Mileage Quest 2011!

[woods]

You should not be happy with 6 to 9 in a 4X4 250. Mine gets almost 15 with 35's and 4.11s. Not to say that's anything to brag about, but it is a 6000 pound truck that is aerodynamic as an outhouse with 40 year old tech. So, not too shabby.

[Timbo]

Barack Obama would be proud of this thread!!!!

Shortly after Obama was elected he was asked about rising fuel prices, his response was tune up your car and check the air pressure in your tires. That was why I said he would be proud of this thread.

[fbomb100]

Barack Obama would be proud of this thread!!!!

Shortly after Obama was elected he was asked about rising fuel prices, his response was tune up your car and check the air pressure in your tires. That was why I said he would be proud of this thread.

who cares what that dummy thinks or be proud of !!!!!!!!!!!! just another liar in office

[fomocoguy]

Ok fellas, I know I haven't done much to the truck for the summer months but I think I am ready to do a couple more mods. I got a bit discouraged when my electric fan set-up went south, but I've got a couple more ideas to get this going again. Earlier in this thread there was some talk about 4 barrel carbs. Since we are talking about buying a camper and I'd like to get a little more pulling oomph out of the old girl I decided to go ahead and install the rebuilt Holley 600 that I've had on the shelf for a year or so. Today I found a guy selling an Offy 360 intake on craigslist and talked him down to $100, so I brought it home. There was some sort of skizz on it that just wouldn't clean off (even with Eagle One Mag cleaner and a wire brush), so I shot it in Old Ford Blue. I like the looks of painted intakes anyways.

Along with the 4 barrel upgrade I am going to follow robroys footsteps and purchase a hayden clutch fan to keep her cool. It will be interesting to see how the mileage does if I can keep my foot out of it...

[woods]

I'm gonna rain on your parade a bit. It's not being negative, I just want you to get something that works good for you. Although the offy 'SEEMS' like a dual-plane, it's technically not. It's sort of a split single plane if I had to throw a name at it.
A true dual plane is very different. I could drone on with a long explanation, but I think people get tired of reading that stuff. I can if you want though.

I don't think you're going to be very happy with that.

[Donnie]

Does your state allow a mesh tailgate? An air dam IS helpful..My Jetta diesel get 2 more mpg with the factory air dam that goes from the front bumper back past the firewall...It is a pain in the ass to get to the oel filter, so I left it off for a few thousand miles.. MY mileage dropped 2 mpg so I put it back on & sure enough my mileage came back.Some one else suggested smaller mirrows, I agree.......DON'T forget , your power valve is selectable in your carb...get a vacuum gauge on your dash....& see what power valve that you need..BIG difference here/
I already posted my motorhome power valve dilema somewhere??? I'll be watching for your reports, you are on a roll & getting some good tips.............GOOD LUCK..........Donnie

[fomocoguy]

I'm gonna rain on your parade a bit. It's not being negative, I just want you to get something that works good for you. Although the offy 'SEEMS' like a dual-plane, it's technically not. It's sort of a split single plane if I had to throw a name at it.
A true dual plane is very different. I could drone on with a long explanation, but I think people get tired of reading that stuff. I can if you want though.

I don't think you're going to be very happy with that.

Yeah, I already figured that out after I posted this. I don't know a lot about offy's and didn't realize it was a split single plane intake until I did a little research on it. I'm a little torn on wether to use it or not. A lot of people seem to swear by the Streetmaster intake on thier FE's and that's a true single plane with no divider, so I'm tempted to just plop her on there and see how it does. I also found one guy who claimed to have one on a 360 just like mine and said it ran great. I know it's all relative, but shouldn't the split make it a bit better than a full single plane for low rpm velocity? Do you have any experiance using this intake?

If I have to I'll just stick it back on craigslist...

[fomocoguy]

Does your state allow a mesh tailgate? An air dam IS helpful..My Jetta diesel get 2 more mpg with the factory air dam that goes from the front bumper back past the firewall...It is a pain in the ass to get to the oel filter, so I left it off for a few thousand miles.. MY mileage dropped 2 mpg so I put it back on & sure enough my mileage came back.Some one else suggested smaller mirrows, I agree.......DON'T forget , your power valve is selectable in your carb...get a vacuum gauge on your dash....& see what power valve that you need..BIG difference here/
I already posted my motorhome power valve dilema somewhere??? I'll be watching for your reports, you are on a roll & getting some good tips.............GOOD LUCK..........Donnie

Thanks for the input! I'm a bit stubborn and I like my tailgate and mirrors, so I'm gonna live with them. I will definetly be playing with the carb once it's all in place. I'd like to learn more about fine tuning a Holley so this is a good opportunity. I know how to adjust one just fine, but I want to tune it to MY engine. Should be fun!

[woods]

I should be more clear. It's not a "bad" manifold for the most part. There is nothing wrong with a single plane. A split single plane is really kind of an old band-aid to try and bring the effective rpm range down a little. It worked alright.

However...I have a pretty good feeling about what you want your engine to perform like, the type of driving you do and what you're looking for and none of it suggests any type of single plane.

You want to keep your fuel velocity high at low rpm. You want long runners to do that. That manifold does not have that. I'm not suggesting it will just fall on it's face or anything. It's not about what will run "fine" more of what will be much better.

Here is what will happen, your mileage will stay about the same (maybe a little less), your bottom end power will stay about the same (maybe a little less) and where you may have gained a little top end power, your cam and engine design itself will stop that from happening. So while you're not really going "downhill" with this choice. You're not gaining anything either.

Find a performer or some kind of 180 degree intake and everything will improve over your current setup.

[fomocoguy]

Maybe I just want to be able to say I have a four barrel! Did you ever think about that? All the other kids have them! And it looks so pretty and shiny now...

I suppose I would be happier with the right intake. Damn impulsive buying habit.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction woods, even if I didn't want to hear it!

[woods]

You won't lose any money on it, might even make a couple bucks.

[fomocoguy]

Well, I was able to swap my Offy for an Edelbrock Perfromer intake last week. So, now that work is slowing down and we're all moved into our new house which actually has a garage big enough for my truck to FIT INSIDE IT ( ) I am going to resume this thread a bit. I'll be installing the performer and a carb (make and model to be determined) and a nice fan clutch setup, most likely a mimic of robroy's, shortly after the thanksgiving business is over.

[woods]

Glad to hear you're all moved in and glad you started this up again.

[fomocoguy]

Ordered my fan and fan clutch today, plus intake gaskets and a new open element air cleaner from summit. Thanks to robroy for documenting his fan install! All I did was go to summit's web site and order the exact same stuff.

[fomocoguy]

Here's a couple of pics since I know how everybody likes em'. I cleaned and painted up the Performer intake I swapped the Offy for. I also recieved the fan, clutch, gaskets, and chrome open element Summit Racing air filter thats going on it. Today I test fit the carb to the intake andsaw that the linkage hits, so I'll need a spacer for it. I'm thinking I may try to find a ford 4 barrel spacer with the coolant passage in it for good atomization, unless I see a four hole spacer at the auto parts store.


Sorry they are a bit blurry; I think I scratched the lens on my phone.