Arg, I can't believe I'm asking this question.... but here goes. those of you running relatively stock engine & drivetrain in the early 50's chev cars... have any of you taken note of your gas mileage on cruises or trips? Mine's a bone stock 54, 6 cylinder, 3 speed 2DR 210, stock drivetrain from the water pump to the drain plug in the rear diff. It's currently not running, I've never drove the car, it's relitively new to me. for some reason on the way to work this morning I started thinking about driving it to work in the summer months, about a 25 mile trip each way. And I wondered about mileage.....
It should get over 20 mpg if you don't crowd it too much. Changing to a 3.55 Powerglide rear end (yours is 4.11) will pick up a few mpg and allow 10 mph more cruising speed.
Actually, the old Chevy sixes, any old six from that era did not get great gas mileage. You have to remember they weren't as concerend with gas mileage then as we are now so not much emphasis was put into fuel economy. More emphasis was put into durability and reliability. I rebuilt the 216 in my 51 Chevy sedan and it gets around 13-14 mpg. They just weren't known for thier gas mileage. I agree though if you put the powerglide rear in it it will get a bit better, but do not let the 6 cylinder fool you into thinking you are driving gas saving car. If you are worried about gas milieage drive a Ford Fiesta
I have no statistics..or proof just seat of the pants feeling on this one. My 53 with the stock L6 with 3 speed, didnt get better gas mileage than it does now with a 300 H.P. 327/th350..3.73 rear gear. it is around the same. and i would say its about 18 to 20 MPG. That is when i behave and keep my foot out of it.----and that doesnt happen alot----
53-54 sticks had 3:70 gears. If everything is in proper tune, you should get around 16-18, maybe a little more. A T5 and 3:55 gears would get you into the 20-24 range.
And I'll have a comparison for when I put in the v8/th350/3.42 rear later this summer. I'd bet the 305 doesn't have to work as hard to go 70, and will do better.
I'm running a newly rebuilt 230 six punched 30 over with a pretty good size cam, some head work and an offy intake with a Holly 600 carb and i'm still getting around 17-18 mpg around town. This will be my first long trip in it and i'm hoping to get 20mph. Not sure what gears i have in the Ford 8" but it came out of an older mustang. I know they are not as low as the stock gears i had.
sounds cool, split the exhaust too? hey thatnks guys for all the replies. It sounds like I might want a taller set of gears for my TT rear & maybe just freshen up the 6. which brings another question, I haven't looked a whole bunch but I have looked a little bit at master rebuild kits for the 6, from what I've seen so far I'd almost be money ahead sticking a sbc/th350 in there & maybe a later stock GM rear axle like out of a late nova or similar sized gm rear in back. 3-fiddy-ish gears. Prices I've found so far for rebuilding my 6 seems like it would be a wash either way with a sbc being that much cheaper to build. almost seems like it would come down to pers pref for the drivetrain. am I way off on this? out to lunch?
northerndave...i found the same thing when researching a rebuild on the 235 in my '53...so i put a '68 vette 327 in instead...much more fun in my opinion...it upsets the purists a bit though...and people that take issue in putting a SBC in anything...but cost wise it was a bit cheaper
My basically bone stock '57 Chevy with the 235/powerglide got an average of 13mpg. ****s considering how slow the car is. 3 speed stick would help, especially with overdrive. And the stock rearend gearing is terrible. My car shifts into high gear doing 15mph. I have a '56 265 V8 for it that will go into it when the car gets redone.
I have an all stock '49 fleetline with a 3 spd. I checked mileage and got 19 on a trip . My 2002 v6 s-10 gets about the same.My we sure have come far over the years...... PAUL
very easy for me to favor the sbc for this car. when I was a kid I was working up a different 54 chev, a 2dr ht, bel air. it had no engine or trans so I found a SBC, built a 383 stroker (before you could buy "stroker kits" ) and had a th350 for it. I found a donor car, early 70's nove & stripped it of it's 10 bolt rear & it's subframe (figured I needed the updated front susp I guess) and the project was well under way when it was abandoned for my service in the US Marines & the car was given away while I was gone overseas by my folks who wanted the car out of the way. well, many years later, I have another 54 now & I'm anxious to get it on the road. I have a pair of 66 chev caprice donar cars for a 66 chev caprice driver i have, I suppose that rear axle is too wide for the ole 54 though. probably better off finding a narrower rear that was originally a leaf rear, less **** to cut off.
I'm running a 400" SBC, a turbo 400 and a '57 Chev rear with 3:55 gears in my '40 Stude...I get 20-21 at 70 per on the highway...sixes, back then, or today, were NOT economy cars...A V8 gets you more power...that's about it over a six...!!! R-
In my 53 i'm running the bone stock drivetrain with the exception of a split manifold and 12 volt ignition. I never figured mileage, but i know it's not that great as i stop to feed it pretty often. Probably around the 12-13 mark at best..maybe a little more on the highway only because i'm not in to it as much to get rolling...
does it do better on crackhead blood or does that mess things up? I bet the exhaust stinks like hell.
I run the original straight 6 in my '53 pickup with a straight pipe and it sounds so much cooler than a 350. Personally, I think you should run the motor that's in car already.
I have a 235 in a '37 Chevy coupe with 3.73 gears and an in-line, torque tube mounted OD. I got 23 mpg average running 70 mph out to Rapid City, South Dakota and back (3600 mile trip) two years ago. Around town, I get around 16 mpg.
In the 54 I had several years ago, it was a stock drivetrain, except fenton headers and duals through smithys Pertronix instead of points adapter with a single 2bbl. carb. otherwise stock. It would flat out run on the highway, and get 22-ish mpg.
I'll add mine to the list. 54 210, 58 235, Howard's cam, shaved head, decked block, HEI, Fenton headers, duals. 2:93 nova rear. Saginaw 4 speed, 3.50 1st. Ran with one 2gc and would get 21 on highway at 75-80. Changed to 2 B Rochesters on an Offy, now get 15-16 highway. What are ya gonna do? The price of being cool. Frank
In my 54 I had a new 350 crate, 700r4 overdrive ****** and a 2.56 gear in the rear. Not the quickest off the line by no means but it got GREAT mileage and I could do 100 at like 1500 rpms lol...
Man, how are you getting that gas mileage? I have an sbc 400 with a turbo 350 and a 70's Nova 10 bolt (don't know the gearing on these, must be in the low 3's b/c it cruises nice on the hwy) in my 53 HT and am getting 8-10 at most???? I was trying to figure out what size carb is on it, but haven't got around to pulling it off to get the number off it so I can cross reference it. I was considering yanking out the 400 and going back to an inline 6 but think I am going to figure out how to get my 400 a little more fuel efficient.
I always wonder about fuel mileage claims often also. I dunno. My 54 with a completely stock 235 but with a Powerglide gets around 15 mpg. Doesn't matter where I drive it. The powerglide isn't very efficient at transfering power so you should be able to do better with a standard. I know people who have done the gear swap and it's not made a huge difference. These old engines weren't designed for full efficiency. I guess with gas at $3.50 a little difference makes a difference.
people think 6 cylinderrs are great on mileage, i thought they be when i bought my 58 chevy, but there not that great, there slow, dont sound good and not to brag out about milage, go with a v8... i had a 58 chevy with the 235 and my friend had a 54 chevy with a 305, he used less gas than me on the way to a show to ct
Sounds like some of you guys might want to have your speed verified for accuracy. If you speedo is just 5mph off, it can make a significant difference in your milage readings... Rochester B's are always overjetted. Get an air/fuel ratio guage setup and use it to fine tune you carbs. Better yet, get a progressive Holley-Weber or Holley-Carter 2bbl and adapter from Tom Langdon. That should give you some improvement also. Iron powerglides are notorious for causing poor performance and fuel economy regardless of rearend gearing. Ultimately for any engine to run at its most efficient point, you need to determine where the break specific fuel consumption is at. Generally its a few hundred rpms below peak torque.
The Jalopy Journal
