Can an FE ever get over 9 mpg?

I am anti technology, like most of you. I like things simple. I just bought a travel trailer to pull behind the 57 Ford wagon this weekend.

I have been kicking around ideas for a replacement for the tired 292 and the cruise-a-matic. I like the idea of an FE, but every FE I have ever owned have been gas hogs. No matter how easy I drove them, they got **** for mileage.


I really don't want to suc***b to the EFI 5.0 idea, but right now it is in the lead. I want something that will tow the little 19' trailer but not make me sit and worry about gas prices.

I wonder if a FAST system on a 390 would prove reliable?
I need something I can throw in over the winter and not keep the car down.

Thanks

 

an engine is an engine. had a 390 in my old fair lane with dual exhaust. 3 speed manual with holley 600 carb. hook va*** advance up like gm to manifold va*** and you should see 17mpg hiway or more maybe. I got that with 3.23 gears in that old ford.

 

390's are cpable of pretty good mileage. You need the small port heads, a short duration high lift cam, electronic ignition( like petronics points convertion) a 650 vac sec carb, 9 or 10 to 1 comp, headers, and tall gears like 3 to 1 or less. Mine would do 18 mpg in a 3700 lb 65 f100. I've seen over 20 in cars with overdrive. Also great power to boot!

 

I have a buddy that did an Edlebrock EFI system in his 406 Ford in a Galaxie. With overdrive and a 3.25 ge****t it gets a consistant 20 mpg on the road. It actually runs pretty damn hard still too, he says better than it did with an 830 Holley. He used the same single four barrel Edlebrock manifold that he ran before too...just got the throttle body and all the rest of the EFI stuff.

 

I say put in whatever you like then tell tall tales about the gas mileage like everyone else.

 

I'm a fan of the Y-block, I wouldn't pull one to put an FE in unless I really needed the extra torque... and all the ones (FE) I've had got a consistent 8-9 MPG. Freshen up the 292, adapt a C4 to it and cruise.

 

My 352 got 20 mpg's one time...... when it was on a trailer getting pulled by a ***mins

 

Root, I'm a big big fan of F.A.S.T., and the sister company's, TCI ,and Comp Cams, but check out the Holley Pro-jections systems too. Much cheaper, and the small 2 injector TBI set up might be all you need.

 

there is part of your problem.

AOD perhaps? what is your rear end ratio?

 

A Y block is a Y block.
292 = Y block
FE = Y block, just look at the block or the pan. The oil pan gasket is flat all the way around.

Sorry, I had to get this ticky tack detail in!!!

 

With major work my 71 F100 4x4 360 w/2bbl carb went from 8 to______________ 9MPG. Never better. All stock with the va***e advance on manifold vac and I tried it on ported vac. #.73 gears, maybe 3.0 would get up to 12 mpg.

Fritz

 

I got your ticky tack right here!

 

Quadrajet?????????????????????????????????????????? , or did I just commit HAMB suicide.

 

I second the Quadrajet. My '68 Rivi would get 20 on the highway when feathered. Best carb ever!

 

AND, roast the hydes when you laid into it right?

 

Try coasting down hill in a hurricane...with the engine off...your results may vary.

 

on the right day.... if i drive real carefull.... my 72 f250 gets 10!

 

Yes!!! It was the perfect match of economy , throttle response and brute torque when needed. I heard somebody bought the tooling from GM and then destroyed it.
I will put a Q-Jet on the 360 in my F-100 when it is done restored. The Edelbrock carb that was on it was just so,so.

 

i kick this around all the time, i wonder about overdrive ******s, different carb, cam , intake combos, I alwas come back to the same thing, payback, if you consider how much it will cost to gain a few mpg... gas still looks pretty cheap. i love the power of my 390 but I cant see it getting 10 or 15 mpg more no matter what I do to it.

 

My stock(rebuilt 2bbl carb, new fuel pump) 352(in my 62 Merc Monterey) with the stock three speed(cruise-o-matic) and stock 3.00 rear gets about 15mpg mostly back roads and i beat up on it a bit. Maybe Im just lucky

 

Rust you make a good point. Let's say you drive 3000 miles a year buying $4/gallon gas.
That will cost you $1200 in fuel at 10 mpg average and $800 at 15 mpg average.
15mpg average means that you must hit near 20 many times to even get there.
So you save $400/year. The average EFI/OD trans conversion is around $4000 and will only give you 15 average. It will take 10 years for the system to be cost effective....
I know, I know this is only academic as it seems to be always easier to spend a big chunk once then being needled every time you fill up......

 

Ahhh hell with the gas motor... what about throwing in a turbo diesel and transmission? Set it up to run on veggie oil... put the bio-diesel plant setup in the back yard shed and cruise. Should be good for a bit more fuel mileage.

Hell, I was taught that even though FORD meant First on Race Day you still be able to p*** everything on the road but the gas station!

 

So does that mean a B/RB/426 Hemi Mopar is a Y-Block?

 

66 f100 driven from nc to nj and got 15 on every tank. That was in the winter with dual exaust, edelbrock 600 cfm and 3.55s out back.

Same set up from nc to fl in the summer got 12, and that was with headers on it. I didn't re tune it for the summer, and it definatly didn't run like a top on that trip.

Now I've got an aluminum intake, petronix ignition, isky 262 cam, and in the process of rebuilding the carb and then tuning it and ill be driving from nc to md. Ill let you know how it goes.

 

My 390 hy per 335hp got 7 mpg in my 65 f100 stepside.

 

mine just went in the '54 panel, so I'll find out. it's a 390 with an old edelbrock streetmaster, pertronix dist, comp cam 255DEH (HYDRAULIC: Good torque and mileage. Good RV and towing camshaft. Works with stock exhaust.), going to run a 650 quadrajet, going to make headers for it, the rear gear is 3.00 now but have a 2.47 (1800 rpm @ 70 mph) to go in and 31" tall tires (215/85LT16). Every post/article I've read I'm guessing I should see around 15-18 mpg.

390 back home

 

If the crankshaft main bearings (caps) all sit up above the oil pan surface, then it would be a Y block, just a Mopar Y block. But I don't think that is the case! My guess is that the bearing caps sit below the oil pan surface making it a V block.

 

my wifes dad had a 66 galaxie 500 convert. It was a 390 2bbl with dual exhaust and the cruise o matic. He towed a 16 ft aluminum outboard with it all summer long, and it got 12 to 15 towing the boat and 18 on the highway without. Don't know what rearend it had, but when gas was 35 cents a gallon, he seemed pretty happy as his 6 cylinder maverick company car with the 6 and three speed only got 21 or so.

I have always thought a big engine that wasn't workihg hard usually got better mpg's the a small motor working hard all the time.


to the point my 4.0 Jeep cherokee got 17/20 tooling around and 10 pulling out 16 ft travel trailer.

 

I have owned and driven an ***load of FEs and 15 was as good as any of them ever got, mostly 12-13 is about it.

 

the tbi units arent worth thier weight in pig ****. they are fussy and don't have any kind of lean out for higher rpms, so they run rich if you get on it.

I had one on a 327 in a truck, got **** for mileage and was underpowered, swapped it for a 4bbl and picked up power and could get something that resembled mileage.