Holley 1946 vs Autolite 1100 swap question

yodabiri

Well-known member
Hello everyone I am new to the forum and have some questons...

I want to switch the autolite 1100 carb on my 65 200ci coupe with a 3spd to a holley 1946 1 barrel. What does this involve?( Any modification? Fabrication? Or is it bolt in?) Where can i find one of these holleys? Does the swap increase the gas mileage at all?

Thanks in advance!!
 
The linkage, fuel plumbing, and air cleaner require no changes. You will, however, need to upgrade your distributor. The 1946 Holley is not compatible with the Load-o-Matic distributor your car came equipped with. See the sticky at the top of this forum regarding the "spark control valve" for more info. Then check out the sticky for the Duraspark distributor upgrade.
 
Howdy Yoda and All:

Welcome to The Forum. YOu'll find this a very useful place to be.

The linkage in your '65 is mechanical, while the 1946s use a cable system. another item to compare is the polt spacing and the carb hole diameter. Check the throttle bore of both carbs. IF you have a stock '65 head the hole in your manifold will be 1.5" in diameter. I believe that the Holley #1946s have a 1.75" Tb.

The Holley #1946 was the last carb used on these engines from the factory. In those years FoMoCo was using lots of band-aides to fix EPA issues. Consequently, these carbs are encumbered with several vacuum, thermo and electronic switches. Some even lack the option of tuning on the low speed idle setting.

The #1946 is a very sophisticated and complex carb, but it is a long way from perfect. It's biggest shortcomings are its complexity and a weak accelerator pump system.

The Holley #1940, was a FoMoCo replacement for the Autolites when production of Autolites ceased and were no longer available for replacements. A #1940, if for the exact 1965 year, should have a Spark Control Valve for use with a Load-a-Matic distributor and be a bolt-on replacement, year for year. It is not a perfect carb either.

I think that FoMoCo went to the #1946 beginning in the 1980 model year and continued to be used until the engine line disappeared from production. I'd start looking for a rebuildable core at the local junk yard. Rebuilds may be available through your local parts houses.

I doubt that simply changing to a #1946 would effect your mileage much, unless you changed to a DuraSpark II ignition system at the same time.

May I ask why you want to swap out your stock Autolite 1100?

Adios, David
 
CZLN6":wrs3ues4 said:
I think that FoMoCo went to the #1946 beginning in the 1980 model year and continued to be used until the engine line disappeared from production.
Hi, got a '46 on my '78, it's one of the first Mississauga Fairmonts (built in '77), so perhaps it may be where the car came from?
My understanding is the 1946 runs better with EGR and rich without, so tuning it would be another issue on your motor I think.
 
Knowing that there are variations but this is my observation:

Holley 1946 does not bolt directly on your '65 head. It does not even bolt direcly to a late-200 head like an E0BE '80 head. Ford used an adapter plate in between, like this:

http://www.ponikorjaamo.com/ti80/fsp/e0be-9a589-ea.jpg

As David said, the bore is 1.75" so it'll need mods on the head bore and the way it is attached on the head. If you have or get that adapter it goes easier (regarding the attachment).

Linkage needs mods; mechanical vs. cable. Here you can see the cable coming to the carb from the firewall, and it attaches to rear of the carb (the other cable is cruise control, if you wonder why there are two). If you are going to cable throttle anyway this is not a problem.

http://www.ponikorjaamo.com/ti80/ti80_eb2.jpg

There is a special metal bracket that attaches to the block and to left carb mounting bolt. It would be handy to have and I'd pretty much guess that with it a '80 Mustangs cable linkage would be "bolt-on". The bracket can be barely seen in the engine pics; starts at the coil and goes all the way up and between cleaner and valve cover to the carb bolt.

I had a round '65 style air cleaner just a while ago = it does not fit on a 1946 which requires not-so-flat cleaner base as the top of the carb and especially the choke requires space upwards near the bore:

http://www.ponikorjaamo.com/ti80/fsp/holley_1946_1v.jpg

Compatible cleaner looks like this (sorry don't have a pic of the base but I can take if you wish):

http://www.ponikorjaamo.com/ti80/fsp/gen1_engine.jpg

The cleaner has temp/vacuum switches that close cold air intake and take heated air from the exhaust if the weather is cold. Nice, prevents icing.

What comes to 1946 in action I'd say it was the best carb overall that I have had in my '80. Once it was refreshed with a rebuild kit and set up correctly it worked great in all conditions (-30C - +30C tested). I had all the pollution stuff taken off and PV spring modded lighter but there was no evidence if it had an effect or not. Got about 25mpg on stock 200000 mls engine, about 22-23mpg on rebuilt GEN1 112hp engine.

Carb swap alone is questionable, but if you want to go that way go to your salvage yard and grab an E0BE head, 1946, adapter, cable linkage, cable bracket, air cleaner assy, Duraspark II dizzy, module, coil plus plug wires and there you go...best factory Ford USA 200/250 head/ign/induction setup and works nice after you rebuild the carb and head, toss the module and put a MSD6A in and gap the plugs to .050. Well is that questionable? Sorry long post. :lol:

Welcome to The Forum.
 
I had such a time trying to figure out exactly what carb I have on my '63 170. I guess it's the #1940.
My accelerator pump went, so I ordered a rebuild kit from AutoZone yesterday for $12. Supposed to be in today.
Thanks for the help. Didn't mean to hijack the post.
 
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