The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Fuel consumption info for English Newbie !

Hi Folks....

What sort of fuel consumption can be expected from a standard Stovebolt six ? I hope to use a 50's advanced design as a working truck, but the government here in England tax us so heavily on fuel that at present we are being murdered at
$2 + a litre !!

Cheers..... Phil

Average estimates are around 18 mpg on the highway in a half-ton pickup.

Depending on the size of your truck, the load you will carry and driving conditions, a half-ton pick-up will vary from 16-18 MPG highway, unloaded; 10-12 MPG (maybe 12-14 MPG) loaded, less with stop-and-go driving. Towing a trailer will add to fuel consumption, but not a great amount. Rear axle gear ratio will affect fuel consumption, also. A larger truck, 1½ ton or larger with a single-speed drive axle will get you 5-7 MPG empty or loaded, fast or slow, up-hill or down-hill. It sounds like you are considering pretty expensive proposition. I would plan for the higher fuel consumption, then maybe you will be pleasantly surprised.

Harvester

I've never managed 18 mpg. Usually for me, in a 3/4 ton truck with a 235 ci straight six, I was getting about 16 mpg. But then again, I was running with a 4.56 rear axle, so maybe folks with half tons DO get better mileage than that.

You would probably get better mileage with a fuel injected V8 than you would with a much weaker straight six.

Gearing is everything as far as fuel economy is concerned. I am running a 350 V/8 with a 700R4 OD trans.and 3:90 rearend.getting 20 MPG.If I was running a regular 350 or 400 Hydramatic or a regular 3 or 4 speed manual,I would have to have a 3:08 rearend to get that kind of gas mileage.The OD trans is about .78 to 1 ratio going to the rear,whereas a 350 0r 400 is 1 to 1 ratio.Hope this helps.

Phil,
Remember that these figures are for US gallons 3.78 Litres -whoops I mean liters- rather than the UK 4.54 liter gallon. I was getting 18-22 MPG with a 350 and automatic trans. have just fitted a 5 speed manual which should make difference when i get the truck on the road in a month or so.

If you are going to do a lot of mileage in a stovebolt in the uk it might be worth thinking about an LPG conversion for the truck, there's plenty of room underneath for the tank(s).

Stuart.

18 mpg for a bolt with original equipment is obtainable on the freeway if you want to keep it at a slow 40 mph. If you feel like driving with traffic, 12 mpg is more realistic. I get about 18mpg at 65 mph. But I wasn't able to achieve that until I added an O.D., radials, HEI, and dual exhaust.
They did sell an "economy version" back in the early 60s at the expense of low end power. That included a smaller venturi carb and a 3:08 rear.

Hello in Blighty from Canada (Canader to you)
I've got quite a low mileage 1300 (U.S. 3100) with the original 216 low pressure engine. Driven unladen, I've seen 22 miles per gallon imperial so the other guy's estimates of at work figures
of 15 to 17 seem about right. I reckon Patrick's diff change would improve things about 15% but it would still take a long time to pay for it. Another thing is that I run 8 degrees more timing advance than stock (I do the same on my S1 Landie). When I was working in England I remember the old car clubs discovering that modern petrol simply burned too slow for veteran and vintage cars. Exhaust gas temps were elevated and sometimes resulted in valve damage. They were even asking if the petrol suppliers might formulate vintage petrol. I find my truck runs much sharper with the timing bumped up. I can't see anyway that you could run on the motorway, I think even a Reliant Robin could run up your arse. The AD's will go 70 mph but the shrieking din of it all keeps you in a constant state of flying connecting rod angst. If you were going to go through the trouble of sorting one of these trucks for work, do you think you could get your hands on a Toyota straight six diesel engine with the five speed box? That'd be magic although it would mean changing the rear end of the AD to open configuration. I'm looking for a good carburetted Jag driveline (was there ever such a thing?LOL) to build up a rolling AD chassis. Then I'll search for some clean bits to stick on the top. But if bloody gasoline gets to be too much I am going to do the Toyota diesel switch and run the damned thing on chip fryer oil. Be sure that you upgrade to radial tyres with well sorted steering gear or I guarantee you'll be scrubbing both sides of your truck with the hedgerows. You'll find yourself rowing the gearchange quite a bit in traffic and I reckon the three on the tree is a better bet as it makes for a roomier cab if a chap needed two mates along for the job. If I was going to use an AD for an advert/work/attention-getter truck that actually had to be driven quite a bit I would go for a re-power using a high compression 235cid GM six coupled to a 2 or 3 speed Hydramatic box. That's if a fellow was stuck on Chevy bits only. I have to confess that after a full and hearty day of serious grafting, I now prefer to have one of my automatic transmissioned classics or a motorbike to drive home. One of my mates regularly ships vintage tractors to UK so if you were stuck for a way to get a big lump of something over there I might be able to cut costs by container sharing. Good luck with your project, it would really turn heads. I'm getting mine lettered with Field Marshal Tractor Mobile Service this spring.
Regards,
Ken
_____________________________
54 S1 Land Rover
1949 Chevrolet 1300
1967 Lotus Elan DHC
1969 Alfa 1300 Junior
1972 Steyr Puch Haflinger
1972 Saab Sonett
VW Thing (ugh)
1972 Piaggio Vespacar Pickup
MK1 Golf GTI 1.6 110PS
I'm tired of typing, goodnight!

I had a 1966 C-10 with a 250 and a 3 speed trransmission. It got about 18 on the highway and 15 in the city per US gallon.

I now use another 1966 C-10 with a 283 and a Powerglide. The gas mileage is about the same.

I guess that is about 4-4.5 miles per liter.

Had a long, wide bed '60 C-10 with 6-cylinder, three-speed that would get 16 with a bit of luck. Swapped it for a new '65 C-10 with short Fleetside bed, 283 V-8, 4.11 differential, and a 3-speed manual overdrive that worked when it wanted to (once in a while) and managed 12-13 mpg. Thought it was awful for a small pickup running empty.