Hi all, ok i'm confused now.:-( I'm working on restoring a '58 that is going to be a daily driver about town and occasional 100 mile trip or so. I'm currently rebuilding and overhauling the stock 283 that was in it and am put it next to a 350 auto transmission. Now this is my first restoration and i'm pretty excited about it and have been researching plenty about it. My biggest concern is fuel economy since i will be driving this thing pretty often. and will also like to cruise at least up to 65 on the interstate. I've heard there are lots of things to increase my economy, upgrade the carbuerator(spelling?), change the gears in the differential, etc... but i'm kind of wading through too much info. Can you all make any suggestions about what type of carb or diff gears or whatever else i can do to increase my fuel economy? ideally i'd like to shoot for at least 15 mpg or more. how unrealistic is that? thank heaps for any help. -Mike L. -Haybales are great fun...well..kind of.
I don't think that would be to hard to do, but you will need to get you a taller gear in the rearend if you have anything lower than a 3.55 or a 4.10. We offer a 3.38 for your truck that would let it run down the road with everybody else with out giving your motor a workout. It's a 93-513 and it is for a 1/2 ton truck. It cost $399.95. We also offer 2 different installation kits for the transplant. A complete kit that has every thing to make your rearend like new 93-514 $199.95 or a Lite kit 93-515 $114.95 and it has everything but the axle bearings and seals. If you want more details give us a call at 1-800-741-1678
Change the rear tires to taller ones will also help the fuel milage , you might consider installing an OD try auto tranny as they help quite a bit too - you truck will _not_ be ' restored ' since you/re not keeping the original typ tranny sp might as well swap the pumpkin , this is a popular and good way to go as it's a bolt up deal . if you're poor the junkyards are full of good used rear ends in various ratios , time to count teeth . Replacing the carby is the _last_ thing you want to do , rebuild the stock one and see if you don;t like it first . -Nate
Great thanks for the tips, yeah your right i'm not really 'restoring' it I guess....More of just modernizing a nice old truck. i'll look into some junkyards locally to see if they can help out a poor college kid. thanks again. -Mike
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Jul-01-03 AT 08:17 PM (CST)]Well if it helps I once had a 73 ElCamino with a 350 and a 3.73 rear end and a 350 trans with a shift kit. I got 18 miles per gal.
we got a 77 elcamino and it gets 16-18mpg. don't know much about it accept that is got a 350 and an auto tranny. cowboy
>-Haybales are great fun...well..kind of. I think you are definitely confused about the hay baling part, unless you're rolling it. I'd definitely get a taller set of gears, say 3.08 or 3.42. For what its worth I used to have an 86 4x4 with a 4bbl 305, a four-speed manual w/bulldog and 2.73 gears. It got 15 mpg from driving around town.
I've got a 350 engine with a mild cam, block-hugger headers, and Edelbrock Performer intake, Edelbrock Performer 4bbl carb, TH350 trans, 12-bolt Chevy rear end and 15" rear / 14" front wheels. I'm getting 16 mpg, and on the highway, at 70 mph, I'm turning 2000 rpm.
Not really in reference to your gas mileage but to your truck itself! Great looking truck! I'm rebuilding a 55 [1st] so far plan to keep it original but after seeing yours hmmmmmm. Great web site also and thanks for the tips....Bob
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Aug-19-03 AT 10:19 PM (CST)]Thanks, Bob I like the idea of maintaining an original look to my truck (mirrors, door handles, vent windows, etc.), but I think it's fun to punch up the mechanics and be able to growl a bit (350 sbc, Edelbrock stuff), and also, since I bought this truck instead of buying a "new car," the independent front suspension, automatic trans and 12-bolt Chevy rear, makes for easy highway driving and handling, too. Wait till you see what I do with the interior! I've already put a Gennie shifter and hand-brake in, AC and new heater, and a '55 Chevy cassette/radio stereo, but now I'm focusing on a pair of power seats out of a Lincoln and then I'll be doing the whOle interior in 2 colors of vinyl. That's what so much fun about these ol' trucks ... you can do a lot of different things and enjoy them, I think, a whole lot more than any new car or truck. I'm having so much fun I can hardly believe it! I've never done this before, but now I'm saying, "Man, if I ever get finished with this truck, I'll HAVE TO buy another! I don't ever want to stop doing this!" PS -- Any pics of your truck? I just LOVE looking at other peoples' trucks, man! I sold my original quad-gauge assembly to a guy this past Monday ... we met at a local auto store - he with his 51 and me with my 54 - and we had all kinds of people coming by and admiring our trucks. I had a blast, looking at his restored truck (straight 6, 3-speed, etc.) and swapping stories.
Sorry to contradict Nate, but the original 1 or 2 barrels carb, even rebuilt, HAS to go first! Ideally go for EFI ,swapping a throttle body from a truck from the '90s is not difficult, there are a few tricks to figure out, but I would be surprised if no one here had ever done that, you can also go aftermarket (see Hot Rod mag this month), it is not necessarily very expensive; otherwise go for a Quadrajet carb (available new or a rebuilt one) preferably on a modern intake (Edelbrock Performer). Then go for an HEI distributor and a 4-speed auto trans (a Turbo700R4 will bolt in place of the TH350 but requires a shorter drive shaft) which gives you shorter 1st gear and over-drive 4th gear, this is better than changing the rear end ratio (changing the rear end for highway will kill city driving, and the other way round...). On my '57 BelAir with a 327ci, simply swapping from the original carb and intake to a Q-Jet made the car faster and use less gas! The original carb is outdated and should only be used on a real restoration. EFI would have given even better result. You do not need headers, stock exhaust manifolds will preserve the engine torque, but make sure you do have free flowing exhaust and muffler; again, no need for dual exhaust. Then a good pro tune-up. Simple, reliable, easy to maintain! Enjoy!
Fair Enough He'd said it's a V-8 so that'd be a 2BBL carby . You're 100 % right , dropping a well sorted out Rochester Quadrajet or Carter / Holly 4BBL carby will indeed boost both power and fuel economy , assuming of course you can resist flooring it all the time.....
