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Old 07-19-2013, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,216 posts, read 57,078,859 times
Reputation: 18579

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Quote:
Originally Posted by DELL37 View Post
72 Monte 402BB. Was 100% stock except for tires.

Drive it VERY gently it got 8 mpg on the hwy at 60 mph.

Around town 6-7 mpg
There was something (probably several things) wrong with that car, it should do better than that.

My old Impala, 71 model, 400 SB 350 TH, and 2.73 gears, will do 15 MPG all day long.

The early 70's cars, up to 72, can be made to perform well in mileage/power in near stock trim. the 73 and 74 models need serious recalibration. 75 on are better than 73 and 74, but not as good as the early cars.

Most of these cars, nowadays, are more economical (as well as better power) to turn the spark advance up a bit and run premium unleaded.
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Old 07-19-2013, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Wichita Falls Texas
1,009 posts, read 1,989,965 times
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I would say mine do the same or a little better. My 79 Lincoln can get 16 if you drive 65. My 78 Pinto gets 19 in town (more than CR figure) but only 26 on Hwy at 70. My 76 Maverick gets way better. It will get 21 at 65-70 with the AC on. Of course it's a 250/Auto and they tested a 200/3-speed that got 26.5 at 55. That was on bias ply's. With Radials it would have got about 1 more. My 74 Montego gets about the same (they tested a Torino, same car). My 76 Grand Marquis get 14 on the Hwy but believe it or not, it'll get the same in town. It's because it's a 4-barrel, the other (V8's) are two barrel's. 4- barrel's can get better mileage IF YOU KEEP YOUR FOOT OUT OF IT. I am a low mileage driver, so gas prices are not killing me. I can go 2 entire months on a fill up on my 79 T-Bird which I drive to work every day. My 76 Maverick sits in Grand Prairie for 3 months at a time, so that's how long it can go between fill-ups.
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Old 07-19-2013, 07:13 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,216 posts, read 57,078,859 times
Reputation: 18579
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTOlover View Post
what was the Gear ratio? was it a 2.73? or a 4.11? since that would play a huge difference of fuel economy on the freeway on those cars using the same engine and making the same power.
By about 72 or 73, cars like this pretty much came with a 2.73, it helped them meet the per-mile emission regs. If you wanted a 4.11 you had to put it in yourself. Back in the 60's you could order any gear set that would fit.
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Old 07-19-2013, 09:42 PM
 
Location: Earth
4,237 posts, read 24,780,703 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch View Post
There was something (probably several things) wrong with that car, it should do better than that.
Agreed. My Chevelle got around 6 mpg with a 402, but it also had a 4.10 out back, no overdrive, and a Holley 750 with a rather rich tune.
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Old 07-20-2013, 12:19 AM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,075,581 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by camaro69 View Post
Not driving it. Afraid to figure what mpg Im getting. But then again I didn't buy it for the mpg.
Why? You have to pay for the gas whether or not know how far it gets you. Better to know.
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Old 07-20-2013, 01:36 AM
 
Location: Eastern Missouri
3,046 posts, read 6,288,575 times
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MPG aside, I rather miss the cars from the 70's. Plenty of room in them and could still carry half a dozen bodies in the trunk...... (opps, just watching the Godfather lol ). I just located and got back the 73 Luxury LeMans my parents bought new. It is a sister car to this used by Pontiac, in exact color combo. 1973 Pontiac Luxury LeMans 4 door sedan | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Rough but I will try to redo it. I had it for a few years, then got talked into buying an "economy car". That'll never happen again!!! Screw these ugly small cars of today. Their shell is good for building a drag car out of and that's it. (small bodies are quicker since they don't punch as big a hole in the air). Oh, I had a 455 in the 73 Luxury LeMans. I'll just say when I was done the Buick couldn't hold a candle to it and I kept it quiet.
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Old 07-20-2013, 12:28 PM
 
12,115 posts, read 33,686,080 times
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the Luxury Lemans was to the Grand Prix like the Chevelle Laguna was to the Monte Carlo(same dash). Does your 73 Luxury Lemans have a column shift or a floor shift? Could one get a Grand Prix in 73 with a column shift?
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Old 07-20-2013, 12:33 PM
 
12,115 posts, read 33,686,080 times
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i really liked the "Collonnade hardtop" styling. We had a 75 4 door Buick Regal which was the same body but GM did a good job making them look distinctive to their make like a Buick(Century), Pontiac(LeMans), Chev(Chevelle) or Olds(Cutlass)

even the smaller compacts like the Buick Appollo and Olds Omega looked make-distinctive
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Old 07-20-2013, 05:02 PM
 
774 posts, read 2,602,212 times
Reputation: 739
Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch View Post
There was something (probably several things) wrong with that car, it should do better than that.

My old Impala, 71 model, 400 SB 350 TH, and 2.73 gears, will do 15 MPG all day long.

The early 70's cars, up to 72, can be made to perform well in mileage/power in near stock trim. the 73 and 74 models need serious recalibration. 75 on are better than 73 and 74, but not as good as the early cars.

Most of these cars, nowadays, are more economical (as well as better power) to turn the spark advance up a bit and run premium unleaded.
No she's tuned about as good as you can get. Spent the better part of a weekend last summer at my buddies shop with the car on the rollers tuning timing and the car. We had a wide band hooked up and were seeing 14.9 to 15.4 A/F ratios. when cruising. You're not gonna get it any leaner than that under cruise.
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Old 07-21-2013, 04:51 AM
 
Location: Ohio
2,801 posts, read 2,309,800 times
Reputation: 1654
Some need to keep in mind that in 1973 gas mileage on vehicles was for most people meaningless... Gas was ~$.50/gal and minimum wage was $1.60.

Oh average new house was .... ~$40,000

The only time you went anywhere any real distance was when you went on vacation and that was planned well in advance.
This 50 RT commute for work was rare.

Not that this has anything to do with the topic but just keeping things in perspective.
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