Holley 1 barrel

F

fiddyfofoad

Well-known member
I have a Holley 1904 1 barrel on my 54 223, there is a vacumm port in the base where it contacts the heat sink. Since this carb is used on various applications, is this port not used on my application? The gasket in the rebuild kit had no hole for it and it is blocked when it is mounted. Thanks Joe
 
Yes most carb kits are made to cover lots of models and even different brands of cars and trucks, dose your old gasket happen to have the hole in it? If it dose then you maybe should have one, you can punch a hole easy if the kit dose not have the right gasket. Without some pictures it hard to tell, though Yes you for sure need that carb passage to supply Venturi vacuum to the distributor. But the base gasket may not need to have a hole in it unless there is a hole under it to connect to. Just as long as the carbs vacuum port is still able to be connected to the inside of the intake. Good luck :nod:
 
No, the orig gskt did not have a hole in it, the port was completely blocked when mounted. I took an "experts" advice and notched out the new gskt and put a little notch in the asbestos heat sink to make the port vacumm accessable and its run like crap ever since. Joe
 
Ok then for a all stock type distributor (Load O Matic) and a Holley 1904 carb with-the SCV you would not want a hole in that gasket and you will also need to fill back in that notch in the insulator or replace it. The old carbs with a SCV and a LOD distributor work completely different then the later model advance systems and many people get confused about how they work. The LOD Distributor doesn't have the "mechanical advance system" of the newer Distributors and it needs a Carb with a SCV to hook up to a stock LOD distributor to advance timing by the load on engine, so it needs a combination of Venturi Vacuum and Engine (Intake) Vacuum to work as it was designed. Put it back the way it was and make sure the SCV is working and that the Vacuum can on the distributor is functioning too. Good luck :nod:
 
I didn't recognize the initials, my carb doesn't have the spark control valve. I will look at that website though. thanks, Joe
 
Are you sure that you have the correct carb on your 223? In the picture in the below link is a Ford spec (1950's) Holley 1904, the SCV is the silver part in the middle on the base of carb. I have also been assuming that you are running a stock carb and distributor so if your carb dose not have the SCV then maybe you also have a different distributor like an aftermarket hot rod type or other newer Ford (300) distributor that's been modded to fit.

http://www.carburetor-parts.com/Holley- ... _2851.html
 
Now you have me wondering? Seems like it might be the wrong carb. I'm going to have to do some research. It always ran poorly, now I think I know why. Thanks Bubba.
 
Well, turns out it's not thr right carb for my car, loadomatic dist will only work it a carb with a scv. I found the exact carb on ebay, exactly the one I need. Not only that, I decided to put new ponts, cond, rotor, cap and wires on it and when I was testing the vacumm can, I noticed the rod was just flopping around in the base of the dist. Reconnected that. Going to transfer all the hardly used carb rebuild parts to the right carb, since it calls for the same rebuild kit. These are two huge things that should make a big difference. This car probably never ran for the previous owner. Joe
 
:beer: Congrats on finding the problem areas! You will notice a huge improvement in running, economy, and driving, when all the right spec parts are used and in good working condition. Good luck :nod:
 
This new carb has a larger throttle body bore, 1-9/16 vs 1-7/16. Think the correct carb is the larger bore. According to the Ford manual, they increased the venturi bore in 54. The carb that was on it was probably off a 215, but didn.t they have loadomatics on them? Starting to dissassemble it and noticing some little differences, such as a steel accel pump lever that doesn't want to come off, the other one is plastic. I'm thinking about putting my old main body on the new throttle body, all new parts are in it and the bowl warp was taken care of. Let you know how it works out. Joe
 
Yep the 215 would also have been a Load O Matic that system was used for many ford engines and years even the V8's before 1957. Because the Holley 1904 was such a great carb it was used on many other brands of cars and trucks and built with many different specs or calibrations, You can ID them by their numbers. I would use the complete Ford carb mixing and matching parts of different year groups and other model brands is usually not the best practice there are some exceptions like maybe the carb top and some of the small internal parts might be the same. But if you do go that route make sure they match exactly to that Ford spec carb i.e. That all the passages go to the right places on the base and main carb body otherwise the SCV will not work. Good luck :nod:
 
Thanks Bubba, now that I'm starting to question everything on this car, is the vacumm line supposed to be straight or single flared at the ends? Joe
 
Usually stock they have a special kind of tapered compression fitting (see first below link for picture of them), additionally on the older cars and trucks like a 1954 the original line is also all medal (see second link for a picture for a sample vacuum line but it's not for the 223). If you can post a picture I can ID it if it's the right type. I have also posted a few pictures below of my 1954 Customline 223 not sure if they will show enough detail for you, but maybe you can get an idea of the shape and routing of the line. If you find the right fittings you can make a line out of brake line steel tubing. After you get it bent into shape to fit you can slip the line into the fittings (leave them a little loose in the carb and distributor side the line in until it bottoms out then tighten the compression fitting and it will lock into place. Good luck :nod:

Fittings will look like these you can probably still get them at the bigger auto parts houses like NAPA or an old hardware store the same type fitting was used on some natural gas appliances for the pilot light lines.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1932-1953-Ford- ... 73&vxp=mtr

Vacuum line off an early 170 or 200 Ford Falcon / Mustang etc. six, it's not the right shape but it's the same type line and fittings.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-1964-1 ... 5e&vxp=mtr

Some pictures of the 223 engine in My 1954 Ford Customline. I am the second owner of this car; for the most part it’s a numbers matching and still mostly Factory Original

http://s54.photobucket.com/user/bubba22 ... 2548549471

http://s54.photobucket.com/user/bubba22 ... 9002830905

http://s54.photobucket.com/user/bubba22 ... 8854505285

http://s54.photobucket.com/user/bubba22 ... 0199158026
 
Finally started it up with the correct version of the 1904, rebuilt main body again and put it on the throttle body with the spark control valve. New cap, rotor, points, cond, wires and new vac line. Ran better than it did but still won't run off of slight choke. Set idle mixture screw at 1 turn out. Any ideas? Joe
 
:unsure: Is the problem just Idling or when you start to take off from a stop? Check for vacuum leaks at the carb base and the throttle shaft area spray some carb cleaner around it with engine running and listen for changes in the idle RPM. Check to see if the throttle shaft has noticeable play or movement in the carb base holes. Double check your float level and accelerator pump shot timing. How much advance do you have the distributor set at? Good luck :nod:
 
I managed to get it to idle off choke by bumping up the idle adjustment. I have a little popping through the carb when going from idle to slight throttle, like a stumble. After that it revs up pretty well and returns to a smooth idle. The dist was put in dead on at tdc, will have to advance it a little I think. You have a wealth of knowledge Bubba, I appreciate it. Joe
 
Tune up setting in this order for best results. With the Plugs gapped at .035, next set your point dwell to 36 degrees. Depends on your area temps and alt. But good place to start is at about 3 degrees BTDC for distributor advance. Then adjust idle to highest RPM then lean it out about 1/4 turn (turn mixture screw in) finally set the idle RPM to 475 for standard trans or 450 for an Auto. You might need to repeat carb adjustments again if you happen to start with too high of an idle RPM. If after that you still have a stumble next try looking at how soon the accelerator pump shot starts if it not right as the throttle linkage starts to open then adjust it to come in a little bit sooner and try that, sometimes it starts too soon and you will need to slow it down. Good luck :nod:
 
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