I am looking for suggestions on getting more gas milage out of my
350 V8 in a '85 Chev 4WD, besides trading for a Honda or not driving it at all. It is well tuned, has a new Holly carb, the tailgate is removed and I am considering the following: (has automatic trans) --manual hubs for the front to release the full time 4WD. --a new dual exhaust system from the cat back, with no muffler. Any other suggestions appreciated. I would be happy with 10 or 12 MPG.zul
How many miles on it? What are the gears? 3 or 4spd auto?
has a new Holly carb,
OK...Forget gas milage! Ditch the carb for a Q-jet or Edelbrock Performer carb! I wouls sugjest the Performer...Its half the price and easy to tune!
| the tailgate is removed and I am considering the following: (has automatic trans)
| --manual hubs for the front to release the full time 4WD.
Who did the full-time conversion? It should have the factory auto-hubs or lock-outs! Probably the auto-hubs with the '4x4' sticker on them! As long as they are clean and not damaged, they work fine and do fully disengage the front end!
|--a new dual exhaust system from the cat back, with no muffler.
Well aside from being annoyingly loud, it wont help much if any! Install a new monolithic converter and run a performance muffler! I went from true duals with glass packs to H-pipe duals with glass packs to H-pipe duals with custom chambered mufflers to single exhaust with one custom chambered muffler. The single exhaust has done more for my MPG and performance than any of the others! By the way, all were run with full length headers and no cat!
| Any other suggestions appreciated. I would be happy with 10 or 12 MPG. | | zul | |
Can you give some more details of your setup ? Pipe diameter at collectors ? Pipe diameter to the back ? Type of 'custom chambered muffler' ?
The Muffler is something I designed and built when I worked for a muffler manufacturer! It is a small case muffler with 3' center in/out with a dual 3" center core with 2 center plates essentially dividing the muffler into 4 chambers. It has been tested for back pressure on a test engine and it had slightly more back pressure than a 3"core class pack and has a VERY distinctive sound! It is about HALF the Db level of a glass pack and flows far more than a 'turbo' design! I made two just for kicks! They were far to difficult to mass produce so my design was never put into production...
Your tailgate is costing you miles. With the tailgate, a triangle of air is "captured" for the most part from the roof to the top of the tail gate. When you remove it, this gets all messed up. It has been scientifically proven in a wind tunnel that removing the tail gate DOES increase the coefficient of drag!
~KJ/TLGM
is it lifted? bigger tires? brushguard? extra weight?
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