chevy 350 good mpg?? 1991 suburban

I will say this one last time, I have built 700 HP (give or take) fuel injected strip car running a 400 SB with a 350 crank. BTW, it had mechanical injection and ran on pure methanol. You may have some background but you miss the hold point here completely. We are not talking about HP at 4000 or 5000 or 6000 RPM, we are talking torque at 2000 and below and the TBI 350 really shines there when properly tuned. As I said the same thing that makes it strong at low RPM make high RPM power suck. I know your kind, they see big intakes and carbs and dual exhaust but they never consider the dynamics of it all when building a motor for excellent low RPM torque and efficiency. In a SUV I am not at all interested in HP at 5000 RPM or torque at 3500 RPM or so. Nor do I worry about Dyno numbers in my SUV's because that is not why I drive them. I focus on response, efficiency. reliability, and torque below 3000 RPM where engine spends most of its life unless you are one to drive with foot in the floor. You talk a lot about SB knowledge but then you defend tall gears and towing in OD with a 700R4 and then call a 700R4 a bad tranny too. All this adds up to you may try to talk the talk but you cannot walk the walk and you still do not have a firm grasp on the big picture. One more thing, another issue on my list is cooling and I make sure that they never even think about getting close to 210 degrees not matter how hot it is or what it is doing. See to me a good SUV is quiet, torquey, responsive, has a good A/C (because I rarely ever put a window down)and keeps it cools no matter what while keeps me cool. It is not about the noisy and high RPM power or Dyno ratings as I outgrew that long ago.  

I think that you are the one who is talking the talk but not walking the walk, and if you could read you would notice that I never said anything about the 700r4 being a bad tranny, in fact when built properly it can be pretty much invincible even in OD, and you are downright stupid if you think that your motor puts out more than 331ft/lbs of torque at 2700(which is what mine dynoed at). I know how to build an engine for high rpm power or low rpm power, a high rpm power engine would be useless in a trail rig that will rarely see high rpm's. Don't try to put words into my mouth or talk *** about me or my truck, you need to get your head examined if you think that your 180k mile 350 tbi makes anywhere near 331ft/lbs of torque at 2700rpm. My truck can do what yours can and then some, I built my truck to be extremely reliable yet extremely cabable on and off road, so what if I don't get 18mpg, at least I pull my camper to the trail, spend the weekend wheeling with my trail/tow vehicle and not have to worry about breaking old worn parts or getting stuck at the trail entrance. I think that you are on the wrong forum cause you seem to talk alot about how your stock suburban gets such great gas mileage and has more power in stock form than my built specific for low rpm's motor, and nothing about your rig that you wheel. I doubt that you even wheel cause if you did you would understand that great gas mileage doesn't mean *** when your stuck on the bunny hill with your stock truck and street tires.  

Oh and on last thing, I drive a 1986 chevy nova everyday, it gets 45mpg. I have driven it everyday, through blizzards and 100 degree weather, the car has never failed to start and runs like a top. It cost me $500 3 years ago and all I have done to it is change fluids, plugs, cap, rotor, and a new set of $15ea. tires, I have even hauled complete small blocks in the trunk. With the money I save by driving the car I can afford to Use the truck for fun and not have to worry about bad gas mileage. So for much less than $1000 I have a reliable car that gets 45mpg, runs great, and will last for many more years. That kinda puts your 18mpg to shame, huh? Again, my truck runs a real mild 350, .030 overbore, flat top pistons, 202 camelback heads, stock intake, mild rv cam, and stock rams horn exhaust manifolds from a 60's 327 with single 2 3/4" exhaust, no cat and a turbo muffler the truck is extremely quiet(I like to be quiet and polite on the trails), smooth running and very sturdy and reliable, when I need my fix of outrageous and abnoxious power I drive my high 10sec. '78 malibu.  

Hi all,
 After reading this forum, it looks like I might get some good advice from you guys about a project that I am building. I just bought a 1939-40 school bus. It's the smallest bus I have ever seen. about 8-10 feer in length behind driver seat, or about the size of a 1 ton chevy van. I'd like to set it up with a motor, trans and rear end that will have enough power to roll it down the highway, but I am really wanting to get the most out of the MPG. what motor, auto trans  and rear end gears would you suggest? Thanks  

86GMCSierra:
Oh and on last thing, I drive a 1986 chevy nova everyday, it gets 45mpg. I have driven it everyday, through blizzards and 100 degree weather, the car has never failed to start and runs like a top. It cost me $500 3 years ago and all I have done to it is change fluids, plugs, cap, rotor, and a new set of $15ea. tires, I have even hauled complete small blocks in the trunk. With the money I save by driving the car I can afford to Use the truck for fun and not have to worry about bad gas mileage. So for much less than $1000 I have a reliable car that gets 45mpg, runs great, and will last for many more years. That kinda puts your 18mpg to shame, huh? Again, my truck runs a real mild 350, .030 overbore, flat top pistons, 202 camelback heads, stock intake, mild rv cam, and stock rams horn exhaust manifolds from a 60's 327 with single 2 3/4" exhaust, no cat and a turbo muffler the truck is extremely quiet(I like to be quiet and polite on the trails), smooth running and very sturdy and reliable, when I need my fix of outrageous and abnoxious power I drive my high 10sec. '78 malibu.

You are a story teller for sure and not a very good one either.  

markbush:
Hi all,
 After reading this forum, it looks like I might get some good advice from you guys about a project that I am building. I just bought a 1939-40 school bus. It's the smallest bus I have ever seen. about 8-10 feer in length behind driver seat, or about the size of a 1 ton chevy van. I'd like to set it up with a motor, trans and rear end that will have enough power to roll it down the highway, but I am really wanting to get the most out of the MPG. what motor, auto trans  and rear end gears would you suggest? Thanks

No easy answer here as there is a lot of variables. What would be best for you axle ratio wise depends on engine type too. Manual trannies tend to give best MPG and you could use a modern NV4500 5 speed with OD and a modern rear axle. Back in late 70's and early 80's I used to hunt this one area every fall for deer and in the campground area on park there used to be this group of guys that came there every year with a 53 or so school bus that they modified to carry a old jeep inside in the back and have sleeping room in the front. They had a built up 327 in it with headers and cammed too and it really sounded strong. I never rode in it but it sure made you do a double take when you heard it and realized is was a old school bus.  

and you're a *** idiot that spends to much time thinking about gas milage and not enough time wheeling, shut up and hit the trail ***  

86GMCSierra:
and you're a *** idiot that spends to much time thinking about gas milage and not enough time wheeling, shut up and hit the trail ***

Not very mature. BTW, any money spent on gas is kinda "wasted" anyway so why not get maximum value out of it when you use it? Improving MPG even 1 or 2 MPG on a 4x4 adds up to a lot of money over life of vehicle at todays and tomorrows fuel prices. I also lets you range further and longer on your treks which is nice out west were fuel stops can be few and far between in more remote areas even on state roads.  

Hi SnoMan,
What are your preferences for fuel injection systems?  I plan to build a 383 stroker for my tow rig.  For a time tbi was the preferred option, but now magazine is promoting a stroker build that uses tpi (Holley system).  

Myself, I am kinda found of TBI. THe reasons are is it easy to fix and very reliable and TBI engine tend to have very strong low and mid RPM torque. I am not knocking TPI at all as I have few it is just that they just do not seem to have the low RPM response and torque that a TBI motor I have does. The TPI does have a lot more top end. I guess it is a matter of how you plan to drive. If you are one to rev it out a lot and spend a lot of time above 3000 RPM or so, TPI is a better choice but if you drive a bit conservation and generally around 3000 RPM or less TBI might be better for you. Also how you cam it plays a roll too. I would suggest a Competition Cams H260 as I have run a few in years past and it is a strong cam that is fuel injection friendly and should play well in your planned 383 for towing.  

Hey I am 16yrs. old and I have got an 1984 Chevy Silverado. When we first got the truck it started fine, but after about 2 months it started to make a screeching noise when you tried to start it. We went and got a new starter for it, but it didn't work. So my dad suggested that it was the fly wheel. We went and bought a new one to put on. As we finished putting the fly wheel on we put the starter on and found out that the fly wheel was rubbing the housing on the starter. We found out that the starter we took off the truck originally didnt have a housing. We are lost and don't know what do do. Does any body have any advise?  

Hey I am 16yrs. old and I have got an 1984 Chevy Silverado. When we first got the truck it started fine, but after about 2 months it started to make a screeching noise when you tried to start it. We went and got a new starter for it, but it didn't work. So my dad suggested that it was the fly wheel. We went and bought a new one to put on. As we finished putting the fly wheel on we put the starter on and found out that the fly wheel was rubbing the housing on the starter. We found out that the starter we took off the truck originally didn’t have a housing. We are lost and don't know what do. Does any body have any advice?  

Not sure what housing you are talking about here. Starter in that year GM are pretty simple to change and are held in with two bolts. If you are having issues after a flywheel change then possible you have the wrong flywheel installed. Also some GM starters made in 70's require some shims between mount and starter due to production tolerance issues and if you have one of the those old one that has been rebuilt it could cause problems.  

The housing is the metal cover on the end that covers the starter gear. The starter we took out before didnt have a housing so you could touch the gear, but on the new one you cant. I have also had a couple people tell me that there are long and short nose starters. Do you think that good be a problem?  

All SB 350's of that era used same starter. IF the starter gear on starter was exposed to begin with I am not sure what starter you had in there. It kinda sounds like you have the wrong flywheel or starter in there. A picture would help a LOT here!