The '57 Ford Carter AFB made for the '57 312 was/is approx. 400 cfm rather than the 500 cfm Carter/Edelbrock, which I  recently learned.   I havent used one YET, but plan to.  Maybe since it was designed for the Y, it would give better MPG than the small, but larger Edelbrock.  That assumes of course you could find one. 

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Mark, This is with a carburetor and electronic ignition.  No injection, yet.

Fred, Unless you go with an overdrive transmission, the 4 speed is not going to do much for improving your mileage.  My own experience says to stay away from the Edelbrock if it's economy and/or performance that you're after. 

Lawrenceville, GA

I’ll add that the use of gasoline blended with alcohol ends up being counterproductive when trying to better the fuel mileage numbers.  As the percentage of alcohol is increased in the gasoline, the miles per gallon numbers will continue to drop and especially where the compression ratio is already on the low side.  This just goes back to the BTU’s of energy that’s available per pound of alcohol versus that of gasoline.  For those of you trying to figure out where your gas mileage has gone with the engines still in good condition and tune, the alcohol content in the gasoline is at the top of the list for places to look.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Anyone that wants better fuel mileage should start by emptying out congress and start fresh with new people

Gary Ryan San Antonio.TX.

my 55 vic 292 with old teapot was getting 12 to 13 put on a B intake with holley 390 and now I get 18 to 19 and runs great/ money well spent

Fred:

If you are looking for a money-no-object method for fuel mileage it would be to adapt a modern computer controlled sequential fuel injection system and ignition.  Would take a lot of fabrication and engineering to adapt to a Y.  One of the problems is the upper/lower port arrangement, getting injectors into the lower ports seems to be a stumbling block.  I have a friend who mentioned putting the injectors in the bottom of the manifold for the lower ports, and fabricating a valley pan with a deep recess to clear them.  I know almost nothing about injection, but one feature it has is that when you let off the throttle, it shuts off the fuel supply.  With a carburetor in that mode, high vacuum is drawing fuel through the idle circuit.  Another possibility that will probably get me banned from this site for suggesting it would be to adapt a newer engine complete with computer to your Bird.  Sorry Y's guys!!! 

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

John.  This will probably get me banned also as I’ll suggest using the valley pan from a marine application for the dual one barrel carbs as it already has the appropriate recess.  Those particular valley pans are plentiful at the marine salvage houses.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Fuel economy? Surprisingly a '56 ford Y has given me some of the best fuel economy Ive seen in my adult life (and thats saying something).



I've got a '56 312 Y block and I put a T5 transmission behind it about a year or two ago. Just last summer I switched the intake manifold to a '62 two barrel, changed the distributor over to a '57, but kept the points.



I took it on a few trips last fall, the rings are failing something terrible, so even leaving a James-Bond style smoke screen behind me, I drove a few 4 hour long trips averaging over 17 mpg. That was passing most people (which for some reason weren't smiling as much as I was), but since I didn't have a tach and my speedometer still isn't hooked up I can't give you any concrete numbers on rpm or mph. I had a smoke screen behind me anyways, so I didn't worry too much about going OVER the limits haha



I always filled it with premium gas since I don't really trust corn in my engine, and I must admit, I think spending a little more per gallon is worth it. I've got a little Toyota truck with a V6 in it that always gets regular gas, I don't know weights for sure, but I would be willing to guess that the yota is lighter than a '56 ford wagon. Ive never been able to get more than 15 mpg with the truck.



Now, Im not one to belittle ingenuity, but I don't see the benefits to fuel injecting a y-block, no matter what the mileage increase is. I know Im old fashioned, but I would think that using a y-block would be a good excuse to turn away from any fuel injected engine: reliable performance, simple construction, and when running in good shape it can be very economical as well! Best of all it doesn't need a computer chip to stay running.



well listen to me get all judgemental... for not belittling ingenuity, I certainly have a lot of opinions on the subject haha Hope you find a good setup to keep the Y on the road!

Ced

There's a 4 speed auto that's doesn't have OD?? Beside the old GM 4 speed hydro's?? Wasn't aware...

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

I didn't read the automatic part. Ignore my statement.


Lawrenceville, GA