I'm toying with the idea of using my elk to be my daily driver for a while. I carpool 5 days a week, and only drive 2.5 days a week (we alternate wednesdays). Commute is about 30 miles round trip.

So the question is: Realisticly- what kind of mileage could I expect out of my car with the following setup:

68 elcamino
454- 650 cfm carb (I'll downsize from the 750 I have on it now)
TH400
3.08 gears

Please- I'm looking for estimates with MY SETUP- I don't need suggestions of swap in a 350, add an overdrives or put on Fuel injection- I just want to know what I can expect out of what I have.

Carb suggestions are about the only thing that i could use- as that is the one peice i'll be modifying.

Thanks-
Ben

Ben, I have a friend that regularly drives a mild 454 th400 '67 chevelle with 3:23 gears and claims 15-17mpg running a holley spread bore carb and trying to stay out of the scondaries. I think rpm is the key, your only problem is going to be the constant stop and go traffic you have up there. Still I would guess about 16 with the 3:08's.

Ben, I have a friend that regularly drives a mild 454 th400 '67 chevelle with 3:23 gears and claims 15-17mpg running a holley spread bore carb and trying to stay out of the scondaries. I think rpm is the key, your only problem is going to be the constant stop and go traffic you have up there. Still I would guess about 16 with the 3:08's.


My F-150 (which sold last week, btw) only got about 15 MPG, So anything around that range would be cool.

The original idea was take the $$ from the Truck sale and the Elcamino sale and buy a new family rig, I'd drive tracys volvo as my commuter, and use $6-7k to buy another classic project.... Unfortunatly- I've been watching car sales all summer, and I'm having my doubts that I'm going to be able to sell the elk for what I want...

So making it a daily driver until I can get enough $$ to buy what we want... Plus this way I get to keep the car.

Of course that all depends on it getting something better than 10mpg so it will sorta fit in the trucks old gas budget.

anyway... just toying with ideas.

I would fill the car up try it for a week and keep track of your milage, fill it back up and multiple your gallons into the miles you drove between fill ups that way there no guessing. JMO

just drive it for a week and see what it gets- if you don't like it, then buy a cheap commuter beater. i'd say mid teens if it is mostly highway driving, maybe a bit less if it's city driving with a lot of traffic and lights.
but 15 miles one way isn't very bad- worst case, it costs you $10 in gas a day to drive it.

just drive it for a week and see what it gets- if you don't like it, then buy a cheap commuter beater. i'd say mid teens if it is mostly highway driving, maybe a bit less if it's city driving with a lot of traffic and lights.
but 15 miles one way isn't very bad- worst case, it costs you $10 in gas a day to drive it.

THanks guys...
Odometer doesn't currently work- so i'm only guessing at current mileage. Thats why i'm asking for estimates.

Like what was said earlier. Fill it up at the beginning of the week. Drive it and then fill it up at the end of the work week. You would then have the monetery value of the $$ required. That would be more accurate then some internet guesses. I doubt you would get any less than the 13mpg I get with Old Blue(mixed hwy/city). Solid roller 454 1000HP Holley TH400 and 4.10s
What is your definition of a family rig?

Ben,
With the small carb, 3.07s and stock converter....no reason you'll not see 15-16 mpg unless you are stop and go....
I believe my Vette pulls 16 or so in cruise mode....3.36...it almost rationed gas when it had 3.08s.

Here's another way to look at it...do you already bring your lunch to work everyday? If not, how much could you save by "brown bagging" it to offset the additional fuel cost, if any?

I have a similar setup in my '69 Malibu. Driving around town and the highway, I get a consistent 10-11 mpg -- no matter whether I drive it aggressively or like a grandpa. On the highway the mileage is 14-15.

a well tuned quadrajet will get you the best highway mileage of most any carb out there IF you can keep it running on the primaries. The 750 cfm rating won't hurt your mileage a bit until you open up the giant secondaries so if your driving on the highway, you might get 15+mpg. Also there is usually a big difference in the miles per gallon if you keep it at 55-60mph compared to 70+.

It varies a lot between drivers. When I drive my wife's car I can get around 30 mpg. She gets about 25. She has her foot in the supercharger all the time!

Thanks for the replies guys...

Right now its all theoretical- I'm going to be wrapped up for the next month or so, before I would have a chance to try driving it daily- thats why i'm asking for estimates- because I'm toying with ideas in my head and can't actually try it out yet.

The car has a Square bore intake, so unfortunatly running a Q-jet is out... Not enough hood clearance to run an adapter/spacer for one either.

Too bad too as a buddy of mine has an extra on his shelf ready to rock.
As i mentioned before I was thinking about putting on his extra carter/edelbrock 650 if it would help me get better mileage.... But I suppose I could just put some spacers on my throttle cable to keep me from opening the secondaries on the Holley 750 I have on it now.

I'm toying with the idea of using my elk to be my daily driver for a while. I carpool 5 days a week, and only drive 2.5 days a week (we alternate wednesdays). Commute is about 30 miles round trip.

So the question is: Realisticly- what kind of mileage could I expect out of my car with the following setup:

68 elcamino
454- 650 cfm carb (I'll downsize from the 750 I have on it now)
TH400
3.08 gears

Please- I'm looking for estimates with MY SETUP- I don't need suggestions of swap in a 350, add an overdrives or put on Fuel injection- I just want to know what I can expect out of what I have.

Carb suggestions are about the only thing that i could use- as that is the one peice i'll be modifying.

Thanks-
Ben


get a q jet..
and you'll see 16-17 mph hyway
13 town

my 71 c-10 lond box 2wd
454ho/th350/3.42 gears gets that with a q jet..
untill I get the lead out

Boy a lot depends here...

Is the ignition setup right with a vacuum advance? What cam/compression?

And a biggie: how well is the carb jetted? Running around rich is not gonna help MPG matters at all.

I get about 8 MPG around town and 12 MPG down the highway with my '68 Elky and 3.31 rear and 402 with HR296 cam and Edelbrock 600 carb. I run a bit richer than I might prefer (often low 13's) but further tuning would be a lot of work (read: have to tune IFR).

The suggestion about keeping RPMs down is a good one. After driving my EFI DD for 7 years and 80k miles I finally figured out that shifting at 2000 RPM and driving around town at 1500 RPM instead of 2000 RPM bumps city MPG from 15-16 up to 17-18. Biggest change is to jump into 5th gear ASAP, hitting the OD anytime I am over 40 MPH.

you don't say what size tires you'll run and if it's stop-and-go or highway cruising.
I got about 18-20 est. MPG last week in mine cruising to work at about 60MPH.

i drove a couple legs of the power tour and i was getting 16 mpg with my 68 running 80 mph on the interstate. powered by a 454 and th 400 with 2:73 gears. i bet i am pushing 20 if i run 55-60 mph. i will by finding out one of these days. the motor has a 325hp quadrajet that would be correct for 68 with a 396.

if your odometer doesn't work, how are we going to award the prize for the closest guess?
i think the best you could hope for is around 15, and that's if it's most all highway. if someone says they can get 18-20 from a carb'd 454, i'd love to see to know how they do that. i have a moderately built 355 in a '70 corvette that doesn't even approach that driving it nice.

if your odometer doesn't work, how are we going to award the prize for the closest guess?
i think the best you could hope for is around 15, and that's if it's most all highway. if someone says they can get 18-20 from a carb'd 454, i'd love to see to know how they do that. i have a moderately built 355 in a '70 corvette that doesn't even approach that driving it nice.

come to iowa and i'll give you a ride.

my dad gets 12 at 65mph in his 80 silverado 4x4 with a 454, th350, and large wheels/tires

not sure the rear end gears or tire size for sure, but its heavy as crap so you should do better anyway