Carb Spacer for a 200 1 barrel ?????

[Anonymous]

I have a 1966 200 with a Holley 1V carb. I believe I'm having heat soak problems as it runs rough when it gets hot after a long drive. Carb is really hot after shut down. When cool or about 15 minutes after strart up it just purrs along real nice. Also clear fuel filter empties itself out due to heat when I shut it off, then refills itself after it cools down a bit.

Anyone know of a "phenolic" type carb spacer for a single barrel carb. All I can find are two or more barrell types.

Thanks.

My ride: http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/595783

 

[Falcon62]

What vehicle is this engine/carb combo in? Maybe you could look into venting the engine compartment to reduce heat trapped under the hood.

If you live in a hot climate (desert southwest, Gulf coast, etc.) you could try disconnecting the heater hoses from the stock carb base plate. The heated base plate's main function is to help atomize fuel, which can be helpful in colder climates. If you wish to retain heater functionality, you can completely bypass the baseplate and run a hose straight to the heater core.

Another thing, make sure your fuel lines are routed away from hot engine components or wrap them in aluminum foil to insulate them (kind of tacky looking but it works).

Don't rule out the possibilty that you may have a weak needle & seat in the carb causing fuel in the bowl to leak into the engine. It's happened to me before, although that problem manifested itself after the engine was shut off for awhile.

 

[Anonymous]

It is a Mustang with an inline 6 200 cid motor.
My fuel lines are wrapped in aluminum tape now. But I think I will reroute them completely and maybe find some way to insulate the carb itself. I will also reroute the heater hose and bypass the throttle spacer completely.


Thanks for the help.
Steve-O
USN active

 

[mustang6]

Some later model Fords (Mavericks, Fairmonts, etc.) had a heat deflector plate that I have used to combat this problem with good success. It is basically a thin piece of stamped steel that slips over the intake studs under the carburetor base, but is much wider than the base so it protects the whole underside of the card from direct radiated heat off the exhaust. Obviously it has a hole in the center that matches the intake throat. I'm not sure how hard they are to find these days, but since I've never seen a plastic spacer I thought I'd mention this.

 

[66Sprinter]

I have the same setup and also the same problem. Talked with guys at the carb rebuild shop and they said these models you can expect it. Also did some mods like remove my heater hose pass through, leave the vent holes open, reroute gas line, tried a elec fuel pump and so on. I did add a small psi gage just before the carb to see if I lost pressure. All is OK. Runs fine when started..but sometimes the idle after being hot is really rough..have to two foot it at the red light. I have not found a solution and have been looking and hoping for 2 years now. Don´t know if the later years have this problem like 67-69??

For now I am living with it....

 

[Anonymous]

In my never ending quest to keep my I-6's holley carb cool.....
I was busy actively wrapping up my headers with thermo wrap cloth and got a little crazy. For reasons I don't know.....I actually wrapped about the first foot of my main exhaust with adhesive thermo-tec tape. It looked good and seemed like a good idea when the exhaust was cool.
Wow did it smoke when the themo tape's glue cooked off.

No fire here...just dumb ol' me leaving a smoke screen down the road. I had to park it out front so the garage wouldn't be full of the smell and smoke.
I removed it and rewrapped using plain adhesive free header wrap.

It seems to be staying cooler. Then again, when I had the problem it had run for an hour or more.

I plan to obtain some insulative gasket material and cut two new gaskets for my intake to spacer and carb to spacer.

I also may put a thin tin reflective shield covered with refelctive material above the intake manifold to shield the carb even more. I'm not worried about looks under the hood. I just want it to be reliable car for the family drives. I suspect most of the heat is conductive vice radiant, so insulating gaskets should help.

Will post back later.

 

[addo]

The phenolic spacers work really well from my experience on a large V8. If you can get some thick sheet stock of the stuff, try either a cabinetmaker's or an engineering shop; have it made to the pattern of your carb base gasket. Make it one piece, as thick as you can go, yet clear the underside of the "lid".

Tip: Blue Hylomar (it's British) gasket sealer is fuelproof once cured. It's one of the few that is. This will work well with a thin fibre gasket between the spacer and the carb. For spacer to head, I'd just use Ultra Copper with no gasket.

Cheers, Adam.

 

[Anonymous]

I just bought some "Ultra Copper" and on the back in tiny print it says it is not resistant to gasoline...bad news in the carb throat I suppose.

What should I ask the cabinet maker for when looking for insulative material for a gasket? Is it some laminate or the like?

I found some 1/16" thisck gasket material and may try making new gaskets as well.

Thanks,
Steve-O

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Steve-O and all:

I can't help but ask- what is the cause of your excessive under hood heat?

I am also assuming that you have tried all of the obvious remedies to get engine heat down- such as-
*A 180 degree thermostat
*radiator is functioning properly
*radiator hoses are not collapsing
*the fan is moving enough air
*Make sure your ignition timing is not retarded
*low speed air screw is not too lean
*exhaust is not plugged.
*engine is not lugging inordinately

Seperating the intake manifold from the exhaust manifold with some sort of thin metal sheet to deflect heat down is helpful in some circumstances.

And a cold air intake for the carb might help too.

Another thought is to take a phenolic spacer from a Ford V8 2 barrell and adapt it to the one barrell need. The stuff cuts pretty easy with a jig saw. It will be a little thin on where the two barrels are adjcent.

The stock carb for a '66 200 is an Autolite 1100. Is your Holley an aftermarket replacement? A #1940?

Adios, David

 

[addo]

66Conv200, The phenolic sheet itself can be hard to find at times. One place to try is the local University's engineering labs, if feasible. Otherwise hit the telephone book. Hard maple will work at a pinch, also Mexican timbers like cocobolo and bocote. You'd run the grain parallel to a line between the two fixing holes.

With the Ultra copper, risk of fuel eating the gasket is mainly on the top side of the spacer. That's why I suggest the underside of the spacer is OK.

Regards, Adam.

 

[Anonymous]

Great replies and help.
I can't help but ask- what is the cause of your excessive under hood heat?
To answer CZLN6 great questions....
"I am also assuming that you have tried all of the obvious remedies to get engine heat down- such as-
*A 180 degree thermostat - tested it with my wife's kitchen thermometer. Top hose stays cool and engine never runs hot on new temp gage.
*radiator is functioning properly - seems to be flowing and cooling 4.0
*radiator hoses are not collapsing - not that I see or observe as this occurs at idle at the curb.
*the fan is moving enough air - working okay as engine does not overheat
*Make sure your ignition timing is not retarded - haved checked and rechecked that. I have it at about 8 BTDC. Which is about stock.
*low speed air screw is not too lean - This is one I need to check...it is a Holley 1940.. Any ideas how to make this adjustment????..
*exhaust is not plugged. - new flowmaster exhaust system from header to end.
*engine is not lugging inordinately - does not lug at all.
My web site with pics of car: http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/595783

Thanks for the help. Looking forward to any more great suggestions as to how to make sure my carb is not too lean at idle.

Steve-O

 

[Anonymous]

I am not sure how well it insulates, but you can buy viton gasket material at an industrial gasket supply house. You can buy some fairly thick gaskets. Viton is an elastomer that is great for gasoline & oils. I made one for the 2 bbl carb adapter.

 

[Lazy JW]

We regularly use a phenolic type material in the sawmills called micarta. I'm sure this would work fine as a spacer in this application. We usually get it from a company called "Redwoods Plastics". I don't have their phone number here at home but you could probably do a web search. BTW, micarta isn't cheap.
Joe

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy back Steve-o and All:

To adjust the low speed air screw 1st know that to turn in in leans out the idle mixture. Lean means that it will run hotter. turning the screw out richens and cools. The low speed air screw also helps with transition to mid range.

If the carb is stock/OEM the factory trys to have the setting close with 1 1/2 turns out from a gentle stop. This is a good generality, but not an absolute. If you have a good vacuum guage hook it into a full maniflod vacuum source. With the engine running and warmed up to operating temp- no choke and no fast idle, set the idle speed. Now turn in the idle air screw until the engine begins to lose rpms. Now turn the screw out until you hear the highest rpm. Watch the vacuum guage needle for it's highest mark. That is the ideal idle setting for a stock engine with a stock carb. If you keep backing the screw out the vacuum will not increase. Now slowly turn the screw in until the needle just begins to drop, back it out to the setting just prior to that drop. Readjust the idle speed.

If you don't have a vacuum guage, listen for changes in rpm. As you back the screw out from the stumble the idle speed should go up. If this isn't working, consider that something else is wrong.

This should give you the ideal idle setting for a stock engine with a stock carb. It may not be ideal for a modified engine and/or a non-stock carb. driving and trying other setting may improve on it.

If you continue to back out the air screw past the ideal setting you may still be richening the idle mixture, which should produce a cooler engine at idle, and help with transitions from idle. How much? It depends. Try it and see.

Adios, David

 

[Anonymous]

Dave and all,
Thanks for the tips.
I have a vacuum gage and will give that a try as well as all the other heat dissipation/refelction tips.
I found a gasket shop in baltimore that sells VITON gasket material in 1/8" pieces and they even said they cut me two gaskest as the top and bottom of the carb spacer are different diameters.
I'm underway on a ship off the east coast until July 7th so will have to wait to try all your tips when i return.
I will post a reply when I do them and let you know how it is going.
Much thanks,
Steve-O

 

[Lazy JW]

I went out to my boneyard and found my stash of micarta strips. I have some that are 2 1/2" wide by 7/16" thick and about 30" long if you are interested in making a spacer for yourself. I think this is wide enough for a one barrel carb. Also you can get micarta at Redwoods Plastics. 1-800-222-7772 or view their website at www.redwoodplastics.com.
Joe

 

[Anonymous]

Lazy JW,
Thanks for the post I sent you a private e-mail.
Please let me know if you don't get it. I'm definitely interested in trying a piece of the micarta.
Thanks,
Steve-O

http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/595783

 

[Anonymous]

I din't hear anythng back from Lazy JW....

So I went down to the machine shop here at the naval academy looking for micarta or G-10 fiberglass material. An old shop hhand recommended I try some packing sheet he had that was for steam lines and about 3/16 of an inch thick. I manufactired a new gasket the even had a hole for the vent on the bottom of the carb.

It installed nicely, now to see if it works. I looked the material up on the web to see what it's heat and fuel specs were...Johns-Mansfield apparently made this a long time ago as I found out it is asbestos sheet.

Wish I'd known that before I fabbed the part. But at least it was in an open shop and no dust was generated that was not vacuumed away from the tool by a built in shop vac line.

I will let you know how it works.

Cheers,
Steve-O

 

[Anonymous]

i would talk to the folks over at pony carburetors those guys realy know those old carbs and new ones. They also sell basically any fuel carbureatoion part needed to get these old cars back on the road.


Wes

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tip. I'll call Pony Carbs.

I ran the car with the new gasket today. The carb is still amazingly hot to touch and the fule filter goes empty after the car stops.

I set the timing and idle speed. The checked it with the advance hose on the acrb take off and got good advance.

I connected my vacuum gage to the intake manifold and checked it. I had 19" of vacuum. The idle mixture screw is almost all the way backed out. Holley 1940 carb. If I continue to back it out, the vacuum actually keeps going up to 20 or more, if I screw it in, the vacuum goes down. Problem is if I back it out any more it feels like it will fall out.

The screw tension spring isn't even touching on one end near the carb.
So I'll run it like this for a while and see what happens.

Will keep you posted.

Cheers,
Steve-O in his never ending quest to stay "cool"