I'll be hopefully getting a 72 Maverick grabber with a 302 auto soon, and I was wondering what kind of gas mileage I'll be looking at? Or if there's any way I'd be able to increase mpg's? You guys seem to be really helpful and knowing when it comes to these cars, I'll be looking forward to your advice =) Thanks, Maverick
Honestly...if you are buying a Maverick for "gas milage"...you bought the wrong car. Seriously....maybe 18 to 22 mpg, depending on how you drive it. There are some basic things you can do to increase this, like tire pressure, tune-up, driving habits, etc....but nothing is going to substantially increase the mpg on that engine/drivetrain.
from Northeast Pennsylvania Back in the 70's I owned a Plymouth Duster with a 318 4 speed. I found that by adding headers/dual exhaust, a good Edelbrock aluminum intake and a Holly 600 with vacumn secondaries, I gained a noticable increase in my overall MPG.
From Michigan. I think 18 to 22mpg is good. A stock '72 302 2V was good on gas and still had plenty of horsepower. In '73 and newer they started with pollution controls that caused some gas mpg and horsepower loss. I think the rear end gear also can effect mpg. If you do not get 18 to 22 mpg or something close, then there could be a carburator prolbem or a well warn engine. I think a little mpg could be had with a good dual exhaust system and a open element air cleaner.
Welcome to the board. What these guys are quoting is right on the money mileage-wise. The one thing that comes to my mind to improve mileage would be to swap in a transmission with overdrive. Mind you, this will only really help in highway driving. To go along with that, a new rear axle gear may be called for depending on the torque convertor that you use. Fuel injection could help too ... basically replicating what came in 5.0 Mustangs from 86-93 as a whole drivetrain would gain a bit of mileage overall, but I would not call it exactly miserly.
