Carburetors....was: Re: [Shotimes] '93 MTX 60k done-won't start

[George Fourchy]

On Wed, 05 Mar 2003 23:24:01 -0500, Leigh Smith wrote:

>fiddling with idle mixture screws, changing jets, sticking needle & 
>seats, backfiring, plugged nickle filters, blown power valves, chokes 
>constantly sticking, carb icing, eyes burning, pump the gas 7 times, 
>backfiring, flooded it again, fouled plugs, carb fires, starting fluid...

You had the wrong brand of carburetors.  On my 65-69 Fords, they were so simple they
were sweet.  The engine would run with the carb top off, and the bowls right
THERE.....so you could REALLY check the wet float level, and the jets were so easy
to change it was a pleasure to do it....especially compared with after I started
fooling with Quadrajets in the '70s.  My '65 GT had a C5ZF-E carburetor....#49
primaries, and #56 secondaries, the Ford model flat-top 4 bbl, and that thing was
foolproof.  I learned with it, then fiddled with a couple of 2 bbl models on the '65
rag, and the '69 Country Squire.  That had a 429 CID premium fuel engine, and took
about 15 minutes to tune once a year.  The only funny thing about that one was that
the float level wanted to be a full half inch higher than the spec said.  I never
did figure out why that was, but it ran like a champ with about 13/16ths of fuel,
rather than about 5/8ths or 11/16ths.   The Boss has a Holley, and it was its own
creature..the side mounted idle adjustments needed to be JUST right or it would idle
too rich or too lean...too rich and it'd foul the plugs in 10 minutes of city
driving...too lean and it would bog on acceleration....but when it was just
right.....watch out!!   After it went to propane, there is no tuning of it required
at all.....ever.

More than you EVER wanted to know!!

I DEFINITELY miss those cars.  Thank goodness the EFI cars that live here don't need
tuneups very often!   The F-350 has a Holley 4BBL...but the darn idle screws are
buried in the throttle plate and are hex headed.....very hard to get to.

;-)

George