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Can an FE ever get over 9 mpg?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Roothawg, May 10, 2011.

  1. Tedd
    Joined: Jul 7, 2007
    Posts: 124

    Tedd
    Member

    Had a 390 Cougar that would average 19 mpg. This engine had an Edelbrock SP-2P intake with Autolite 4V carb, recurved factory ignition with an electronic conversion kit, C8AE-H heads with larger than stock exhaust valves, C6 automatic, and 2.93:1 rear gears. Would bump 21½ mpg on flat roads in a steady state cruise. This was before alcohol was added to the fuel though so I doubt it would do the same with todays gasoline.

     
  2. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    I have a lot of experience with 361 -391 FE's in medium trucks.They are a good engine with the only bad problem was sucking in intake gaskets and using a bit of oil with mileage.By the way,on typical suburban roads, a FE powered F-700 truck grossing about 20,000 lbs got 4-5 MPG if the driver didn't run wide open against governor.
     
  3. That engine look cool :cool:
     
  4. TooManyFords
    Joined: May 21, 2008
    Posts: 553

    TooManyFords
    Member
    from Peotone IL

    20 years ago I had a 1969 F250 Camper special that would get 10 empty and 9 with 12 foot slide in camper. 390 Holley 600 carb. My Dd is a 68 Camper special with a 390 and eldebrock intake dual exhaust and basic Holley 1850 and I see 13 on the highway and never check it in town. My 64 Galaxie 352 was getting 17 last year before breaker plate went bad in distributor. I installed rebuilt distributor and now get about 13. high rise 2x4 My buddys 1959 Ranchero with 390 and setup gets just slightly less.
     
  5. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    Besides the usual load and RPM the head design plays a factor in fuel mileage.A combustion chamber that is more detention resistant with a fast burn allowing a leaner fuel mixture,higher compression and more spark advance should get better mileage at part throttle.A heated intake give much better fuel mileage in town but can increase pinging and reduce full throttle power a bit.
    If the majority of guys are reporting 16 mpg from a carefully tuned FE,then that's what is is .
     
  6. [​IMG]
    I almost bought one of those intakes at Pate. It looks cool running the 2GC's
    Thought about it for a sec, and then couldn't find the space it was in. :/

    How do those intakes perform?
     
  7. Many years ago i had a 62 t-bird and a 68 mustang. I rebuilt both of these 390 motrs with 10.5 cr and a mild hyd cam that stopped making power at 6,000rpm, a alum 4v intake and a 600 holley card. The only real difference betewen the two motors was the birds motor had the brand new edelbrock alum heads and the mustang had ported GT iron heads . The t-bird had a fmx trans and the mustang was a 4sp. The t-bird was not as sensive to detonation so you could advance the timing resulting in better hwy millage over the mustang but neather of them ever got better than 16mpg. Fast forword to today i have a 60 t-bird with a healty 428 & c-6 with 455hp at the rear tires and it eats fuel. l am also building myself a 63 bird and i have discarded the 390 & fmx and have replaced it with a low milage stock 1970 500 caddy that i added a mild cam and ported the stock Q-jet intake with the t-400 trans. Will my gas millage be better than a propperly built & tuned 390fe ? probally not but most likely it will not be any worse but it will shread the rear tires at will. I have heard claims of getting 20mpg+ with the big caddys out on the open road if you have a super tall finall drive but i would have to do it myself to belive it.
     
  8. crf500
    Joined: Dec 1, 2007
    Posts: 182

    crf500
    Member

    i have a 390 in my 32 pickup with a 6-71 blower,3-2s 5 speed 350 gears
    it gets 14-15 most of the time. my truck is 2600lbs.
     
  9. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    thanks
     
  10. Time for some engi-peneur or is that entrep-ingeer ? to re introduce a Hone-O-Matic type device?
     
  11. ArchangelKustom
    Joined: Nov 15, 2006
    Posts: 196

    ArchangelKustom
    Member
    from NR/OH

    First tow rig was a 72 F250, did a really nice rebuild w/ comp 268H cam, headers, full duel exhaust, tuned distributor, performer intake with 600 CFM edelbrock carb, 3.73 gears and tall tires. Truck weighed around 5,000lbs. Ran a beefed C6.

    It ran really strong, pulled anything but consistently 8mpg loaded, maybe 12mpg max empty. And I did a lot of interstate driving with it. I'm sure good mileage is possible with tuning and a lighter vehicle. We never did much tuning beyond timing and reading the plugs.

    For cheap torque the FE is hard to beat in stock-ish form.

    What you'll waste on gas you'll save on hopping up/swapping another motor.
     
  12. jrlemke
    Joined: Dec 20, 2009
    Posts: 83

    jrlemke
    Member

    I put a Carter AFB from a Chrysler on my 64 T-bird, every thing else stock. Got 17/18 mpg on the hiway.
     
  13. fiveohnick2932
    Joined: Mar 29, 2006
    Posts: 918

    fiveohnick2932
    Member
    from Napa, Ca.

    no, junk it and put in one of those new 5.0 ford motors, an LS chevy or a new Hemi.
     
  14. slepe67
    Joined: Jan 22, 2008
    Posts: 1,146

    slepe67
    Member

    I still have my 1796 F150, full time 4x4, 360, C6. All bone stock, I get about 11 mpg. You might want to check you stuff out, or keep your foot off the long, skinny pedal on the right. :)
     
  15. LOWDOWN2
    Joined: Jul 13, 2009
    Posts: 135

    LOWDOWN2
    Member
    from Ontario

    AODs, unless rebuilt specifically for tow apps, should tow in 3rd...which, when towing, will negate any anticipated mpg. "improvements". And towing a trailer with the aero properties of a barn door will tax most any driveline's "economy".

    As a "driver", o'drive can pay significant mpg. benefits. As someone mentioned, how far/often will you tow, as a % of overall driving? Ultimately, anything can get "decent" mileage if tuned and driven for mileage...and anything can SUCK, if driven that way too...
     
  16. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member

    I will venture to say 70% driving will be no towing, the other 30% will be with trailer in tow. But.....when I hook up and tow, I want to be gone for 3-4 weeks at a time.
     
  17. pasadenahotrod
    Joined: Feb 13, 2007
    Posts: 11,775

    pasadenahotrod
    Member
    from Texas

    What size travel trailer did you buy to tow behind this car?
     
  18. slickhale
    Joined: Dec 19, 2010
    Posts: 772

    slickhale
    Member
    from Phoenix

    I bet I could make you Ford guy's skin crawl if I put a GM LS series in it :p[/QUOTE]

    son of a bitch i just threw up on my keyboard, thats not even funny to joke about
     
  19. LOWDOWN2
    Joined: Jul 13, 2009
    Posts: 135

    LOWDOWN2
    Member
    from Ontario

    30% towing I would class as "significant"...

    Again, at typical highway speeds, trailer aero...ain't! Best you could expect is to "minimize" the losses...lower "terminal velocity" will help for sure. A tight converter. A good-sized cooler, for sure, for trannie survival. Perhaps a deflector of sorts on your wagon's rear roof, ahead of the trailer. Dump your waste (and perhaps water) from the trailer before each drive. Tire pressures to the top-side of "maximum", and on the trailer too. Viscous, or flex fan. But I'm sure you've thought of all these...

    Anything that reduces weight and resistance, and slows engine speed and/or parasitic losses, will "help".

    As to which specific power combo: What suits YOU...and your budget/abilities/aspirations? After all, YOU gotta pay for it, and live with it...

    Good luck!

    EDIT:

    I clearly recall, mid-'70s and the "dark days" of fuel "economy", when a 400 was better on gas than a 351...and more "yank" too.
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2011
  20. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member



    I'm trying to keep it all Ford, but they(Ford) don't make it easy.
     
  21. oldsrocket
    Joined: Oct 31, 2004
    Posts: 2,215

    oldsrocket
    Member

    I wonder how efficient a 300 ford Inline 6cyl would be with some tweeking and aftermarket items.......

    plenty of torque, can be hooked to AOD trans, and some even came with FI from the factory....Did I mention CHEAP?
     
  22. rdtreur
    Joined: Jul 26, 2009
    Posts: 196

    rdtreur
    Member

    I live in the Netherlands and gas is expensive here.... So I converted my 390 FE to propane/LPG. Just finished the rebuild and got about 9mpg on propane.
    The 390 got 9.5 compression, 268H Crower baja beast cam, stock intake/exhaust
    C6 and 3.5 gears. The 390 needs to get a heavy Merc Colonypark moving...
    Propane can look good on a FE:
    [​IMG]
     
  23. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member

    Will the 390 have the same bellhousing pattern as the AOD? Or would I have to buy some sort of adapter kit? I still like the thought of the 390, I just wish I could get closer to 15-16 mpg.
     
  24. PhilJohnson
    Joined: Oct 13, 2009
    Posts: 906

    PhilJohnson
    Member

    You'll need an adapter. Seriously I'd put in a 400 and enjoy 15-16 mpg (or maybe more). I've never met an FE that didn't like gas.
     
  25. No, you haven't, I've done that. The Q-jet when properly done is a great carb for mileage and performance. Most original 60-70ish engines like this will get 12-20 depending on carb and distributor tuning. My '68 Buick Sport Wagon 340HP/400 with 3.23's out back gets 12-13 work week traffic with a cam intake and slight stahl speed convert and the original unrebuilt engine. Open highway i get 15-16mpg. If rebuilt with modern equipment (especially liter tension rings, proper ring gaping late model cam grinds etc.) I think 20+ with a carb and 25+ with EFI on these older engine designs. Add a turbo and 25+ with a boat load more powe/torque.
     
  26. Thanks PBR, anyone who knows me, knows I was very serious about the Q-Jet, and NOT serious about the HAMB suicide. There is no question with the technology we have nowadays, that 12-20 MPG is obtainable even with a FE. It would require a complete thought out plan/combination from the cooling fan to the rear tire O.D., but very obtainable. A sequential fire-closed loop F/I system would make it that much easier. Before closing shop, I would have gladly donated shop and dyno time to a project such as this. TR
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2011
  27. tjmercury
    Joined: Oct 22, 2010
    Posts: 589

    tjmercury
    Member

    I've got a 390 4bbl in my '65 mercury fu ll size with 3.00:1 cogs and surprisingly the 5300# beast gets 20-21 m.p.g. (as long as you stay outta the 4bbl)
     
  28. travisfromkansas
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 2,805

    travisfromkansas
    Member

    As I said in my post early in this thread, just added an adapter & aod to my 390 and I get 16mpg at 70mph, 22 at 55. Hopefully with some tuning I can get that better.
     
  29. Dirt Diggler
    Joined: Aug 3, 2007
    Posts: 366

    Dirt Diggler

    Where do you get the adaptor for the bellhousing? Was it a hard task getting them to mate and work properly? I've just had bad experience with "adaptors" in general in the past
     
  30. Dirt Diggler
    Joined: Aug 3, 2007
    Posts: 366

    Dirt Diggler

    lol, google does wonders....

    Here's the link Roothawg http://www.ford-aod.com/

    $850 is pretty steep, basically the cost of a rebuilt transmission. is that how much you paid Travis?
     

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