Unless they've been reworked, few if any heads used hardened seats before 1975... The original, 65K mi engine in my Comet had a set of '77 heads on it when I bought it... No doubt it wiped out the valve seats in the orig... The CJ burned a valve in the late '70s when we still had leaded gas... In early '90s burned three using lead additive so I had machine shop install hardened seats...
a manual transmission will help with gas mileage I know youre asking about your old 200 but we had a 71 grabber with a 84 5.0 and a 5 speed with stock 3.00 gears and it was tuned really lean and got 30mpg with stock 15" tires and had tons of power to play with when wanted also if you have ac remove the entire system that will increase mileage even if nothing else its extra weight if your car has power steering you can save gas by removing it reducing weight again and by the engine not having to turn the power steering pump. check your tire size and tread type. some times a larger tire size can help with fuel mileage. if your tire is too small your tire has to rotate more times to achieve the same speed as a slightly larger tire tire tread can help as well all season tires will use more fuel than a strictly highway tire but then if it rains alot or snows at all youre going to have traction issues. check your brakes make sure your drums are smooth and your shoes arent dragging on the drum. axle bearings in good condition will help like someone said earlier clean bearings roll easier creating less friction. the less friction you have the easier the car will roll which transfers into mpg also a valve train and cam in new stock condition may help to make sure youre not losing any power causing you to use more fuel or atleast a once over on the rockers to make sure theyre all where they should be and not too loose or too tight all of these things are very minimal but if you could do all of this it will definitely add up
I keep thinking about this if you can route your commute to where you make mostly right hand turns it will save you a little bit if you do alot of stop light to stop light driving turn your car off at right lights if you eat alot of fast food park your car and walk inside rather than letting your car run if you have a train crossing you hit regularly having to wait on the train turn your car off. turning your car on and off twenty times a day can take a toll on your battery and starter but youll save gas you could even go as far as if you live on top of a hill you can let your car roll down the hill as far as you can THEN start your car. this might save you a nickle every day but thats a $1.50 a month lol
LOL the original poster hasn't been on in almost five years... Answers/thoughts on ethanol were directed to a post of a week or so ago...
well dang lol here in california gas mileage is something we all have to worry about since we JUST got a $.12 a gallon increase now Ill let it die in piece
I did a copy and paste of Paul's comment onto Word and printed it....so yes, this thread can now go the way of old threads and fall off the edge!
