63 ranchero 200 six

[Anonymous]

Hey guys im new here and have a lot of questions.
I am in the process of buying a 63 ranchero with the idea of making it a daily driver. I drive 110 miles back and forth to work every day so naturally I need to get the best gas milage possible.

what i have in mind is to run a 200 six with a t-5 and something like 270 gears in the rear.

As i understand it the 80 or newer 200 six is the easiest to put a t-5 behind and also has the best flowing head and a good doner car would be a mercury zepher or a granada.

I was thinking that i would run electric fan electric fuel pump and electronic ignition.
Is there any other things that you guys can think of to increase fuel milage?

what im shooting for is at least 30mpg or better am i wayoff base or is this an achieveable goal.


Sorry about being so long winded nice to meet you all here.
Thanks Jeff

 

[wallaka]

Should be doable. You have to drive accordingly, of course. Accelerate like there's a raw egg between your foot and the pedal and you have the right idea. I think that most times 20 or 30% better mileage can be had with the right driving habits.

 

[64.5 TX Stang]

Definately doable. My mustang got 20, and I drove it hardish with a 3 speed and a 3.20:1 rearend.

 

[69Falcon]

Definitely doable, I get 21mpg with 2.83 rear gears and a C4 automatice tranny (1:1 top gear) combined with my lead foot.

 

[fordconvert]

Electric ignition is a must for your needs/use and will lower mantiance and improve drivability. Only help with the electric fuel pump and fan may be if you are going to spend a lot of time stuck in traffic on hot days, the fan could help to improve airflow when sitting at idle for long periods of time and the electric fuel pump (if mounted near the tank) may be less prone to vapor lock, again when stuck in trafic on a hot day. Just cruising down the road the fuel pump wont help and you can probally argue all day long if an electric fan changes the mileage. For a daily driver there may be some merit to keeping the orignal fan and fuel pump for reliabilty and simplicity sake, a fan belt is easy to maintain and usually wont fail with out some signs and neglet. Mechanical fuel pumps are tough and will take a fair amount of abuse, they can pump air where many electrics can not, also just like many older things they will not suddenly fail without warning, they usually start giving you signs.

 

[Bort62]

Now, I am making this comment without any experiance on these particular engines int his realm.. but I do have a lot of experiace elsewhere. The best thing you can do (other than the obvious) to increase you milage is to switch to EFI.

It gives you the ability to setup your spark and fuel curves exactly as you want them.

 

[LaGrasta]

You are right on target. I too drive my 63 as a daily about 300 miles a week. I didn't do the T5, but everything else you spoke of. I get in the low 20s for mpg. I tend to have a heavy foot though. Honestly, my car is so slow, I almost always have my foot "in it". Mine is only a 170ci. The T5 will greatly improve mpg as any stick will. Many people have stated how well their mpg increased with this option. Keep us posted.

 

[rommaster2]

ALso i dont think this has been mentioned yet but a T5 should also be more fun and allow better acceleration due to all the low end grunt our engines have.

 

[Funky Cricket]

i averaged 22-25 mpg on the hwy with a 80 capri with a 200, C4 and a lead foot.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey guys thanks for all of the input i have always wanted a ranchero and i cant think of a better excuse to get one than to replace the honda that i drive now and it will be a lot more fun.

It will be a long summer to get everything done that I would like to do and im sure that i will have a lot more questions.

Thanks Jeff

Hey wallaka where in Ala-frigin-bama are you im in Rogersville myself?

 

[Anonymous]

I can attest that without a T5 or something otrher than stock tranny, you wont get above 20...

that with a 1bbl...