Just got a 72 Chevelle. Want to make it more fuel efficient. Looking for the best way. Also, she appears to be running through a lot of water. This morning, radio leaked when I arrived at my destination. Thoughts?

72 Chevelle? Fuel efficient? That’s a good one–I needed a laugh this morning.

Obviously I meant the RADIATOR … not the RADIO … leaked this morning!!

Do a proper tuneup. Replace the plugs, points and condenser, distributor cap and rotor, spark plug wires, and fuel and air filters. OEM AC Delco parts should be fine, there are no magic solutions. Don’t expect much more than 10-11 mpg in city driving though. Summitt Racing or Jegs should be a go…

I had a 1970 Chevelle, 307 with stock Rochester carb. Best mileage I saw was 15mpg, highway.

After you follow the advice about making sure it’s properly tuned, if you want optimal mpg, then you’ll need to drive like you have an egg between your foot and the gas pedal.

Yup All you can do is to get a traditional “tune-up”, i.e.–replacing plugs, points, condensor, air filter, and fuel filter. And, you need to bear in mind that–unlike modern cars–this tune-up will need to be done around every 10k to 12k miles if you want to keep the car running at its optimum. Ke…

I know it won;t be a Prius. But I wanted to get an extra 3-5 mpg.

Great advise guys thanks. Tune-up’s on the calendar this weekend. Thought I head of some new spark plugs that add a bit of efficiency. Also an air filter that allows more intake. And someone mentioned a Cherry Bomb exhaust system that …all taken together … would give it a little extra. As for…

With your leaking radio, use a 1 meg pot for a drip pan to catch the grid leak. (Old tube radio freaks will know what I am joking about. I’m certain that even in 1972 the radios in CHevelles were transistorized).

Most of the good ways to get better fuel economy are going to be expensive. Putting a numerically lower gear set in the differential will help, but your acceleration will suffer. Transplanting a 700R4 into the car will help a lot, especially if you get one with a lockup torque converter. Reman un…

72 chevelle

Maintenance/Repairs

DfromSD June 24, 2010, 4:43pm 13

I used to own a '72 Chevelle Heavy Chevy big block. That was back when gas was cheap…and I used to complain about mileage then! It was a fun car, but I’m glad I don’t have to satisfy it’s appetite for gas nowdays!

Topic		Replies	Views
1970 Chev Chevelle Coming out of storage Maintenance/Repairs chevrolet	11	1880	March 25, 2015
Help! 1990 cherokee-what maintenance should be done? Maintenance/Repairs	45	2811	July 7, 2014
Awful mileage 1991 Chevy Blazer 6 cyl maybe 13-16 MPG seems bad to me Maintenance/Repairs	18	2317	November 30, 2012
99 Jeep Cherokee Gas Mileage Maintenance/Repairs jeep , cherokee , fuel-economy	4	1251	April 7, 2011
Leaky Radiator or something else? Maintenance/Repairs	3	522	August 7, 2007

72 chevelle

Related topics