Technical Shoebox intro and flathead rough idle

One thing that no one has mentioned is the chokes on the two carbs. In your first pictures it appears that the choke is closed on the front carb and open on the rear. Are the chokes connected and are you sure they are both open? Both appear to be open in the later pictures.

 

Fritz, thanks for pointing that out. The choke is something I am completely not used to dealing with, so I would never have noticed that. It appears the choke cable is only connected to the rear carb. As far as I understood it when I took delivery of the car, the choke was not something I would need to worry about much unless it was cold and difficult to get started. It hasn't been cold for a while so I am not sure why it was open in the first place, but under normal driving conditions the choke should be closed, correct? Sorry if these questions are so basic, just trying to learn as much as possible.
Warhorse, I don't see a metal piece bolted under the radiator like you described. I will check out Shoebox Central; thanks for the tip.
Petejoe, thanks again for pointing this out and for the leads on rebuilding. I will be surprised if they were not rebuilt along with the engine relatively recently, but clearly something is wrong. My first thought when I saw it was, damn, that seems like a lot of gas to be leaking. I don't have the tool on hand to check radiator pressure but probably not a bad idea to add it to the toolbox.
Appreciate everyone's advice! This place is great.

 

The choke should normally be open. Since it is only hooked up on the rear carb, that would be the primary carb if you have progressive linkage. The secondary carb only comes into play at about 3/4 throttle so it shouldn't have a choke. With your climate, you really Don't need the choke most of the time.

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

This is what you are looking for under the front of the car. View attachment 3953897
As Goldmountain said you shouldn't need the choke on the front carb in this picture does appear either partially if not completely closed which was probably your initial issue as Fritz pointed out. Either lock it out or remove the choke blade altogether as there is no cable attached to it.

 

A simple way to check radiator pressure is to get it to
Operating temperature and carefully open your cap.
A pressurized system accomplished two things.
It increases your boiling point but more importantly it retains the fluid level in the system. At high speed an unpressurized system will puke out coolant causing your engine to become overheated.
Your “rebuilt” carbs are not correctly redone when fuel is pouring out of every available opening.

 

I would agree that the carbs need rebuilt. it is not a hard job at all.
get some rebuild kits from one of the sources mentioned above. i have dealt with Charlie Price at vintage speed and was very happy (vintagespeed.com)
Charlie also has a series of videos on rebuilding the Holley 94 on youtube that i would recommend you watch as well.
There are no real special tools required, though you will need a 1 inch wrench to remove the power valves if i remember correctly.
Re-bushing the throttle shaft is a bit more involved but the information is out there on how to do it.
there is also the option of sending them off and have it all done for you. Charlie at Vintage speed also offers this service and the turn around is pretty quick.
Chappy

 

This is what I was referring to as your most likely original "running rough" problem. The area circled in yellow is the Choke Control and the air cleaner being to high would not have caused your original issue. You most likely inadvertently bumped the choke open on the front carb while retightening the rear air cleaner after lowering it. If it does the "running Rough at idle" again look there and see if it is anywhere close to the picture. If it is make it look like the back carb. Just for fun and for you to learn, start the car and let it idle. Open the hood and move the front carb choke arm to look like the picture. Does it run rough? I bet it will and ou just found your original cause. Another good reason to lock out or remove the choke blade from the front carb. Let us know what you find.

 

Happy 4th everyone, sorry for the delay--busy two days at work, but had a chance to get back to fooling around with the car this morning.
Warhorse, I did what you suggested and played around with that front choke arm, and of course you were right--that does seem to have been the cause of the rough idle. Still glad I got that other air cleaner clamped down though. I think I will probably just remove the choke blade altogether. Thanks again for your assistance, you've been very helpful with this and the cooling issue. Thinking of maybe trying the lower radiator piece in combo with a shroud at a combined ~$200 before jumping to a new radiator for almost $600. Won't be in the next few days but I will let y'all know how it turns out when I get to it.
Chappy, Charlie is the guy that helped my FIL get the linkage setup in good working order, so he is a guy on my radar already, but I am glad to see him recommended by others. I do some work on my OT truck and have nearly rebuilt my house from the ground up so I am pretty good with my hands, but I have no experience with carbs. My first inclination when I have good instructions to follow (ie, Charlie's videos and the help of people on here) is to do it myself, but I am really hesitant to start tearing into things on this car. I will have to think about this, but I will let you know what I decide. Thanks in any case for the helpful info.

 

Blake, Car is coming right along. Your idea of a shroud is a "very" good one, you will be surprised how much difference they can make, this is a good thing even if in time you need a radiator which you may not. I was not familiar with that pan even though I now own a shoebox Ford. I went out and checked and sure enough it is there on mine as well, got to serve some purpose cooling is as good a reason for it as any.

As to your carb's, study that video. These old carb's are not really a big deal, just watch it until you have your confidence up and you will be fine. Good luck and keep us in the loop.

 

Blake, In reading your last post I completely understand that you have no experience with carbs. And to tell the truth when something like that is new it can be intimidating in the beginning. For me personally there is nothing on these old cars I won't do, but I like to know what I am getting into before I start tearing stuff apart. Here is something you "MIGHT" give a try. Go over on E-bay and purchase an old Holley 94, any old core that is complete will do for this. I looked and saw a couple for around $25.00, take this carb a part and get familiar with the carb before you ever get into yours. You will see just how simple they are and without the risk of getting yours apart and not knowing what to do next.

After you take it apart and put it back together a couple of times you will see that you are worried about nothing. I did this with a Stromberg 97. I had a older Drag Start manifold and it came with 6 Stromberg large Logo 97's. I bought two core carbs here on the HAMB for $40.00. After I got familiar with them rebuilding the six original carbs was a piece of cake. Give it a try, your carb needs a rebuild so just dive in a get it done.

 

OK, well I'm glad the carb messed up when you played with the choke as I really didn't know why the air cleaner would do what the original problem was. As far as the cooling ,yes the bottom sheet metal does affect the draw through the radiator. The upper deflector that is visible on your car in the pictures also affects the cooling draw of the fan. A shroud can't hurt and will just improve the sir draw and cooling affect. When you remove the choke blade just do it inside the carb and not the shaft as it will create a lean condition with to much air entering the air fuel system. Remove the carb from the intake so you will not drop anything down the intake tract which will damage the valves and pistons. Without the blades it will never run rough again and if it does then just look at the back carb as the linkage can slip but you are learning now.