hi All, hope someone has some bright ideas on how to solve this puzzle:

- I own & drive a beloved 1983 240 GL (244) 4-door brick.

- I drive the same commute every day, same traffic patterns, etc -- so I've made a hobby of recording my miles-per-gallon (also a great warning / diagnostic, and useful when my gas gauge broke)

- I recently had my car in for a standard oil change (guy I've worked with 50 times before) AND to have him get the car through the infamous California Smog Test (required every 1-2 years to renew registration)

- He took the car away, came back with the smog certificate, but mumbled something about timing and hoses and having to put the configuration "back to standard" to get the car to pass smog... (?)

- I have no idea what was done -- don't see anything obvious -- but my MPG has dropped by 50% since the "fix".

At gas nearing $4/gallon out here in CA, this is becoming a biiiig problem for me.

Any thoughts? Any pointers to performance mods I can do with basically some ratchets & a screwdriver that might bring my beast back up to MPG comparable to an SUV? (I'm not asking for Prius, here, or even a Honda Civic...)

Many thanks in advance

- KE