'59 Plymouth Forum

This is the question that nobody of us likes to answer!

HOW MUCH GAS DOES YOUR CAR TAKE?

Here is what my 318, 4bbl took at moderate driving over the last time:

Miles - US Gal - MpGal
200 - 23,2 - 8,6
160 - 21,0 - 7,6
176 - 21,0 - 8,4
130 - 17,6 - 7,4
204 - 25,9 - 7,9


What do you think and what is your experience?

Stefan

Stefan,

You must be a very wealthy man to keep driving a car that uses so much fluid gold per mile

My 318 4 bbl uses drives at least 28 miles per gallon (about 8 to 9 kilometer per litre) and most of the time it is more than 30 miles. I know a lot of people won't believe it but it is the truth. All my friends envy me because their cars use a lot more, my son's 58 Olds only drives 19 miles with a gallon. And this was tested while we drove together, same speed and the same distance.

Maybe your fuel consumption would be OK for a Portugese lunatic who drives like he is on the Autobahn, but I hope you drive like we do. In that case your engine needs some work.

Ron

Seems my math isn't what it used to be!

Let's see 1 mile = 1.6 Km
1 gallon = 3.8 L

It should be at least 28 Km per gallon which equals 28/1.6=17.5 miles per gallon

So the average for my Sport Fury is about 18 miles/gallon and my sons
58 Olds average is about 12 miles/gallon.

The cost per mile is $6.384/18=$0.35 with our fuel prices, that's right we pay $6.38 per gallon in the Netherlands

Ron

In my case,my Plymouth with a flat 6 and auto gets about 14 miles to US gallon,gas is sold in litres too here in Canada,my 59 Chev averages about the same,and thats about what those cars were designed to get in those days.....

wow, Stefan, wher is the gasoline going? Hole in the tank? Someoone siphoning it out at night? Past the rings and into your oil sump? Does your car smell of gasoline vapor?

Thank you All for your answers.

For those who measure in liter:
My SF takes 24 - 26 liter each 100 km and has poor performance (as the whole world knows by now)

According to my knowledge the mileage for the 318 4-bbl should be somewhere between

15 and 18 MpG in good engine condition, but never less than 14 MpG.

( =12 – 14 liter per 100 km but never over 15 liters)


- Ron – I guess I have no chance to become rich – the Fury takes it all. Some day I’ll visit you and then you have to show me how your SF “goes”.
- Bob – The flathead should make some more miles. I drove a flathead between 10 and 12 liters each 100 km – but this car had a very low mileage engine.
- Roger – You can laugh - how much takes your BigBabe?


I know I have to do an overhaul soon. But at first I have to find all the parts, otherwise I will be grounded for quite some month. Probably I need 0.030 oversize pistons and a set of piston rings, new valves and for sure new valve guides.

Sometimes I "play" with the idea that it would be cheaper to buy an 383 and change it. Dows anybody have a 383 in the basement?

Stefan

sportfury1959 wrote:

15 and 18 MpG in good engine condition, but never less than 14 MpG.

- Ron – I guess I have no chance to become rich – the Fury takes it all. Some day I’ll visit you and then you have to show me how your SF “goes”.

Stefan

Would be nice when you came to visit us! Maybe next year we can show you the difference between a 2bbl and a 4bbl 318
I would ask Johnny Otter to come over too and drive to Belgium to visit Davy and his 59 Suburban

Attached are some pictures from the 1958 Car life magazine "special Plymouth economy supplement". In 1957 and 1958 Plymouth won the economy run with averages of approximately 20 miles/gallon. And in 1959 they won again. I will scan the rest of the magazine and email it to Dan and maybe he will be able to show it on the site sometime in 2007

I have a 318 with original twin four barrel carbs in the '57 Fury which I drive daily, and average fuel consumption is right around 17 MPG, as long as I don't flog the accelerator, or do jackrabbit starts.---John

[quote="sportfury1959"]



- Bob – The flathead should make some more miles. I drove a flathead between 10 and 12 liters each 100 km – but this car had a very low mileage engine.

Well,in my case,my Plymouth only has 27000 miles on it,so its low mileage but i think its more the way i drive than the car itself,i was reading some ol popular science mags and read owners reports done back at that time and a lot of them reported mileage about what i get.............

Just to be clear, Stefan, I was not laughing at you at all! I haven't driven my Red Sled (Big Babe) enough to properly chart the mileage. I have a 2 bbl carb on it, but someday hope to save up enough to pay someone to put the proper four barrel on.
My 2000 Dodge Dakota 4WD with 5.9 liter and automatic gets 11-13 mpg.
It is embarassing and costly. I really should find a "used" Honda to drive, and use the truck only when I need it.
I once owned a Chevy van with 6 cylinder and auto transmission. It was a retired Sears Roebuck service van. The gasoline mileage was great..when I took it on a cross-country trip I found out why..the engine had so many miles on it, the oil consumption was HUGE! It did not blow blue smoke, or any smoke at all, and it didn't drip...it just went away! I figured the oil must have been blending with the gasoline very well, improving my mileage. Who knows. That was years ago.
Roger

Ron Keij wrote:Let's see 1 mile = 1.6 Km
1 gallon = 3.8 L

OK, let's do Faulkner's mileage:

0 miles/ 0 gallons == ...

Waydaminit! Up until the "divide by zero" part, I'm getting excellent mileage. Except...

'taint goin' nowhere

Dan

Over the years I always had to do some improvements on my engine. Everything I changed kept the engine alive and the Fury never let me down. But time doesn’t go by without a trace and now the economical pain limit is overstepped.

I talked to a couple of friends last week and they convinced me that there is no other way than to make a complete overhaul and solve this situation once and forever. (Forever means another 100.000 miles of course) Unfortunately this job will take some long month and as it seems next summer I will not be able to drive. One more year the Fury will be locked up in the garage instead of cruising on the beach. The reward will hopefully be a new engine with power and good mileage.

John: This is a very good mileage you have. I wish I would get so far with my car.
Bob: Driving style – nothing more to say!
Ron: I’m looking forward!
Roger: We already know us such a long time. Laughing is allowed!
Dan: Nobody beats Faulkner – not even me when I’m finished.

Thanks to All for your information!

Stefan


PS: I’m still playing with the idea to replace the SB for a 361 (or 383) BB of that year. This would give me the chance to rebuilt the engine first and then replace it for the old one. If anybody of you knows of an engine please let me know.

Ok, I can see if an engine is clapped out to the point there is no compression, but.... Have you tried everything? adjusted the valves properly... is your carb good? You have the coil wired up right? You getting plenty of spark? Are you sure you don't have something else going on? Leaking intake gasket maybe?

Mike,
everything is set up right, but apparently something is severely wrong. I can’t deny that. The required CR is 125 – 165 psi. My SF is between 130-135 psi on al 8. That is only a little below average but not out and doesn’t justify that weakness. Anyhow, I am convinced that the reason for this situation is not one failure, but a lot of little things.
One of these little things is the carburetor. At the moment I have an aftermarket Carter AFB 650 cfm. The holes are a little bigger and didn’t fit perfectly to the manifold. I made a spacer to adapt the carburetor to the manifold. Yet, the holes don’t fit a 100% perfect. In the next weeks I will open the plenum holes to neutralize this mismatch. I’ll keep you posted.

Stefan

does it run smooth? have u tried leaning the fuel mixture? r ur igition wires good? (check them with a ohm meter). is ur coil still putting out the fire it should? points, cap, bug still look satisfactory? it doesn't sound like u have a compression problem. to further check ur rings 4 blowby is check them dry, then wet.(squirt 30 weight through spark hole). i believe there should not be more that 10 psi difference on any on cylinder. wish u the best of luck on curing her--jeremy