max miles per gallon?

[Mystic_Knight]

Todays carbs are easy to tune. People are just afraid of them due to a lack of understanding.

Very true. I have a project truck with an Edelbrock carb. First carbed vehicle I've owned. Once I did a little reading I found it was real easy to tune.

[tyler_hubbard2003]

In all honesty, I just know nothing about carbs. I really don't hah I guess my age is why :p

[Dan Szwarc]

In all honesty, I just know nothing about carbs. I really don't hah I guess my age is why :p

Neither did I until about 5 years ago. It's like learning about history or how people lived before modern conveniences. It's also physics and fluid dynamics.

[tyler_hubbard2003]

I think this is why I love older cars so much, because I find myself getting so irritated with modern technology. It's so excessive and temporary, today the iPad, tomorrow... who knows? I wish things were more simple and relaxed. I miss when I lived in the country, where all I could see was farms and fields of green. Now all I see is computers on wheels and construction sites. Not so fun. I'm excited to learn about carbs

[MarkTwain]

Well, this post is just begging for me to reply although I'm sure nobody here will believe me. It is about the very first Lincoln I ever owned. I worked for Universal Sales and Service (name ultimately changed to Universal Lincoln Mercury) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 1976 to 1984. I was really in love with those big Lincolns and still am. I have owned six different Lincolns from then until recently. Anyway, in the summer of 1979 there was a pristine 1975 Mark IV traded in on a new Mark V. This '75 had only 25000 original miles and was in truly showroom condition. There was even still plastic around the rear seat belt buckles. The underside was as clean as the day it was built and I later confirmed with the original owner that it had never been driven in the rain or even on wet roads. It was a metallic brown color that I think was called "Dark Ginger Bronze Metallic". It had a dark brown full vinyl roof and was loaded with the exception of the moonroof. It had a beautiful brown leather interior. I HAD to have this car. I talked to the Used Car manager and he refused to give me staff pricing on such a pristine car. After a little bit of negotiation I bought it for 8800.00. I was 21 years old. I went through alot of cars back then and ended up only owning that car until the fall of that same year. In 1975 some Canadian Lincolns came with catalytic converters and some did not. It seemed to be hit or miss. That car did not have a cat. Here we go--Understanding that a Canadian Imperial gallon is 20% larger than a U.S. gallon that '75 Mark got 25.5 mpg at 70 mph All. Day.Long. That equates to 20.4 mpg to a U.S. gallon. When I sold that car to a Mr. and Mrs. Weber I told him that and he flat-out called bull**it (of course). He said they were going on a trip to Las Vegas with it right away and would call me when they got back. Before purchase though he wanted to have the car inspected by his local mechanic. I took the car to the garage and waited there with Mrs. Weber while the mechanic/owner checked it out. It seemed to take forever. Eventually the station owner came out and apologized for the delay. Here is what he said. " Mrs. Weber, I have inspected used cars for people for twenty years and have never found one that didn't have at least something small wrong with it. Like a worn fan belt or a sweating shock. I cannot find a single thing wrong with this car and if you don't buy it I will. I just smiled. SOLD. Mr. Weber did call me after returning from their trip. He said I was absolutely right--25.5 mpg at 70 mph. He was astounded and very pleased and thanked me. That was definately the most perfectly operating car I have ever owned. Too bad it didn't have a moonroof though. That was one of the reasons I sold it. I never bought a Lincoln without a moonroof again as I feel they add a lot to the classiness of the cars. True story. Believe it or not.

[MarkTwain]

I forgot to say I don't remember for sure what grade of fuel of fuel I used in that Mark IV but I have always really taken care of my cars and used the best quality parts, fluids,etc. so I was probably burning premium gas. It would have had Mobil 1 synthetic oil in it as I started using Mobil 1 in about 1977 and have used it exclusively in every car since (approximately 35). Swear by it.

[Dan Szwarc]

I don't believe you.

[Castrosua]

hehe...ive posted here too about Lorelei getting 20 mpg around 70...lately shes burning more, but my sending unit is leaking again....and my breaks are starting to stick in the front, most likely the disks are warped..so by next spring shell be back on her gas diet lol

[TonyC]

Gasohol has an effect on MPG as well: The higher the percentage of corn syrup in the mix, the worse the engine will run. I had recently started going to another gas station with fuel that smells different from what I've been used to for a couple years (I think they use a much lower percentage of corn syrup, hence the different smell), and Frankenstein's mileage and overall running really seems to have improved since I've been using it.

'Course, a worn-out jet can also contribute, I believe. I had been wondering why, for the past four years, Frankenstein kept blowing out black smoke when I punched him but not at all when only prodding him. It suddenly occurred to me this past weekend: One of the original-original secondary jets is still in the carb; I never replaced it because it was jammed in there, and I was stripping the flat-head groove trying to unscrew it. That must be contributing to the smoke screen on hard acceleration. I need to find the bag that the kit came in and get the last new jet out of it, then go for broke in trying to get the old jet out of the carb and put the new one in.

---Tony

[finsrin]

Interesting MPG comments here.
My recently purchased 76 MK4 (60K miles) has not shipped outa Florida.
Has 3.0 posi gears. When it gets here, will make 155 mile drives one way to beach and carefully check MPG.
Of course alignment, tire pressure, condition of air cleaner, speed have direct bearing on MPG.

[TonyC]

Make sure everything you listed is up to speed before you do your MPG check. That will give you a better picture.

There is a simple way to calculate MPG without the use of a fancy gimmicky gadget. It's called simple math : When you take your car to a station for a total fill-up, make a note of the odometer reading at the time of the fill-up. Then, drive around normally--you don't have to do anything special at all, save for saving the odometer reading in a spot where you can find it again. When it's time to fill the car up again, jot down the odometer reading at that point; also, make a note of exactly how much fuel you pumped in to get back to top level again. Subtract the first odo reading from the second, then divide that result by the amount of fuel you put in at the second fill-up--BA-BING. You have your real-world net MPG.

---Tony

(P.S. Premium-grade is a misnomer. The quality of fuel does not improve. The only thing that improves is flame resistance because they put in more flame retardants into the higher-octane formula--that's why it is higher octane. The quality remains the same; so if it's gasohol, it will act as gasohol. If it's real gas, it will act as real gas. The higher concentration of flame retardants will do you no additional good if your engine has a compression ratio that is below 10:1 [maybe 9.5:1, but I'd still at least try the lower octane at that point and go up as needed]; you're just wasting money--that is, unless your engine's compression has increased over time thanks to carbon build-up.)

[jon schapiro]

When my car was new and I could buy real 101 octane gasoline, it pulled between 16 and 17 MPG. Today with the Ethanol-laced gasoline I'm getting about 10 MPG. The only change is the gasoline. These cars NEVER got over 18 MPG - EVER!

[Castrosua]

When my car was new and I could buy real 101 octane gasoline, it pulled between 16 and 17 MPG. Today with the Ethanol-laced gasoline I'm getting about 10 MPG. The only change is the gasoline. These cars NEVER got over 18 MPG - EVER!

well not the disagree buuuuuut, i do get over 18 routinely on my 72, even on this ethanol garbage. Im not drying like a bat out of hell, but im still driving her with some gusto. I may be lucky then.

Mileage has gone down since i put her in storage and only take her out once a week or two, and i have less time to redo timing and carb settings like i used to (there was a point i was fiddling with it every time i put gas to compensate for the crappiness) but its possible.

Dan, (from Goldman Classic Lincoln) got his 72 to hit close to 25 on a cross country trip after i did the fiddling with the carb and went from ported vacuum to manifold. I cant vouch for his math, or my dads, but they both got mid 20s on highway.

But i think like Dan Szwarc said once, you dont get into these cars caring about mileage. I just like rubbing in to a prius owners face that ton for ton, our cars can be pretty good, AND have style

[jon schapiro]

When my car was new and I could buy real 101 octane gasoline, it pulled between 16 and 17 MPG. Today with the Ethanol-laced gasoline I'm getting about 10 MPG. The only change is the gasoline. These cars NEVER got over 18 MPG - EVER!

well not the disagree buuuuuut, i do get over 18 routinely on my 72, even on this ethanol garbage. Im not drying like a bat out of hell, but im still driving her with some gusto. I may be lucky then.

Mileage has gone down since i put her in storage and only take her out once a week or two, and i have less time to redo timing and carb settings like i used to (there was a point i was fiddling with it every time i put gas to compensate for the crappiness) but its possible.

Dan, (from Goldman Classic Lincoln) got his 72 to hit close to 25 on a cross country trip after i did the fiddling with the carb and went from ported vacuum to manifold. I cant vouch for his math, or my dads, but they both got mid 20s on highway.

But i think like Dan Szwarc said once, you dont get into these cars caring about mileage. I just like rubbing in to a prius owners face that ton for ton, our cars can be pretty good, AND have style

I switched mine vacuum from ported to manifold in 1975 and also changed the mechanical advance springs back then, but I've never gotten better than 17 MPG ever! My window sticker did not have any EPA mileage estimates, but I bet it was 13 around town; 17 Highway if they had. These 5013 lb cars were NOT known for gas mileage. Even my 1966 Pontiac Grand Prix with 389 engine never exceeded 23 MPG!

[Castrosua]

Yeah, its strange. I dont care really, its just an indicator of how "tight" mine is, although my 73 runs like a top, but i get about 15 no matter what. I think i hit 17 with it on the highway once. Maybe my 72 is just a nibbler lol