Hello All, I have been reading posts on here for a while and now I have a question.

If you had a 1960 F100 with a bone stock 292 with a 2 barrel, stock crossover single exhaust, and small valve heads. What would the top 5 things you would do to the engine to improve gas milage and possibly improve power ? The truck has a T-98 trans with 3.70 gears in the rear end, and is going to be a daily driver.

And yes, budget is very tight.

Thanks, Mark

A set of headers would be #1

T-5 transmission swap would be #2

electronic ignition, new distributor or a petronix kit in the original #3

4brl intake with a small holley or edelbrock#4

thats a good start and would be a nice driver. T-5 being the most important for daily driving pleasure.






1959 and 1960 f-100sAkron OH

The first three things would be the addition of Rams Horn dual exhaust.  A 4V carb will add power, maybe or not improve gas mileage.  For good mileage and a small increase in power I would use an Autolite 2100 with 1.08 venturi.  No need then to buy new intake.  Number 5 would be the Pertronix II with matching coil and at least a rebuilt dist. 

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.

#1-Dual exhaust-headers would be nice but get some duals on there.

#2-I would consider the T-85 overdrive tranny to tame that rear end ratio.The 5 speed suggestion is along the same thought process to reduce the engine revs on the hi way.

#3-As suggested-Pertronix-wont be a huge mileage benefit but its a low cost assistance for the ignition system.

#4-Save lotsa money for additional upgrades.

#5-A refreshing beverage while working on her

Oldmics

Here’s my top five list.

Raise the compression ratio

Electronic ignition with recurved mechanical and vacumm advance attributes

Wide band oxygen sensor and work on the fuel curve.

Overdrive transmission

Put an uncooked egg under the accelerator pedal.

 

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I can't come up with much that fits my definition of a "very tight" budget. I'd recurve the distributor, give it some more initial advance and generally make sure everything I have is in tip top shape as that's really where you need to start before upgrading anything, anyway.

So, Mark, how tight is your very tight? Are compression increases, dual exhaust, transmission swaps, different intakes, etc out of the question?


Lawrenceville, GA

(1) Put the ignition system up to top form - wires, cap, whatever - and recurve for more bottom end. Sweat equity stuff. For bucks - add a Summit (or other brand) CD ignition box that runs off the points. For less bucks - get a Ford "TFI" e-core coil and bracket at your favorite yunk yard to run with the CD box. I've never failed to get a one or two MPG change out of electrical work on an older vehicle.

(2) Find another RH side exhaust manifold of some sort - to put on the driver side. With the use of a block-off plate on the existing RH manifold and a heads up guy at the nearest (low buck) muffler shop, add the LH side dual exhaust. Loop down from the front. Cheap turbo mufflers on both sides will up the sound level if you need encouragement....

(3) Back to the yunk yard with a tape measure - looking for a newer pickup rear end with a better (higher) ratio than the 3.70's. Even a 3.20 is a 15% improvement and a 3.00 is over 20%.

(4) Drive it every day until you've got more spending money............

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Mark:

I don't know where you live, but if in a cool/cold climate, the addition of duals would include maintaining the exhaust control valve somewhere.  That's the valve sandwiched between the right manifold and the crossover pipe.  In cold weather carb icing and long warmups happen without it.

All the suggestions are good, but you'll have to decide for yourself how much money you want to spend to save a few bucks a year on gas.  If you have the same affliction as most on this site, that is; tinker-itis, then have at it.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I thank you all for your thoughts.

  I had planned on a dual exhaust, I need to learn more about distributer curve, I also need to learn more about a pointsless ignition. The trans and rear end are possible replacements in the near future but I wanted to see how the truck drives as is, then I will know where I want to get it to with replacements.

  Again, I thank you..   Mark

What gas mileage are you lookin for and what do you get now? I have a 56 F100, stock 292 with a 2bbl Holly 2100 #53 main jets, 57 distributor with Pertronix that was set up on a Sun machine, cross over exhaust, 3 speed with O/D and a 3:73 rearend. Took a 200 mile road trip last week and got 14.84 MPG. My 2010 Ford explorer 6cyl. averages about 16.3 MPG.

Sam