Distributor and carb upgrade/refresh

Hey guys.
I have a 170 in my 63 Falcon Deluxe club wagon that I am looking to refresh.
Carb is a Motorcraft single barrel with a choke that is broken. I am only getting about 12MPG right now.
I am also looking to replace the ignition system (upgraded Distributor, wires, plugs, coil) along with getting a new/rebuilt carb to put onto it.
Im looking to spend about $500-600 total and I will do all the work.

My question is what carb/distributor combination will get me better MPG and possibly a little more performance. (yes I know its a 170 and its in a van, so Im not looking for a fast car, just a more reliable motor that gets better MPG with the possibility of some increased performance)
any help pointing me in the right direction? Please provide links to products if you have them.
Im pretty new to the Inline 6 and other than MAC's I cant seem to find a good place to shop
Thanks in advance

Since you have the 1/4" oil pump drive check with Matt at Vintageinlines.com
You will have to get your carb converted to operation without the SCV which i can do. The other option is get a carb from a 68 & or after model.

Hi, get the Falcon Performance Handbook to get the most out of your Ford six. Good luck

The ford six hand book will give you some carb options, but with the early block you are locked into the DUI offered by Vintage Inlines.
I can handle the carb. mods & can custom curve the DUI for your application.

Thanks everyone. I ordered the book.

Three6ty, check the block code on your engine. There's a possibility someone has swapped the engine and if so you may have a later 170 block, or even a 200 ftm, which would have the larger oil pump shaft. The code is on the drivers side near the oil sending unit. Unfortunately I'm fairly sure the DUI will not fit in the doghouse without modification, it's too tall and too big around. And easy thing to do would be to install a pertronix ignitor to replace the points and one of their coils. For the carb you might try a rebuild or find a good LoM type carb with an SCV. Options are limited to certain Holley 1904's, 1940's and Autolite 1100's b/c of the LoM system. There is a new chinese 1100 LoM type carb available but it's somewhat expensive and the quality is generally unknown at this point in time.

Howdy three 6ty:

I need more information on your "refresh". First, a couple of FYIs. Your '63 has a smaller hole in the block where the distributor is inserted. It also has a smaller shaft from the oil pump driving it. Also your '63 Load-o-Matic distributor is designed to work in union with the Spark Control Valve (SCV) on the carb to send a load sensitive vacuum signal. They work as on. Change one and neither work as designed.

You can refresh/upgrade your stock distributor by installing a Petronix Ignitor and a Flame Thrower coil along with new cap and plug wires. Make sure that the stock vacuum diaphragm is working. Also refresh the stock carb with a thorough cleaning and rebuild kit. Make sure the shafts are reasonable tight in both the distributor and carb. The Ignitor and coil will run less than $100. A carb rebuild kit is about $60. You can easily meet your budget goal this way. You could also upgrade to a later 200 1100 carb for an increase in cfm. 150 cfm on the 170 carb, 185 cfm on the 200.

The DUI distributor that VI sells is the only upgrade distributor for early blocks. It sell for $500. If you go that route you will need to modify your carb to be able to send a ported vacuum signal to this distributor, or upgrade to a later non/SCV carb.

The choice is yours. I'll be anxious to hear which way you decide to go. We can help from there.

Adios, David

Howdy Back:

It's been a while since I shopped for an Ignitor and flamethrower coil. With a little shopping the price is up a bit. Ignitor is now about $75 and Flamethrower is about $55.

There are several post on installation and effects. Check them out in case you want to go this way.

Adios, David

thanks guys.
As it turns out I am going to go look at a rebuilt 200ci motor on Sunday with upgraded Distibutor , carb , coil , new wires, plugs and a rebuilt C4 auto tranny. ( My tranny is fine but needs a new Torque Converter ). I have seen this motor before but im going to test drive it and make sure everything works. If it all checks out then I will be buying everything for what my budget is for my planned upgrades. It will give me a chance to do a full engine/tranny swap on my Falcon Deluxe club wagon and get something in there that will be more reliable.
If it doesn't work out then I will be going down the other rabbit hole of upgrading what I have.

Thanks again for the advice and help

That's a perfect alternative if it's a good motor. Unless it's a low mount starter, i.e. 80's, block it's a drop in replacement for the 170. The C4 will not work though in your 63. They didn't offer a C4 in vans until 64 and those came with special auto only engine hangers. Also the Econoline C4 has a shorter heavy duty output shaft with a special top hanger. But the engine will otherwise bolt up to your flywheel/trans

I just reread your post and it seems you have a C4 already. If it is top hanging it is the correct one. Someone would have converted the van if in fact it is a 63. At any rate, if you have the top hanging C4 in the van you should be able to swap the tailhousing onto the new one and be good to go.

That rebuilt 200 is as you stated the cheapest performance you can buy. My two performance upgrades were solid low mileage used motors of larger displacement. It will be good to know the block and head casting id numbers.When you get the Handbook you can see which numbers are for the evolution of the head details and which one is on that motor. Looking forward to hearing the details.