73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Engine/Drivetrain => Topic started by: chriswalkoe on November 27, 2012, 05:54:33 pm
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I just did a 55 mile round trip drive, all freeway, and I filled up before leaving and right when I got back. 13.75 mpg. Ug :(
My truck is my daily driver so I need to maximize my gas mileage. Would it make sense to switch over to a quadrajet? My motor is a Gen 1 350 Chevy with headers, dual exhaust and mild cam (I have no idea what the specs are). Cast iron intake. 4 speed manual, 31x10.5 tires and stock rear end as far as I can tell. 82' K10.
Any advice would be appreciated!
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I forgot to add I have an Edelbrock Performer carb on their now. Not sure of the size
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Do you have a 1405 (manual choke) or 1406 (electric choke)? The 1405 is designed and jetted for aggressive engines. The 1406 will get better mileage and work better with a mild cam.
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When I got the truck it was rigged to be manual even though it might be electric. In any event, there is no juice running to the choke and I removed the manual setup which was rigged wrong anyway. The truck seems to run fine which is why I haven't addressed it yet
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The problem is not the choke. It is the calibration of the carburetor. I.e. different jets, centuries, bleed jets, etc. I changed mine out on my hot rod and got much better mileage and adjustability. I put a 1403 on my truck. I am sure it will do fine once adjusted and set up properly, it is a 500 Cfm version.
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I just did a 55 mile round trip drive, all freeway, and I filled up before leaving and right when I got back. 13.75 mpg. Ug :(
My truck is my daily driver so I need to maximize my gas mileage. Would it make sense to switch over to a quadrajet? My motor is a Gen 1 350 Chevy with headers, dual exhaust and mild cam (I have no idea what the specs are). Cast iron intake. 4 speed manual, 31x10.5 tires and stock rear end as far as I can tell. 82' K10.
Any advice would be appreciated!
With your current set up, I would say you are getting pretty good mileage, considering no overdrive and a standard transmission. I know you want more and as rockable said it would make a small difference in carb's, but only to the point of you keeping your foot out of the secondaries.
Have to ask, does it have a good tune up ? Tires inflated correctly ? All these little things can make up 1 or 1.5 mpg with the proper driving technique's.
Other than that your taking about TBI or FI for your engine, or overdrive for your transmission. Or rear end swap to a taller set so you get better hyway mileage.
I assume it is 2wd since you did not mention 4wd.
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Tires are inflated to 40 psi and the motor has new wires and plugs and a clean air filter. I have yet to have the carb checked out or the distributor. It seems to run fine though, idles well, and has enough power considering it's stock with a cam (not sure what it is, just a nice lope to it). The truck is a 4wd K10 with a NP204
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Sure its not an np203 or 205? I've never heard of one of these trucks with anything but a 203, 205, or 208...
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I think getting 13.75 mpg on the highway out of a 1982 Chevrolet K10 with a carburetor and no overdrive is doing pretty well. I get 14 mpg on the highway out of my 2005 Chevrolet 2500 4x4 with fuel injection and 5-speed overdrive manual transmission.
You could probably do some tuning and change metering rods on the Edelbrock you have and gain a little extra mpg, but I wouldn't expect to gain a whole lot of extra mpg. Without knowing all the details (especially axle gear ratio) the highway mpg doesn't sound horrible considering your setup.
The Quadrajet can give you a crisper throttle response, but the difference between a properly tuned Q-jet versus a properly tuned AFB/Edelbrock should be minimal. A newer design intake and heads may give you some more power and possibly a bit more mpg, but probably isn't worth the investment if you're primarily concerned with fuel mileage.
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Hello, I'm new on the forum here, and looking around at posts that contain "quadrajet," and came across this. Admittingly, I don't know much about the specific equipment mentioned here, but I do know that 2 bbl carbs get much better mileage than 4's. Also, sometimes the secondaries on a 4bbl can be disconnected and that results in better mileage too. Just thought I'd mention that since nobody else did.
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13.75 mpg isn't that bad my 87 tbi 350, 3/4 ton, 2wd can squeeze out 14 on the highway if I'm really trying.