IH fuel mileage....

I know I know mentioning the two in the same sentence is weird but I have been doing some thinking. I am starting a new job in a few weeks, and I will be driving about 45 miles to the new place. I have never been one to drive a car lol. No I don't have an old IH.....yet but I do want one.

Now my questions lie here, say if you have an old binder (k,kb,l,r,s, or c series) the stock engine and maybe the stock trans (or an over drive trans) but with a better geared rear end, say a 3.50 3.55 something in that range, what would you expect the fuel mileage to be?

Or on the other hand, I have thought of getting rid of the stock engine and putting in one of the IH 4 cylinders, would that be better or worse?

This is all thinking out loud mind you, don't even have a truck yet lol. Also I wouldn't care if the transmission and the rear end where out of something else, I would just like to keep the binder heart ya know. I also know the best thing to do would probably buy a little beater car and drive back and forth. But what fun would that be LOL.

Thoughts?? Opinions???

Thanks,
Chris

Fuel economy with an old Binder is terrible, like maybe less than 10 mpg with a pickup. Reliability is never as good as a modern vehicle and then there is the really big thing, there are almost no parts, like brakes. Old IHC pickups have all but become hobby vehicles and special occasion drivers in stock form. If you want many of the modern conveniences like getting there and not having to mortgage the ranch for fuel, the running gear may have to be upgraded, lot. Get out your wallet and I hope that you have deep pockets.

Gone are the days of 20 cent gas and did not care that it cost a little over $2.00 to fill up the tank. Get a fuel economy beater car, use the money you save on fuel to work on your "weekend" project. Gone are also the days of inexpensive hobby vehicles. In some areas, because of "bad" practices, it is now VERY expensive to do any "remodeling" of an old vehicle.
If you do change things, do it right and be safe and covered by your insurance.

driving my stone stock K, L, or S, 1/2 tons puts mileage about 11-13 MPG. IF i drove very gently, lead foot it will easily put it under 10 like Brian posted.

didn't matter when I couldn't get a whole $5 worth of gas into the KB tank no matter how low I ran it.

when I was using my L-112 panel for a work truck I had a month long job that was 100 mile round trip daily, I put a $20 in every day for a month, and that was when gas was under $2 bucks.

it adds up fast,

but, you can get the same mileage from a $700,000.00 Ferrari too.

If the original poster is still "listening", which is unlikely, here are some stupid numbers. When I commuted to my job in a restored, stock R120, my fuel costs were over $400/month and the R never got better than 6-8 miles per gallon, in traffic. We put a Diesel in the R and the fuel costs dropped to about $150. Our 2002 Diesel Ram 2500 4X4 averaged 27.9 mpg on an 80/20% highway, city combination. The Diesel conversion R120 never got better than 22 mpg, on the highway and 15mpg in the city.
The engine that we put in the R120 was a 6.9 Diesel. This was a difficult and very expensive installation and I DO NOT recommend it. Fitting that 6.9 called for extensive body work, major frame strengthening, modern Dana Axles with disc brakes. That conversion cost $26k in 1991 and could be much more in 2014.

I'm listening, well not really, just reading lol. Like I was saying I was just thinking out loud as how muchpg could be had out of an old binder with an Ih engine. Not completely stock but close.

I know a beater car is the best, and that's what will happen. Right now I'm driving a 2000 Chevy silverado, 4.3 5 speed two wheel drive short bed, and I usually get around 21 mpg with it. I was curious if an old binder could come close to that. I was wrong.

Thanks,
Chris

Back in 1973, when I had my '46 K2-L with the GRD-214 and the T-9 4-speed, it would get around 10 MPG in town, and 19-20 on the highway, at 55 MPH...which was top end, downhill, and with a tailwind. Rarely used first gear; generally started in 2nd and then up-shifted. I drove it to college, 150 miles away, and with my foot to the floor, I could make the trip in 3 hours.

I'm not sure that the "Green Weenie" 214 was capable of handling a higher-speed set of gears...and that was after a ring and valve job. That engine ran sweet, for a flathead six...but remember, it was only rated at around 75 horsepower [and if Ethan is listening...that's just 10 Hp less than one model of the Ford flathead V8].

That pickup would haul a lot of things...but "ass" wasn't one of 'em.