I have a 1973 dodge minnie winnie ( winibago) with the 5.9 litre 360 v8 engine with a 4bbl carberator it only has 37 000 miles on it. I will have it on the road this spring. Currently renovating the camper. Its comming along. Very excited to take this old beast for some trips.The cab, chassis and engine are in almost perfect condition. Im just wondering if anyone on here knows how i can improve the gas mileage. Iv been trying to research upgrades but not getting enough information to make me feel confident in spending the money. I have seen fancy electronic carberators online but not sure if they will make any difference or even work at all.

 

Fuel injection may improve your fuel mileage, but, given how much you would have to spend to retro-fit it to your camper, it would take a long time for it to pay for itself. In all reality, the vehicle itself simply does not lend itself to anything even remotely resembling 'economy'. It's a big, heavy brick, with a V-8. Best bet is to just make sure everything associated with the engine is in good shape. So, tuneup, etc. Something that would likely be more help, and less expensive... would be swapping in a 46RH trans. (a trans with O/D....) That 4th gear would quite likely be more helpful than fuel injection.

 

A good tune up will be the main thing to do. Fresh plugs, cap and rotor. If the wires look old, those too. A large flat front isn't very aerodynamic. If the tires are good, make sure the front is aligned properly. If the tires are old and bias ply tires, go with radials. Mileage may not increase but handling will improve. If you have a 4 BBL, go with an Edelbrock Performer. It's based on the old Carter AFB. 4 barrels actually get better mileage under load than 2 barrel units due since the primaries are smaller. You also want to see your Doctor about getting the lead taken out of your right foot. This is NOT going to be a fast vehicle. It's designed to live in parked. It just moves to get there. A good 4 BBL and keeping your foot out of the secondaries will do the best on economy but don't expect much. Like HeyYou sad, it's shaped like a brick.

 

As mentioned, get a spread bore carb and i would put on a MSD6A. If you plan on using it a lot the 46RH would be the thing to swap in. You would have to move the trans mound back and shorten the drive shaft but well worth the effort. You could swap on the throttle body injection that was used on the first gen Dodges. If you found a 89 and up first gen you could just swap everything over.

 

That TBI would be the worst thing you could do that system sucked

 

It wasn't that bad, My 90 had it and i put 150 k on it.