SII 109 project

[greenmeanie]

Thanks for the information MadP. It's nice to get another reference to get one's confidence up.

I am looking at the fuel consumption issue right now. The previous owner gave a ROM of 16mpg with a light throttle driving around at about 55mph. I'm not sure I'm really a light throttle person. I have bought the book by Leo Snatucci (Sp?) on the engine to build my knowledge before digging in with mods so hopefully will avoid makign stupid mistakes.

I am currently thinking something along the lines of a better set of manifolds & a fuel injection kit. The fuel injection sounds a bit modern and all that but if it gets better fuel economy I'm all for it. The truck will also have to pass emissions in Phoenix and I'm willing to bet that a decent injection system will make that a breeze compared to fiddling with the carb.

THe heads on these are not known for great flow characteristics in stock form. There are companies that will also do head work from mild to wild depending on what you are shooting for so I will investigate this to make her breathe a bit better and get the compression ratio up around the 9.0 mark.

I am shooting for better breathing, combined with more efficient fueling and a raised compression should = more efficiency = more mpg.

I already have an anual nightmare getting my non emission equipped 101 through the 76 standards each year. She gets there but it takes a lot of fiddling.

Cheers
Gregor

[yorker]

The 292 has all kinds of potential and is a great old school truck engine too.

Preliminary 1/4 mile testing has resulted in a 10.04 @ 137+ mph.
- This makes it the Quickest & Fastest, Full Bodied, Chevy 292 Straight 6cyl. Powered Car in the Country!

[greenmeanie]

1000 hp. Aye that would about do it for me. Now about those disc brakes?

[c-delta]

Got the V-8 and other ideas and know-how from TeriAnn site too.
The set-up I have in the photos is the GM-350 eng, th350 trany
and a Ashcroft 230 part time t-case. The 350-230 adapter was
something Ashcroft (UK)had as a prototype.

I'm in no-way satisfied with the mpg (about 10mpg) I get with this
109 so I'm all ears on this EFI talk.

I'm looking at a 110SW build-up and looking into the 250 and 292
engines for better mpg and room under the hood.

[leafsprung]

You can acheive better than 10 without EFI. There should be little to no difference in MPG between EFI and a properly tuned carb. Provided all other things are equal. Your auto certainly wont help your economy. It takes power to run that TC. What ratio is your T-case and axles? If you have a 1.2/1.4 LT230 with 4.7 axles, the extra revs could also be killing your MPG. My 57 109 on 37s will return better than 15 on the highway. A friend with a stock height 109 with an SBC gets 18-20mpg hwy and its carbed. . .

[groundhog]

If one goes with a SBC are better brakes necessary? Can you use a power booster? I have driven an 88 with stock brakes with the booster and a tap on the pedal about threw me through the windshield. What about brake fade or factoring in the extra weight of my 65 109? I want to use my recon military axles and drum brakes, but the rest of the system is up for a complete rebuild.

[yorker]

Got the V-8 and other ideas and know-how from TeriAnn site too.
The set-up I have in the photos is the GM-350 eng, th350 trany
and a Ashcroft 230 part time t-case. The 350-230 adapter was
something Ashcroft (UK)had as a prototype.

I'm in no-way satisfied with the mpg (about 10mpg) I get with this
109 so I'm all ears on this EFI talk.

I'm looking at a 110SW build-up and looking into the 250 and 292
engines for better mpg and room under the hood.

What size are your tires? what gear ratios are you running- it sounds like you are running your engine well out of its ideal power band for cruising. What RPM are you turning at road speed? you should be able to get at least 15...

http://www.mpgresearch.com/viewforum.php?f=33

You don't happen to have a th350c do you? a lock up torque converter couldn't hurt things IMHO...

[c-delta]

Leafsprung--Yorker,
thanks for the feedback. The engine is running at 2500rpm at
about 53-55mph, my Disco runs 65-70mph at 22-23rpms.
The TH-350 is the old type so can't go with the lockup converter.
Ashcroft set-me-up with the highest gear ratio for the LT-230..
one down from the highest he had.

I think I'm going to go with a high diff ratio rear--3.54, alot of highway
driving. Putting the 500cfm carb in I think I screwed-up and didn't go
with the manufactures procedures. At ideal (looking into carb) I can see
the jets dropping large drops of gas into the manifold..I know that isn't
right. Mechanical fuel pump so I think it's not the fuel pressure and just
the floats are jammed from the insulation.

anyway don't mean to hijack this post.

[Donnie]

If you are running a 350 auto, why not use a 700r4, you would have a lower 1st gear and overdrive 4th and a lock up converter..the 700 is 4 or 5 inches longer & would require some major moving things around??????????????