gas milage question

[turdmagnet]

I currently have a newly rebuilt Edelbrock #1406 carburetor with the off road needles and seats sitting on top of a 350 inside a '74 K5 with an HE ignition system. I am getting about 6.25 mpg in the city. That seems bad. What kind of mpg should I be getting, or is that about the best I can hope for?

 

[blazin_blazer]

gear ratio? tire size?

 

[CDA 455]

gear ratio? tire size?

X2.


Plus how's your right foot?

Heavy?



Other than making sure the stuff is properly tuned, the right foot is usually the biggest culprit in lousy gas milage.

My suggestion:

Have the motor/vehicle dyno'ed to find out where peak HP and torque is and then drive accordingly (In a sensable manner ).

 

[70jimmy]

Been there done that with the 1406. I had 37's and 4.10's in my jimmy and would get 3 to 5 mpg. Motor was getting a bit weak but was tuned and still didn't improve.

So off I went to TBI 350 and now I am loving it at 14 to 15 mpg and no stalling while wheeling.

 

[rcamacho]

Virtually no chance of getting good MPG on a universal carburetor without some tuning to idle mixture, power system and rod/jets. Here's a good place to start:
http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm
http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/resources/carb-tuning-hero.php
It can be done with a vacuum gauge, reading the plugs but a wideband helps a lot. For the effort involved with advanced carb tuning a TBI replacement might be easier.