ford 8BA instead of Teapot

Is a Ford 8BA Carburetor and Intake Manifold OK to use on a Mercury 255? The 8BA carb and manifold are all that I have available at this time. If I can use it, will it need to be jetted differently?

Jroot

 

Go for it.

 

There is a social group devoted to the Holley 94 carb. Very easy to set up and make work right. Jets and power valves are the same as for currant Holleys and you can buy rebuild kits from any of the old car sources plus NAPA.
Accelerator pumps give me more trouble than anything. The old style leather pump seals are the best so if your carb still has one and it's still soft and playable I'd use it.

 

If you have a 53 four bolt intake, the trick thing to do is enlarge the two big holes to fit a 265 Chev 2GC carb on it. Runs great, gives great fuel mileage.

 

Listen to "Ole don".
A Rochester 2-barrel will run great on the Merc manifold!

 

49, 50 and 51 mercury used the teapot as far as I know.

 

WW's were used on a lot of cars. I have a NOS Stromberg WW that I bolted on, just to see if it would fit. The car started right up and drove fairly well, but I swapped it out for dual 48s soon after.

I'm pretty sure you could tune a WW to work fine on the flathead.

The '49-'51 Mercs used a Holley 885 which is different than the "teapots" used in Lincolns and later Fords. People call them "backdrafts" or "sidedrafts" but they're really not. They just have an angled airhorn for the side mounted air cleaners of the day. They are pretty good carbs but gained a bad (undeserved) reputation for fires because the float bowl is on top of the carb.

As for the OP, I think the Ford carb should work fine without any changes.

 

Thanks for the info. The 94 I have was the stock carb for the 239 it came from. It won't need to be re-jetted for my 255?

 

I wouldn't re-jet it until you run it, see how it performs, and read the spark plugs.

 

Jets may be the same, but the power valves aren't, and can lead to leaks. Also carefully inspect any kit you get, it may be for later 2100/2110's, which can also lead to problems.

 

Thanks all, so, which power valve should I use for a 255?

 

the 1949-50-51 used a side-draft carb, not a teapot as I call the 54 and 55 merc 4-barrels. is there a 2-barrell teapot???

 

You might consider adding an adapter to your 3 or 4-bolt manifold and installing an Autolite 2100 or a Motorcraft 2150 carb. 8 different sizes - 190 to 424 CFM... just a thought...jack

 

i've had sealing problems using late-model holley power valves, allthough they do fit the 94s. am i doing something wrong?

 

The late model power valves have a different "shoulder" on the sealing surface.

 

We called Teapot Towering inferno!