I have a ex father in law in Wyoming that has a 68' Impala with a 396/TH400 that gets 21 on the highway. I'm not sure what rear gears he has, but he's running some really tall tires!:eek2:
I thought Texas was about as flat as it gets. When I went across it last time on a little road, thought bout using the club to lock the steering, set the cruise, and take a nap! :sleep:
I use 3.08 gear, 4L80E trans with lockup torque converter(from a disel car), to my Skylark 455, and is very god to driv on the hayway and in the city.
Not really. Well, I walk and hunt a lot, so I guess its all the perspective. West of Salina on the Interstate is really flat. I believe they put curves in it to keep you awake...
If you want to have good torque and good HP then the Buick 350 with twin turbochargers is a good way to go! Either the 231 or the 215 are going to be down on TQ compared to the 350.
I'm not sure what the Skylark will end up with, we will have to see what comes along. In the meantime I do think that I'll be looking for some Highway gears though...
http://www.gearvendors.com/ I'm generally very happy with my GV. My gas mileage went from 12 MPG to a best of 16 MPG. That is with a jetted Q-jet, and E10 fuel. I got 16 MPG coming back from Maryland one year. I was able to find a station with gasoline that did not have any ethanol added. The GV units are all the same. There is an adapter collar that they make for just about any transmission including manuals
How did I miss this thread? For a few months I ran an 8.5:1 compression all iron '72 Buick 455 with a ~.454" lift isky cam out a single 2" exhaust pipe with points distributor and Q-jet, with a .64 overdrive (TKO-600), 3.23 gears and 26" tall tires, and got 23mpg regularly on the highway at ~75mph. In college I drove a '69 Firebird with a worn out Pontiac 400, 700r4, 2.73 gears and 26" tall tires with a Q-jet and points, and it got 18mpg around town and 25-28mpg highway (LA to Vegas on 9 gallons several times). Perfect for a starving college student. It was a 16 second car to tell you how worn out the engine was and the 2.73's made it a dog off the line. The 700r4's first gear helped that though. Pulled 19inHg vacuum at 800rpm, so what ever cam was in it was made for low end. If I was going all out for mpgs I'd get a Buick 350 or Pontiac 350-400, a 2004r or 700r4 with locking converter, rear gears in the 2.73-3.23 range. Then cam the engine for torque. Run either a Q-jet or EFI. Bonus sticking this combo in a small car, like a Skyhawk.
