Technical A Kid's First Project: 1957 Fairlane 500 Town Victoria.

I say do it and make yourself a driver, keep the paint, and maybe everything else beat up, maybe swap in that 352 if the stock motor doesnt work out. Of course undercoat it and make sure it lasts, but drive it.

 

As for your temp & gas gauge they both share a piece called a Gauge Voltage Regulator and it connects with your ignition switch on same terminal as the black wire . It is located between the gas gauge and the oil indicator use a light and glasses and keep your mouth closed and hope your head fits in there to inspect the loom and connections make sure no other wires are connected to that wire like aftermarket accessories . Do you have a Multimeter ?

 

I just had it out, i dont have it fully mounted in and can pull it right back out. Also, i figured out part of its problem, the float is set down to the bottom tight. Going to set it level with the viewing hole/screw

 

More than likely your gauges use the dash for ground , tighten up the screws and things will probably work again

 

How about a later year carb? We had a "no Holley" rule change when we raced years back and our nice 2BBL Holley had to go. So we had an Autolite and another Ford 2-barrel that we experimented with, the car was just as fast as it was with the Holley. And they are easy to rebuild.

 

The holley is staying, mostly because ive got quite a bit of money in it (for me at least).

 

you know what i give up I'm fully rebuilding the carb because whoever did it last time was dumb as rocks, nothing is set right and i think the tabs on the float are bent out of whack.

 

Oh that sucks worms big time . If it's that bad take something with a flat edge on it and make sure they didn't bend up the bowl housing when someone hands me spaghetti carburator I find the screws have been super tightened thus warping everything . Take your time with it sounds like it needs a true and loving surgery . Once you master rebuilding any Holley you become a Rock Star in your neighborhood !

 

Like I said, the venerable Autolite 2100 is a decent carb and an easy rebuild. Even if you have a local carburetor shop do it up, it will be done right... in theory...

 

Maybe in the neighborhoods of the past, now most don't even know what a carburetor is...sadly.

 

Nice progress! When you start driving it to class, work etc you will be the king of the parking lot.

 

the oldest car in the parking lot at the moment is an '83 chevy truck. its at least modified to look like a 90s mud truck instead of a chicken bucket modern one...

 

sadly there are no "local carburetor shops" anymore, they've all gone the wayside, theres an autobody shop in town, but they do bondo fixes more than anything else.

 

yes true as I wrote the post I was thinking of all the FI equipped cars in the neighborhood and most of the carbureted cars that are left are in the back of a property waiting for someone who understands them . It is getting harder to find yes used to be everyone had one and in my state ( California) they had a program for a out 10 years that I know of the state and junk yards gave you $1000 to get the car off your property and how they succeeded is by threatening you with a visit from the local Fire Marshall and health department . I saw so many carburator equipped cars fly onto the tow trucks these guys were dragging up to three cars with one tow truck off to the crushers. For awhile they were crushing cars here In Wilmington day and night .
The game changer of this is two facts :
Alot of racers prefer carburators and there are probably a few million race cars and special interest vehicles in the US . Don't quote me I am estimating .
The second is all of a sudden there is a lack of upgraded technology usage due to the shortage we just experienced and are still feeling the drawback from and that's the microchip inventory . Thus carburators still march on . I'm looking at the vehicles being used on Ukraine by the soldiers that may be multi- million dollar missiles but look at the truck that's carrying them !

 

There are only a few old cars I know of that are sitting in town, a ('46, '47, '48, '49', '50, '51, '52, '53) Jeep, a 1955 ford truck that the owner thinks is solid gold and wants 50k for it (straight 6 automatic) and a 1950 ford truck thats in pieces and has been for years on end.

 

Oh Boy! What a deal ! 50k ! Does it have a Hawaiian gal on the dash too !

 

No, it does have your average ohio rust though!

 

i started it up, its running on all 8 and the miss is gone, but it wont idle, very very strange...

 

Finally got around to doing the carburetor. The ebay seller who "rebuilt it" must have rebuilt it 30 years ago... and did it wrong. Went ahead and re-rebuilt it and managed to drop a screw in the driveway, gonna get it dialed in tomorrow, and then pull it up onto the concrete, fix the oil pump o ring, then see about replacing the pinion seal, currently planning on backing it up onto the ramps with blocks in front of the wheels in the front.

 

That’s ok we all have a screw loose, to be dealing with this old stuff.

 

Okay im even more confused now, i forgot i took the carb apart, i hit the key and the car started and ran for 30 seconds???????????
I have no idea why.

 

Or...not
I dont even know where to get another throttle rod.

 

Pro trick here. Go get a piece of 3/8 fuel line and cut it to the length you need. Take the ends of it and crimp them flat in a vise. Drill them for 1/4-20 bolts and use nylon locking nuts. There is your new throttle rod. Plus you can bend it if you need to.

 

That end should come off of your throttle rod. You may be able to find one locally to you at a place that repairs lawn mowers. Look on McMaster-Carr www.mcmaster.com for ball joint linkages.

 

Thank you so much, any tips on removing it so i dont break it further?

 

I believe that it should unscrew from the rod. Clean up the end to see if you can see the end of the thread. I think the ball joint linkages come in both right or left hand threads so you may need to carefully cut the old end off with a cutoff wheel in a dremel tool making light cuts in the direction the rod goes until you see the threads. You may want to make more than one cut so that you can maybe pry a small chunk out.

 

I made mine from 5/16" aluminum rod and 1/4-28 threaded rod plus a Mr. Gasket set of throttle ends. But I have a machine shop, makes it easy to drill and thread things.

 

Hey, an old coat hanger makes a good linkage rod. Seen and ran one a bunch of times. Temporarily, of course. It’s traditional!

 

ive noticed a lot of play side to side with the pedal side of the linkage without the spring or anything on it, is that normal, or should i take a closer look at it?

 

alright, im soaking it in kroil, hopefully the "quick release" or whatever it is will free up and allow me to remove the ball, and replace it. going to make a trip to a junkyard nearby friday, i know where a '60s ford truck is that should have what i need.