[Buckeye Bob]

I have a 51 ford f1 with a 302 & aod & the original 3:73 rear
I have an old holley 4 bbl on it-right now i am only getting 10-12 mpg
I thought that I should be getting better gas mileage than 10-12
any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated,thanks Bob
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[ap72]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Bob

I have a 51 ford f1 with a 302 & aod & the original 3:73 rear
I have an old holley 4 bbl on it-right now i am only getting 10-12 mpg
I thought that I should be getting better gas mileage than 10-12
any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated,thanks Bob
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an old heavy truck with a holley carb... that seems about right actually.

[delawarebill]

i get about 15 in my bucket.. i didn't build it for fuel economy. what did u think u should be getting, or like to get ???

[Irelands child]

Put a decent and clean 600cfm carb on it, check/replace the plugs, plug wires, put the timing at 9-10 degrees, make sure the vacuum advance canister is in good shape, air up the tires, make sure it really has a 3.73 ratio, not somewhere in the 4's like most of these trucks ran - then let us know. Oh and my 2300 pound '31 roadster with a mild 5.0/3.25 gears - gets ~15 -16 on its best day - it's a hobby car, not an econobox like the daily driver.

Dave W

[rickman2k]

that sounds good to me

[JeffB]

Read a members comments on a Summit Carb also on a 302: Summit 600cfm 4v What intake manifold and distributor and camshaft are you running?

[poncho62]

Lose the Holley...

I also have a 51 F1, but with a 350 Chevy, turbo350 and 3.08 gears......I dont get much better than you. I have an Edelbrock carb on it, I think a 600. I know it needs rebuilding. I have a 500 Carter that I am going to put a kit in and try it.

[bigdog7373]

That seems about right to me too. If the bad mileage bothers you that much then you can look into fuel injection systems.
If you have a high stall converter and/or a lumpy cam that would hurt mileage too.
Also the way you drive has a huge effect on mpg's.

[against all odds]

i think the first thing to do is to determine that the actual way we are calculating mpg and that it is consistent and correct.

[1971BB427]

Is this 10-12 mpg all around, in town, or on the highway. If it's in town it's good, if it's all around it's just OK, and if it's highway I'd say it's poor. I've got a mild 350 in a heavy '69 Suburban with TH400 and 3.73 posi, and I get 16-17 on the highway, and around 13-14 in town, with a 600 cfm Holley, headers, and dual exhaust. Heck, I get almost 13 with my car trailer and my gasser hooked behind it on the highway.