any small block Chevy guys here?

[wikked_spree57]

I bought this 83 chevy van with a carbureted 350 engine. it runs sweet but this is my question:

I know once I start driving this thing it's going to absolutely SUCK on the gas. Is there any way I can tune the carburetor to get better mileage out of it?

If it helps any, it has a Rochester QuadraJet with electric choke on it. I love the van to bits and pieces but I'd love it even more if there's tweaking I can do to attain better mileage.


This thing has almost every option you could think of. I've had Cadillacs that didn't even have s*** this thing does.

[Fishman43]

I had a '72 Chevy Nova with the 350 and a budy had a Blazer with the 350 and Quad carb as well, but back then gas was $0.99/gallon and we wanted to get as much HP out of them as we could not mileage. Sorry, can't help much with that. I do know that all the "add mileage" gadgets and fuel addatives are complete and total BS so save you money there to put into the gas tank.

[wikked_spree57]

I got a friend who's got a 1998 buick Regal with the infamous water set up on it... I didnt think it worked till i saw it, fuel pump fuse is pulled and the car runs about 400 miles on one gallon of water. It's painfully expensive and people say it cant be done but I have seen it with my own two eyes.

I hear it owrks best with carbureted vehicles, but it requires a BIG alternator and battery.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

And for all of you who believe that, PayPal me $99 for a carton of Texas Air. Carefully pour into your fuel tank and the car will run forever using no fuel or water!! Also you will win the Lottery and your Herpes will clear up.

[Fishman43]

PayPal me $99 for a carton of Texas Air. Carefully pour into your fuel tank and the car will run forever using no fuel or water!!

Make sure you up jet though, Texas air runs lean and burns holes in pistons.

[Trafficjamz]

Greetings:

And for all of you who believe that, PayPal me $99 for a carton of Texas Air. Carefully pour into your fuel tank and the car will run forever using no fuel or water!! Also you will win the Lottery and your Herpes will clear up.

Paypal sent

Can I get a Wheelman POWERBAND to go with my order too.

[wikked_spree57]

Hey now guys I'm not kidding. Next time I get down that way I'll grab pictures and some video. He lives 120 miles from here so we don't meet up too often.

[mustangwagz]

Good luck with fuel economy..lol Driving a van is like driving a brickwall. Aerodynamics is Virtually non existent. lol

as far as the water conversion thing your talkin about, ive also read and heard about this as well. If i remember correctly, it was made way back in the day, like when everyone started makin steam engine and buildin cars at a large scale (ford, gm dodge etc..) I believe a guy came up with the idea and patent for a motor that would run on water and it worked. Then the government bought him out and never used or sold the motor due to the fact that if they had, * good would gas do us? lol also i beleive it was a fear that all our water sources would be drained or depleated by automobiles n such?

Its been years since i read that but ill see if i can find the link again..

[Trafficjamz]

http://www.waterfuelcell.org/WFCproject ... Report.wmv

[kingearwig]

if you have lots of corn around... you can run ethanol. I wouldn't ever buy any E85 as you can't get a good enough price break on it ever but if you get your EtOH for free then that is a different story.

[ALOW1]

http://www.waterfuelcell.org/WFCproject ... Report.wmv

Stan Meyer, he was murdered because of what he knew. Oil is big money, it helps power our government........

[oldrock]

I'm a ford guy not a chevy guy but know a bit about older engines so will give you some general info on fuel economy. As mentioned, nothing is going to make a van with alot of air drag become a gas sipper but there are things you can do to improve mileage. Here are three things to consider:
1)different gear ratio - this one can have a nice impact on miles per gallon but is costly.
2)different carb - Converting from a 4 barrel to a 2 barrel can have some impact. You can also mod some 4 barrel carbs so the secondaries don't kick in. Not sure on details, i am a holley guy.
3) change the tires out - I know others will say no way but tires can make a 2-3mpg difference if you go to ones with very low rolling resistance.

Keep in mind that things that improve mileage also have other impacts such as poor acceleration under load or poor handling, etc.

[Eric12775]

Switch to EFI
Switch to an electric fan.
700R4 Trans.
Weight reduction.
Paint it black with a red stripe down the side with a spoiler on the back and call people "Fool!".

[wikked_spree57]

Oldrock I've got some 3.73, 3.42 and 4.11:1 differentials under my bench. Which will give the best? I'm an Edelbrock guy, I had a Holley carb on my old Firebird and for the life of me could not get it dialed right. I rebuilt it and still had a hesitation going to full throttle from any angle unless I eased on it. Of course, this was on a gas guzzling 400 small block with a 350 trubo trans, and the carburetor was a dual feed 1300CFM. Needless to say that son of a gun got literally 6 mpg, and other than the stumble on acceleration shoved 600HP at the wheels. Lots of $$ into the motor.

Eric, I've no clue what trans I have. I believe it's a 700R4. It has overdrive and TC lockup. Switching to electric is not a bad idea, considering the smog pump, emissions lines, and air conditioning pump, lines and condenser were removed by me. Those things right there shoved me from 10MPG to roughly 14 already. Maybe eliminating the drag on the water pump will gain one more MPG.


I don't want to make a gas sipper, but I am driving this 100 miles each way to work every night and it sucks almost 3/4 tank doing so at first. Now I'm backing up to around 5/8 of a tank round trip which is easier to manage.

I would liek to see 20MPG highway out of it and I would be more than happy with it. I could care less about stop and go mileage, that sucks in almost any vehicle.

I'm going to go with an Edelbrock Performer II intake and a 550CFM four barrel carb and see what happens. I have the back barrels disabled on my Qjet currently. and oldrock, I've been told by several mechanics, that a two barrel carburetor gets horrible mileage compared to a four barrel WITHOUT the secondaries being used.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Axt WikkedSpree:

Oldrock I've got some 3.73, 3.42 and 4.11:1 differentials under my bench. Which will give the best?

Think of it as the number of spins of the driveshaft per spin of the wheel. A 4.11 will be good at the dragstrip, not so much for mileage. Lower ratios = lower engine RPM = better mileage.

Having owned four full-sized vans, I can tell you with near-certainty that you won't see 20 MPG unless you're prepared to keep highway speeds below 60 all the time. I got close to 20 with a Ford that sported an inline 300-inch 6 and a fairly tall differential. V8s are lucky to see 15.