Can you effectively and withing finanical reason, modify an older 70's era large FORD sedan to get better MPG

Question

What can a person do within reason to get a typical 70's era large Ford sedan to get a whole lot better MPG than they typically get?

Lets say for the sake of an example, a 70-something LTD 4 door sedan or wagon with a 460-V8 or the 400-V8 or perhaps the 351-V8. Those cars as I remember always got no better than 12 or so around town, 20 on the highway in a tailwind going 50!

I like the looks of these tank-like Fords, but wonder what kinds of modern technology I can add or change to and be within cost reason to bring up the MPG on these beasts?

Thanks.

Answer 1

They can get get decent MPG if you go all the way, but this is only good if you really like the car. Or you can keep it as a weekend car and get a civic for everyday commuting.

The 351W or 460 are the best choices for MPG. The 400M or 351M have a poor head design that hurts MPG. Plus make sure the motor has a good tune up and it is in good repair.

Get rid of the motor driven fan and put electrics. That fan weighs up to 20 pounds.

Get a free flowing exhaust and K+N filter. The exhaust can add alot on its own.

Overdrive transmission with a locking converter will be the icing on the cake in the MPG war.

I had a 72 Buick Electra with the 455 and all the mods listed above with a 3.23 rear end gearing and 235/70/15 tires, and before the motor got to old I was able to get a highway mileage of 23mpg at 70mph. Mind you I did have a professionaly built carb, and cruise control which helps becouse the trottle is constant. My city mpg was still around 12-15 becouse accelerating weight always takes gas, but once I got it moving the 455's short stroke used very little gas for the size of the car and its weight.

If you get the 460 its very simalar to the 455 in its bore stroke ratio, and is itself very efficent for its size.

I also feel if I did rebuild the motor I would of gotten over 25mpg, but I bought a 72 bug which was at its best only got 28mpg. Plus it had no AC or heat like my Buick.

Answer 2

Buy yourself a drill and get about 40 3/8" drill bits. Start drilling holes in areas you can't see from the outside. After about a month of extra time the insides of the car should be looking like swiss-cheese. You have probably reduced the wieght by a 1/2 ton or so. Now, get yourself a BOOMIN stereo so you can't hear the wind noise. And, get some cheap sunglasses so road debris don't get in your eyes. The bonus is if your buddy pukes all over it will just drain right out. And after all this, you can get at least 3-5 extra miles per tank of gas.

Answer 3

You could convert it over to fuel injection with an aftermarket system. That should help. Free up the exhaust a little. That's about all I can tell you other than filling the tires with air and taking out all the unnecessary weight.

Answer 4

Thanks for the laughs. I woke up crying and I really needed that. I laughed until my stomach. I will make sure my friends get a copy of this (If I can find a friend today?) I always like the ones about the little children because I am not sure these are jokes. Out of the mouths of babes they could be true. This one certainly deserves a star. It nice to get one that is not a complaint! Have a wonderful day and thanks for the laugh!

Answer 5

To began with a good tune up will help but that 460 will eat the gas and nothing you can really do about that, Also keep the carb, tuned and that will help. hope this helps

Answer 6

well those large cars are not known for gas mileage then and not now. even if you go fuel injection you will still get 12 -20 on fuel. maybe if you did some weight reduction your mileage will increase but other than that i don't see a way of increasing your fuel mileage

Answer 7

Only driving it correctly. Make sure the ingition timing is correct, and the dist. vaccum advance works.
Other than that, the only thing is to change the axle ratio, but those years they were put as high as they could.

Answer 8

LOL...nothing can be done...really...tune it,,, fill tires.. trade it for 4 cylinder...20 mpg LOL times 10