I was leafing through some of my old gas reciepts, and did a little figuring, and made the unholy discovery that my stock Wildcat 375 (340cid) with 4bbl Carter AFB is getting less than 9 miles a gallon? Is this normal? I look around the board and read about people running street/strip 455s and getting 17-18 mpg, and I die a little inside. Is this mileage normal? What on earth can I do to improve it? ~Mike '66 Skylark 340-4
Dont feel too bad. I read somewhere that my Riv gets 11.5 miles per gallon. I have a suzuki samurai that gets about 12... o No:
What's the condition of the engine? What cam you running? What ignition? Is it tuned? What are your driving habits like? I sure as heck do not get 17 MPG from my 462, true daily driver, even when it had a stock cam. I get more like 11, and that's when I am babying it
On the highway trip to and from Salem last year I averaged 10 MPG with my 462. Your small block just might not have the balls it takes to efficiently move your big Wildcat, and it will use a lot of fuel just to get it motivating.
My car drinks like a camel every time I bring it in to fill up, it's like it hasn't seen fuel for a very long time and is super thirsty... I probably get arond 10 mpg or something, it's just part of the deal when you drive something like this..
Just think of it this way. My dad's '70 Charger with a 440 Magnum ran 10mpg until he added a 6-pak and it dropped down to 7mpg!
o No: I have the same fun with my 68 ragtop, i run a 67-430-ci, stock carb-cam -3.23 gears th350,with headers...and get 10mpg...and i also have to run premium. I can tow the car with my GMC and get 12mph..but i look damn funny sitting in the car with the top down while my wife tows me down the x-way.... :3gears: That 340 must be huffung to pull that barge...maby you can change the gear and gain some MGH....but it will suffer the 1/4mi et!!!! Have fun!
Well really, I wouldn't complain as much if I enjoyed the same luxuries as you guys- mean rumble, hot performance, severe bad-assedness :Brow: I, on the other hand, am just crawling to and from school, I never get on it and actually coast whenever humanly possible. Its a pure stock motor with stock cam, stock everything, never been rebuilt, auto trans. I do intend to buy a daily driver someday, but for right now I can barely afford having one car. Any thoughts to get me by in the meantime? ~Mike '66 Skylark 340-4
Tune up??? Maby overinflate the tires.....run synthetic oil, if the engine isnt too loose......Syphon gas form parked cars???? J/K no gas stealing. I GOT IT!!!!! Find a free 455 ci. drop in the Lark....get 10mpg and have a heck of alot more fun!!!! :3gears:
My 66 340 4bbl. Lark averages about 11.5. It has a 2 sp. trans and 82,000 mi. and is recently tuned. I'm afraid it doesn't get much better. I'd still rather drive it than any rice burner I've ever laid eyes on. BTW the 70 Stage 1 got 14 on a run to the Woodward Cruise in 2003. All highway and 60 mph though. Manual trans probably a factor too.
Well really, I wouldn't complain as much if I enjoyed the same luxuries as you guys- mean rumble, hot performance, severe bad-assedness :Brow: I, on the other hand, am just crawling to and from school, I never get on it and actually coast whenever humanly possible. Its a pure stock motor with stock cam, stock everything, never been rebuilt, auto trans. I do intend to buy a daily driver someday, but for right now I can barely afford having one car. Any thoughts to get me by in the meantime? ~Mike '66 Skylark 340-4
In 1971 I had a 69 Z-28. I promptly blew the DZ302 and replaced it with a built 327 using the 2.02 heads and other goodies(they were a dime a dozen back then). I installed 4:11 gears through a Muncie Rock Crusher. Just for the heck of it I decided to check my fuel mileage (around town). I barely hit 5 mpg. It was a badge of honor, especially at 25 cents a gallon. My father-in-laws Peterbuilt was getting 5 mpg (with a 40' trailer). Anyway, my Lark has the 300 4 bbl. and I average between 13-14 mpg non-highway, not great but when you consider what other forms of entertainment costs today (movies, sports, concerts), I'd rather be croozin'!
I managed 12 mpg with this MASSIVE LAND YACHT on it's maiden voyage (prior to a much needed tune-up). After the tune-up I'm hoping for about 15 mpg !!!!!! This baby "FLOATS" down the road in COMFORT and STYLE !!!!!!!! :TU: :TU: :TU:
You might be able to jet down the carb since you never get on the gas. You should check again if possible, there's no way you can be getting 9mpg with an all stock engine like that, it's crazy if you really are.
Its a close guesstimate, but I guess its not exactly percise. I last filled up the car when it was about at a quarter tank, and the bloody gas nozzle won't fit on my filler tube right, so it fell out before I could get a full tank of gas, so I ended up only getting ten gallons. I checked the milage last night when it was at last time (quarter tank), and I'd put 90 miles on it. 10 gallons of gas/90 miles, pretty straightforward math. I know you're supposed to fill it all the way up and then check the miles after a while... but I honestly can't afford to fill it all the way up! ou: ~Mike '66 Skylark 340-4
Does your tank have something like a 1 gallon reserve in it? Secondaries stuck open? Idle set too high?
On a recent 1200 mile trip I averaged 18.7 MPG in my 69 with a stock 350 (minus carb, exhaust and a bit of timing). I was stunned to see I was almost at 20 MPG. Mind you this is on the freeway wiht an average speed of 70 MPH. Around town I doubt I get more than 8 or 9. I like the sound of :3gears: .
I'm not too sure about either the secondaries, or the idle... and honestly, I'm scared to death to touch them. When I first got this car a few months ago, I read some things, and started trying to adjust a few things to make it run a little nicer, and I ended up screwing it up so bad it ended up in the show for 3 days and I got footed a $300 bill for "labor". Where would I even begin, to find out if those were off, or how to fix the problem? When its cold, the car won't idle at all without pressure on the gas, and tends to stall a few times before I can get it going, does that reveal anything to the car-smart mind? ~Mike '66 Skylark 340-4
