I have a 71' pickup with a 350 engine and 3-speed auto transmission. I love my truck but can barely afford to drive the thing. Is there any way to improve the mileage?
If your getting from 9-13 mpg then your in the range of what I was getting on my 1970. I have a 99 tahoe that gets 12.9 to 13.2 in town so things have not changed that much as technology went into the V-8. Other then driving down hill all the time there is not much you can do. Obviously if you have larger then stock tires, dirty air filter, tired motor, slipping transmission, and on and on these can affect your mileage. So to answer you question to feed 8 cyclinders and ask for the gas mileage of a 4 it is not going to happen, sorry. But if you figure it out everone one this site will be your best friend.
have you rebuilt your carb lately? a good tune up? i had a 77 old once it sucked gas like it was going out of style lol. dad rebuilt my carb and doubled the gass milage in the ol beast you mite try that. small price to pay in a effert to gain a little.
overdrive if your carb is the original Quadrajet-try replacing it with an Edelbrock performer. these are great carbs out of the box-the #1406 600cfm with electric choke works great on a Chevy small block. if replacing a quadrajet, you will need an adapter plate(spreadbore to squarebore) for you stock intake. If you have already upgraded the carb and are serious you can change your rear end gear ratio( 4:10 to 3:73) or whatever or you can change the TH350 to a 700R4 which is the same trans with an overdrive- it fits right in, just have to shorten the driveshaft and away you go.. if all this is too expensive or not the way you want to go- try driving SLOWER its amazing how these trucks will get good mileage if you accelerate and brake easy and hold it at 55 on the highway. try it on at least one tank and see the difference.
