1973 econoline/2013 G 10

hello... owned a 1963 ford van in 1973 and although i've owned some really great sports cars since (trucks, etc.), i've never forgotten that van... well, i just bought a 1966 chevy G 10... valves were stuck from sitting, radiator plugged, carb leaked, needs rubber moldings at the windows and doors, sits in primer but overall a great running/driving van... been on the road for several weeks now... found a new 3 core copper mustang radiator at autozone for 135... required a couple of thin pieces of metal to widen for installation, reversed the outlet on the top of the motor to the passenger side, shortened the hoses a bit and voila, no more overheating...

van came with 2 carter yf carbs... both 4375s with different jetting... can't read the numbers on the jets but one is longer and obviously larger... i've taken the two carbs and made one dependable carb... have tried both jets but have chosen to go with the larger as i don't want to run it too lean... i set the float at approximately level as i've read 5/16, 7/16 and one book said 8/16... quite a difference... a 1966 service manual sure would be an asset...

i'm wondering if a rochester b carb would be a worthwhile investment... i have a 230 cubic inch motor, 10 bolt rear (3.36 i assume), 235 75 15 rear tires, 3 speed and i'm mainly concerned with mileage... i've been avoiding highway speeds and am getting about 20 mpg... i believe 25 mpg is possible for a vehicle in this weight range (original drive line) although i've read some horror stories of 10 mpg... would i see an improvement with an original b carb over the yf?.. stick with the yf and jet it appropriately >> which is jet # __?..

any thoughts/advise is appreciated?

love these vans,

chasgas

very thankful to have found such a great site..........................

this weekend there's a van show in weedsport ny at the cayuga county fairgrounds... 14/15/16.........................

Welcome to VV!!!

Welcome to VV. You are in good hands here, and someone will chime in with the answers you seek.

Welcome Chasgas. If I don't run to hard I get around 20-22 in my 64 with a 68 250& 3 speed. Think I got a yf on it. Not sure what rear gears are??Got 275x60x15 tires on rear
Hopefull Don can answer your carb question

Welcome to V-V!!

Joel

thanks for the nice welcome...

savage, 20-22 mpg with a 250 c.i. is certainly going in the right direction...

the accuracy of the odometer/speedometer is not trustworthy in my opinion but i've yet to hit the local highway's marked mile... the "guesstimate" comes from keeping track of the miles to work and back and the gallons of gas purchased... it's getting very close to 20 mpg if not a bit better...

don, based purely on mpg considerations, which carb would you suggest and could you share the optimum jetting/set up?..

thanks...

chasgas

where to start? a) van weighs less than 3000 lbs... b) 10 bolt rear which depicts a fairly good ratio which is only improved by 235/75/15 tires... c) 230 ci straight six manual *driven LIGHT ON THE RIGHT* (foot that is)... d) as little high speed travel as possible which takes the lack of aerodynamics somewhat out of the picture...  

settle, nah... 25 mpg or bust... no offense...

i believe my carb questions may best be answered by a service manual... i should think someone would have copied and pasted one available to this site but i've yet to find it... anyone know of one available on line?.. free... 

respectfully,

chas

note: the fiero forum (i own several) along with several other forums i frequent, have complete copies of service manuals available for their online community... FREE, complete cover to cover, year to year... many threads contain picture references of said manuals when addressing questions... in the limited time i've spent here on this site, i've seen no such posted info... just wondering WHY (out loud)................................................

update: switched out my carter yf 4375s for a carter yf 4145s that had come off a 1966 chevy pickup with a 194 ci... bolted it straight on, just the way i received it from the seller...

went to carlisle truck event and averaged 25.6 mpg... 11 hours round trip... my latest "long distance" trip to syracuse we averaged just over 26 mpg... two people in the van, water, food, dual burner stove top, clothes (i packed for the 2 days and she for a week!), bed, tools, etc... a traveling motel... the best we had done with the 4375s was just over 22 mpg...

i must admit that we avoided highways as much as we could... the 1966 chevy van seems to prefer 45 mph although she'll stick with traffic generally... i also drive very conservatively but certainly not a hyper-miler... tires in front are 205 65r 15 and rears are 235 75r 15 (17.8% increased roll over stock), both at 32 lbs... i like the way the van sits with this combo otherwise i'd go with skinnier tires and improve the mpg's... i have a 10 bolt rear which i assume is the 3:36 ratio... i have not yet confirmed that...

i talked with another vanner who'd put a carb'd toyota 4 cylinder in his 65 chevy and got 28 mpg... wasn't happy with the power but it was worth the trade-off as he was only getting around 15 mpg with the original 6...

checked the odometer as per donovan's advise and found it was light 10%... checked it several times thinking it should have been closer to 20% with the change in tires but it proved out 10% light consistently... factored in when figuring the mpg's...

there's hope!!! 


chasgas

Holley made an economiser carb. i bought one and thus far I have recorded only a slight difference SOMETIMES. I can get about 16 when I am very easy on it, so if you get 25... Keep that Combo! I would be interested to see what you get for mileage at 60-65mph.

really no secret to better mileage: slower speeds, taller rear tires, conservative takeoffs, feathering back when hill climbing, tuned engine, etc... several members on this site report 22 mpg and add the disclaimer that they really don't drive conservatively... i also have access to ethanol free gas which actually doesn't seem to improve the numbers but the "old girl" runs better, especially at idle and lower rpm's...

i have the idle set as low as possible on this new carb... she'll idle "okay" for about 20 seconds or so but if you don't give her a little gas, she'll stall... my opinion would be that she's starving for fuel but it actually seems as though she's loading up... can't explain it... purely speculating but i'd say the metering rod could be adjusted a bit deeper into the jet... with the mileage, i can deal with the way it presently runs...

i pull a few plugs every 1000 (driven 4000 +) miles to read the lean to rich ratio... she's running plenty lean in my opinion... not much color but i attribute (possibly incorrectly) some of that to today's fuel... *would appreciate input from our experts*...

90% of my driving is in the hilly woodlands of upstate ny which is simply out of the question for most... no traffic jams, no freeways, country driving at its unhurried best...

good luck,

chasgas