[quaddriver]

something nagged at me all day and I have been out of pocket all day, so when I got home I double checked. And this is gonna seem weird. And stranger as I go....

You said the car was built in october 77, which can make it a 78, but not necessarily. Ford used/uses a 'just in time' method of manufacturing, such that the VIN is created before the car and with the order sheet, causes the pieces to show up. If the car was ordered before oct 7-8 1977, it could be a 77.

How to tell?

Unlike everyone else who used 13 digit vins then, ford used 11. For your car, is the first digit a 7, 8 or 9? That gives the year as in 1977, 1978, 1979...

You expect it to be an 8

2nd digit is the plant.

digits 3 and 4 are the body style, Id expect 81, 82 or 89.

the 5th (and this is where it gets weird) is the engine

Is is 'A' or 'S'. 'A' being 460, 'S' being the 400.

Yes you read that right.

Why did I look this up? it dawned on me that once the 460 came out, it only had 2bbl versions in some real early 70's large (but not lincoln) ford and mercury cars, and cutaway vans used for campers.

Inside your door should be a plate that has things like body code, paint code, tranny code (either way its a C6) and axle code ('O' or '5' for 1977, O, J, 1 or 2 for 78)

at 6mpg, you are getting worse than the 8mpg in my camper using an EFI 460 which is the equivalent of a 1 car, 6 ton garage moving at 65mph...

So something is wrong. So before we can definitively tell you how to fix it, we have to know what you have, and there is no way that either engine had points. Both are long established as dura spark, so if you DO have points, and DO have a 460 with a 2bbl, someone did a transplant...

It could be you have a 400, with the 2.50 axle. (worst case scenario for mods)

So please research and get back...

Edited to add: another way to tell a 335 series 400 from a 385 series 460 is the valve cover bolts, 7= 385, 8 = 335. It would be an easy mistake for some to make, the ridiculous tall deck of the 351M/400 makes it nearly as wide as the 460, BUT, the 400 uses the same 4.38 bore spacing as the windsor so the heads are not as 'long' when looking side by side with the 460, and the block has a funny timing cover extention cast in to handle cooling, the 351M/400 intake manifold is dry - no water in it, whereas the 460 is wet and has a thermo housing pointing up at the front.