Improving gas mileage

Hello everyone, I am getting ready to do some minor engine work on my econoline and was wondering what (if anything) you guys do to improve gas mileage. I have the 240, with a 3 speed manual, and I'm hoping that with the right amount of tuning and careful driving, I can get some decent mpgs out of this thing! I'm planning on driving cross country and would really like to not spend a fortune! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The hard thing SoapDude is we are driving bricks on wheels so that will always hurt us. I have heard some members saying 18-20

the box fish has a super low coefficient of drag. a recent vehicle was modeled on it. it is a box and you would never thimk it was so dynamic. also the k-car had a lower c.e.d. than the porsche of the same year. i would be interested to know what the numbers are for the early vans.
as far as fuel efficency its all the regular boring stuff that adds up. properly inflated tires, sparkplugs, vacuum advance not leaking, good carburation etc...its all tune up stuff and good tires. after that its really just fords fault. you could try a hydrogen still in your van like a guy i know did. but there are drawbacks. like a nice little explosion that blew all the seals out of the motor and shrapnelized the plastic valve cover so hardcore that it made sharpedged dents in the closed hood. it literally would have torn your face off. thats all just my opinion of course.

The fuel economy is a little tiresome on my van....and I'm trying do do what I can to reduce it.

Only thing that has worked so far is to work out the mpg using US gallons (1 = 3.78 litres) - instead of the imperial gallons ( 1 = 4.55 litres) that we use down here.

Regards,
Rhys

I'm seriously considering buying one of these....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-OMEGA-2-5-TD-SELECT-BLACK-/380319298875?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item588ccbf53b

and doing a major transplant. The Vauxhall Omega has a straight six 2.5 litre (about 150 cubic inches) turbo diesel engine made by BMW. It is good for 160 bhp and 260 lb/ft of torque whilst still achieving 40 mpg. Sounds very appealing to me considering we are currently paying $8.54 for a gallon of fuel.....!!!

18-20 should be standard for a 240 in good condition, shouldn't it? I mean obviously once you get to be 50 years old, efficiency is going to suffer... I agree that all the little stuff is the big stuff haha.. I wonder if anyone has tried to run cold air to the air box.....?

That diesel engine would be amazing Hollinshead!

My 67 clubwagon after not running for a year when I bought it, I put new plugs,wires,oil,reman carb and got 21mpg on the highway,the axle bearings were shot and 3.00 gears had so much rust, it was howling so bad we could not talk when doing 55, I replaced everything in the rear, full synthetics this summer maybe even better? tire size 205/70/14

cold air induction on my 65 Econo.

That's great TB, which motor do you have?

Vanishing, that thing looks awesome, I just found your post on it. Great job! Have you noticed an improvement in mpg? Where did you get the box to fit over the carb? Thanks!

that is a 200 ci motor. I have the same cold air intake waiting for my 240 in my 61. The carb hat or "bonnett' sells on ebay all the time.they are same same size in diameter as the carb so you don't need a lot of room.

yes I do get better mileage and better performance.

Great info, thanks again! Are these what you mean?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bonnet-Plenum-Carb-Carburetor-Velocity-Hat-Dakota-SBC-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4cf5242ba4QQitemZ330530302884QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_499wt_1183

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Blow-Through-Carb-Hat-Throttle-Body-Turbo-Bonnet-TALL-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eb38443ebQQitemZ200580285419QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_4065wt_939

I have a 240, I forgot to mention I had to rebuild my auto trans also.

Mine is a 62 and has no custom parts and gets 16 hwy and 12-14 city dependong on traffic.

TB, sounds like you have had a productive winter! I'll be interested to hear what kind of mileage you're getting this summer.

I think I'm going to run one of these cold air intakes. I've always put them on almost everything I've driven specifically for the mpg increase. The added power is nice too!

SoapDude wrote:Great info, thanks again! Are these what you mean?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bonnet-Plenum-Carb-Carburetor-Velocity-Hat-Dakota-SBC-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4cf5242ba4QQitemZ330530302884QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_499wt_1183

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Blow-Through-Carb-Hat-Throttle-Body-Turbo-Bonnet-TALL-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eb38443ebQQitemZ200580285419QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_4065wt_939

yes. I got mine from the speed shop when it was called No Limit Engineering. got all the parts from them. don't use the plastic parts sold at Auto Zone and other places. use the chrome steel parts from the speed shop.

Excellent thanks for the tips!

SoapDude wrote:Excellent thanks for the tips!

always glad to help