Chevrolet S10 V8 pickup designed for maximum gas mileage !!!!

[Stubby79]

Hmm....corvette engine with displacement on demand? slap a carb on it, and a toggle switch to turn on and off the DOD...

Probably more involved than that, but hey, one can dream, right?

[bandit86]

I kinda disagree with the small v8, go with a 350. You can make an engine idle right down low. I had one idle so slow you could read the belt as it went around. A good low rpm torquer cam, and you can probably drive at 1000 rpm if its stick. Keep it carbed, quadra jet, manual choke, lean the primary sob right out till you run 15:1 or leaner. Make the secondary open soon in case you want to get on it you don't stay lean. Overdrive tranny for sure. May not be the most efficient, but it will be fun.

[oil pan 4]

Problem with a low idle like that is the alternator won't build up to 12 volts.

My firebird has a 6 speed and will putt along at 1,000rpm doing about 45mph.
I would like to put a bigger engine in and 3:1 or 3.25: rear gears and a T-56 that has the 0.5:1 top gear. The current T-56 has 0.6:top gear.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Bassdoctor

1979 267 sbc

I think you'd be better off with EFI... but if you are sticking to old school:
I'd avoid the 267. That oddball 3.5 bore engine will likely prove difficult to find decent heads for. Valve shrouding a problem in the small bore engines, and most aftermarket support is for larger displacement/more power. I'd stick with the 305, for smaller displacement with readily available parts. You could even dip your toes into EFI and find a TBI engine to swap in...

[rmay635703]

If you want old school put a 5.7 diesel in there.

Oversize the counterbalance and fear her up for 50mpg

[Frank Lee]

It's possible to have too slow a cruise rpm to be efficient.

V8 in small truck with max fe seems like it won't happen. How/why have so much torque available only to be confronted with the choice between using it and getting poor economy or having all that power available and not being able to tap into it without ruining the fe for the tank?

Assuming the V8 is a good idea I'd think the smaller the better. Valve shrouding = no issue because if it is an econo build it will have small valve heads and it will live in the low rpm operating range where heavy breathing doesn't happen.

[ksa8907]

Id also vote for a 305. Go high compression and do an e85 build, low speed/high compression/big displacement.

[bandit86]

If you keep power levels low, build for a 13 or 14:1 compression ratio. That should be nice. If I had cash I'd try even higher.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

The good old Vortec 4300 seems to be more suitable to such project than a 267 SBC.

[19bonestock88]

I was thinking about that myself... If staying with such small displacement, why not do up a nice 11:1CR, low RPM cam, 4.3 V6? Same displacement as that v8(nearly), but less frictional losses due to two less cylinders... I'm still in favor of a small displacement LS swap though