low gas mileage in 95 civic

[vbcamry]

I have recently purchased a 95 civic dx and was hoping to be getting gas mileage in the mid-upper 30's. I checked the mileage for the first time and I only got about 26(all city). Any ideas or suggestions that might be a good place to start in increasing my mileage? The car is in very good shape and the previous owner was very particular about his car. Just looking for some tips.
Thanks

[CivicSpoon]

Make sure your tires are completely inflated, do a tune up, keep the rpms as low as possible (if it's a manual transmission).

[polacek]

How many miles on the engine? I adjusted my valves and got a 6 mpg gain. I get about 39 to 41 mpg.

[vbcamry]

I have about 165,000 on the car. What exactly do you mean by adjusting the valves?

[polacek]

In the shop manual, go to engine and look up "adjusting valves". You are measuring the clearance when the valves are open. Civic's have 4 cylinders and 4 valves per cylinder = 16 valves to adjust. Fairly easy to do, but easy to screw up if the distance isn't measured correctly.