Fuel economy

Hi guys, just wondered if anyone could help ??
I have a 1.8 8v auto clipper and I'm only getting about 120 miles to a full tank.
Does this sound normal ?? That's about 10-12mpg at a rough guess. I do a mixed run into work most days of about 12 miles .whats everyone think ?? I know the carb is not great as it won't idle for the first 10 minutes of the journey but I cant think on how to make it run a bit leaner.

Have you checked the spark plugs for colour?

Doesn't seem a lot to me.

The plugs are quite black which to me suggests that it's running rich, I have cleaned them up a few times and it's made no difference. 
 
It's getting a bit expensive to run in all honesty as I've just had to take a pay cut at work 😢

Where are you based Slammed88

I have a gas analyser if your local

Hi matey I'm based near Leeds,West Yorkshire ! 

Ah ok I'm in Milton Keynes

Be best to get a tune up, check timing and mixture see if anyone else is local to you, join your local group if you haven't already

The cost will be outweighed by the fuel saving.

Checking the plugs proves how clean it burning you have then to correct other things to stop it happening again not just clean them again.

I had after checking the plugs done a full electrical service on the car (dizzy cap,rotar arm,ht leads,coil) and an oil change with new fuel filter and air filter. 

Still seems to be the same colour on the plugs which leads me to think it's probably a carburration issue but not sure on the best way to approach sorting it.

As it stands I still have a 2e2 on but all I read suggests changing this for a Webber,what I'm
Trying to understand is if I change the carb am I likely to see a vast improvement in economy or is there a way of timing the 2e2 to be slightly more frugal as money is tight at the minute ??? 

On a 32mile round trip commute, I was getting 25mpg about 240 to the tank. 
I went full injected and I can genuinely get 43 on a run. Still around 30 on the commute. Autos are more thirsty, but yours sounds like a worse habit than oliver reed! 
Certainly needs looking at. 

Mine in carb and injection was manual 

120 miles to a tank! That's bad… I get about 300 miles to a tank but I don't let the needle go below 1/4 tank as there rust in there. I admit it's a fuel injection and I commute 50 miles a day on Somersets A roads with not a lot of stopping, I've got the MFA to read 44 mpg when following a lorry at 40 mph for about 1/2 the journey and regularly see 40 mpg.

Get the car on a CO2 machine and that will tell you how rich it's running but check the timing first and maybe the auto choke, the 2e2 is a good carb if you can get it set up right but it's hard to find someone who knows what they are doing with them that's why most people go for a Webber as they are really easy to set up. If the 2e2 is running right you should see the same or slightly better MPG than a Webber.

Cheers for the help gents, I think I'll have to get someone involved. I have seen rubjonny's 2e2 thread and spotted the thing with the coolant galley in the inlet manifold. I think this might be a good place to start as it mentions it smelling of fuel and bad idle.

Slammed88 said

I had after checking the plugs done a full electrical service on the car (dizzy cap,rotar arm,ht leads,coil) and an oil change with new fuel filter and air filter. 

Still seems to be the same colour on the plugs which leads me to think it's probably a carburration issue but not sure on the best way to approach sorting it.

As it stands I still have a 2e2 on but all I read suggests changing this for a Webber,what I'm
Trying to understand is if I change the carb am I likely to see a vast improvement in economy or is there a way of timing the 2e2 to be slightly more frugal as money is tight at the minute ??? 

It's down to its fueling ie the carb setup IMO.

Have you checked the plug against a guide like this?

Spark Plug Fouling

I have used the one in the Haynes manual, and it looked looks like oily/running rich one.
I've just run the figures in an MPG calculator and found it's doing 11.2 mpg !!! That's worse than some of the 5.0l supercharged cars I used to work with !! 
Can anyone point to where the mixture screw is on these ??? Or is it all controlled by magic and witch craft from the vacuum system and needles ??? 

Having had a Mk2 golf 1.8 with a Pierberg 2E2 carb for 17 years, I found most of my running issues were associated with the vacuum system.

In addition to that already mentioned, I would check for perished pipes and choke pull down unit.

Here's where you have a choice of spend the time and money trying to fix your carb and get it running right if you can find someone trained in the 2e2 or bin it a fit a Webber. The only problem you may get with a Webber seems to be to much fuel is sent back to the fuel tank so fitting a restricter in the return fuel line solves that problem, it seems some cars have this problem and others no problems at all….

Slammed88 said

I have used the one in the Haynes manual, and it looked looks like oily/running rich one.
I've just run the figures in an MPG calculator and found it's doing 11.2 mpg !!! That's worse than some of the 5.0l supercharged cars I used to work with !! 
Can anyone point to where the mixture screw is on these ??? Or is it all controlled by magic and witch craft from the vacuum system and needles ??? 

That is bad!

My 3.6 v8 twin turbo range rover does over double that even when towing 1.5 ton!

I'm not up on mk1 carbs to be honest but I've heard the webber conversion is the way forward. I know as I'm sure the 1.6 mk1 caddy had a webber conversion.