick. That might help.

Want big results? Go with a diesel and a five or six-speed manual transmission. A M-B OM617 will fit and the turbo versions are indestructible at the 120-150 HP level. You might get a custom bellhousing for a VW TDI.

Diesel + stick easily puts you in the mid-30s.

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by Backtobasics

EOC.... Veterans, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see how engine off coasting can be done on a carbureted vehicle. I can turn the car off, but the engine will continue to draw fuel through the carb, into the cylinders.

That's only if you leave it in gear. If you turn the engine off with the transmission in neutral (or the clutch in), the engine will wind down and stop, just like it does when you park. If the engine isn't turning, there's no air being drawn through the carb, which means no fuel going in. (Unless you pump the throttle, in which case the accelerator pump will dump fuel down the carb throat.)

That said, I think it takes significantly more fuel to start up a carb'ed engine than an injected one. So the payback time for EOC is longer--you would need to be able to have the engine off for (wild guess) 30 seconds instead of 10 seconds to make it worthwhile.

A decent throttle body injection could work well. And if you have machine tools, you can drill the manifold for injectors and have at it. You'd definitely have to go with something like Megasquirt or another programmable EFI setup to run it, though. And that's a lot of DIY.

-soD