<VV> 1968 110HP Engine = Crappy Gas Mileage

[djtcz at comcast.net]

----- Original Message ----- 

Subject: <VV> 1968 110HP Engine = Crappy Gas Mileage 

My daughter's '68 engine has been de-smogged (pump and plumbing removed, 
openings plugged). When we first got it back on the road, it only got around 
15 mpg in mixed driving. That was with earlier carbs, tune-up, and retarded 
timing. 

Since then I've rebuilt and reinstalled the stock distributor and stock 
carbs, set the timing at 16 deg BTDC, and replaced the fuel hoses. The 
compression is good in all cylinders. The engine starts and idles nicely, 
pulls well and, *other than a tiny amount of bogging at 65 mph*, cruises 
smoothly. However, it still only gets 15 mpg. My other 'vairs get 20 or 
better. 

Are the '68 smog engines different enough to account for this dramatic drop 
in gas mileage? Is there somthing that can be done to smog carbs to improve 
things? 

Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated. 

-- 
Tom in Baltimore 
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Is the vacuum advance hooked up? That is worth a few mpg. My mom's 67 110 required super premium, probably due to carbon and flashed up heads. My teenaged not-very satisfactory solution was to retard the timing a few degrees even though at full throttle (pure centrifugal advance) pinging was not much of an issue with near stock timing. I think reworking the vacuum advance would have been worth the effort, if only I had known how.