Hi Everyone Found this forum and think this might be the right place to find help. I inherited a 1954 Ford Customline with an I-6 engine last year .. the car is almost completely original and has about 31,000 original miles. Initially, it would drive and run great for a while, but then stall out after a period of drive time ... it felt like the engine was starved for gas. A mechanic friend of mine took off the little rubber fuel line that feeds into the mechanical fuel pump and found that it would barely pass any fuel at all.... Got a new one and put it in. Seemed to help a bit, but the Carb still didn't seem to be working very well, stalling out a lot ... the mechanic said I really needed a new carb. He wanted $800 for a new one, so being fairly industrious, I did some research and found that you can't really buy new carb's for these cars and that you have to get yours rebuilt, or buy another rebuilt carb. I went ahead and sent mine in to Mac's Antique auto parts to have it rebuilt. While it was out, I also replaced the steel fuel line that goes from the fuel pump to the carb. Carb came back looking great... Installed it ... big problem though - the carb bowl completely fills and overflows all over the place every few minutes... I looked around and figured out how to adjust the float and did that ... I was able to get the car to run for a while sometimes with the float adjusted so that even the slightest movement upward cut off the incoming fuel... but it still overflowed quite often (and stalled the car. making a mess) I decided that maybe I just needed to get another completely different carb - I went online and found a really nice 1904 Holley Carb ... ordered it, installed it, and within 2 minutes of starting the car, overflow again!!!! Gas is coming out the top of the carb bowl and all over the place by the bowl gasket. I opened this one up and adjusted the float so that only slight movement upward would cut off the fuel, but that didn't seem to do anything ... 1 minute of running and it overflowed onto the floor again. This carb looks absolutely brand new .... I mean really nice. So ... I'm a bit frustrated. It seems like maybe there is way too much fuel pressure coming into the 1904 carb, and that its pushing fuel in even when it shouldn't be .... that seems to make sense, but I guess I don't understand how this carb ever would have worked new then?? Surely they didn't all run this poorly when new I noticed that my 1904 (both of them) don't have spring loaded fuel block off pins, and some of the online diagram's I've found have a spring on the pin in there that seems like it would help keep the needle seated? Where should I go from here? - Get a third carb? (ugh) - Get another type of carb? (are there better carburetors that I should try rather than use a holley 1904?) - Replace fuel pump or install some sort of fuel pressure regulator? - Try to get a new inlet pin with a spring on it? (where would I find that?!) Thanks!!! any suggestions would be greatly appreciated ! (the car runs great up until it starts spewing fuel out the carb, and then it stalls hah)
I'd definately put a fuel pressure gage on to see what your pump is puting out, may not be anything wrong with your carbs, could be that the check valve is stuck in the pump, I think 4lbs would be a load and 2 would probably be enough.
The suggestion to check fuel pressure is right on. Another thing that has not been mentioned is the fuel tank, if it has never been cleaned or has sat a lot you may have some fine sediment or water droplets that are getting to the carb, and just a grain of rust will make fuel leak past the needle.
I would PM GMC BUBBA, He Rebuild Carbs and Ignition.....he's good people,,,, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=2526
Commish may be on the right track. Fine sediment will cause fuel inlet problems and be hard to track down. Clear palstic filters before and after fuel pump can eliminate the constant flooding - or at least let you see to puzzle out the problem. The 1904 had many versions used on all sorts of displacement with varying CFM specs . You will find they have the larger carb throat for most older 215 and 223 six apps' and the smaller for later Falcon six and other sixties engines (Rambler... ?). I've use both on stock and modified engines. The larger throat 215 version 1904 should work OK on a later small sixes as well but finding or building a good running 1904 is a challenge. Mixed and swapped parts and shelf drying on NOS carbs is common. Not known as smoothest or most reliable running carb choice - but definitely coolest. For more info than you can digest on Ford sixes, try visiting Ford Six Performance, those guys eat, sleep and shit Ford six info... http://fordsix.com/forum/ Have Fun Powerband THE SIXTH SENSE GARAGE
I think your on the right track with the Fuel Pressure possibly being too high, or the filter issue. But here is something to think about. Back in the day when I rebuilt carbs 1 thing I would find quite often was a heavy float assembly. During every overhaul a GOOD carb man will have a float scale, Its a mini fish scale that weighs the float. Brass floats don't always seal completly and will absorb fuel over time making them too heavy to close the needle and seat, Flooding. 1 other type of float is the black composite style float which will absorbe fuel causing it to be heavy also , with no visible signs of being wet , you have to weigh it. all these weights use to come with the overhaul kit instruction sheet. Desert
If the car was setting for a few years and you did not clean the tank out I would say most of your problems are caused buy Sh%%^ in the tank hanging up the needle/seat. If you see a fine red depost/powder in the float bowl that's the prob. Put a filter on both sides of the fule pump and resset the float to correct specs after cleaning the needle/seat. And as said check fuel pressure anything much over 5PSI may give you grief.
Go to carburetor.ca and you will find out everything you need to know about all of those Holleys. If the 1904 is anything like the earlier Holleys 3-4 pounds of pressure is more than enough
Good point about the floats not floating. When I was an apprentice we used to pick up those brass floats in your hand raise then raise it to your ear and shake it. That way if the float was leaking and taking on fuel you could hear it sloshing around inside. If so, time for a new float. All of the other advice about checking fuel pressure and filters is good.
Wizade, here is a little easy test to see if there is debris in the needle and seat. From your pic it looks like your inlet line is all steel. If you have a rubber hose at the inlet to the fuel pump, grab a piece of heavy gasket material, and a pair of big needle nose pliers. Fold the gasket material over the hose to protect it and then pinch it flat with the pliers. Now have a helper fire it up and let it run until the float bowl is almost dry and it starts to sputter, then release the pliers. This will let the pent up fuel rush in with the float hanging all the way down and flush out the needle and seat. If it runs normally for a little bit and then does it again, then trash is your problem.
Ok - after a lot of effort, I finally found that the inlet to the carb (where the two metal O-rings are), was leaking ... the float and pin cutoff were working just fine... but fuel was quicly leaking in at the entrance to the carb!!! I tightened up the inlet screw nice and tight, and no issues for weeks!!!
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