New Carb

[Anonymous]

I just bought a 66 Mustang for my son, it has, what it looks like the Autolite 1100 carb, poor performance, especially on idle, I was told the Holley1946 would be a good replacement with the same fit, but I have to change the distributor as well, what would the correct distributor be? any additional parts?
I am not looking for high power, just a smooth running engine.

 

[CobraSix]

First all...welcome to the land of six.

Secondly, don't discount the 1100. It may been in need of a rebuild or replacement. I've found the 1100 to be a far more reliable carb in terms of tune it and forget it then any other 1V carb for the 200. The Holley requires a little more adjustment and fine tuning. I've tuned up a good 1100 and let it ran it all year long without touching it once (through temperature swings of 70*+).

Slade

 

[mugsy]

I had a 1946 on my '65 Mustang. It was date coded as a 1970 Autolite/Motocraft replacement. It still had the Spark Control Valve, so the car had the stock distributor. Mine ran great, and I liked the vac pull-off versus the spring on the choke. It started, idled, accelerated and ran fine. Just make sure the carb is for the vacuum only "Load-o-matic" dizzy. But it was/is a great carb IMHO.

tanx,
Mugsy

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy All:

And Welcome Mike. The Holley Model 1940 was used as a factory replacement carb for Autolite 1100 & 1101 beginning in 1970. The '70 & '71 model year had "Autolite" embossed on it. The '72 and later had "Motorcraft". The #1940 were manufactured in various sizes and with and without the Spark Control Valve.

The Holley #1946 was the factory carb on 200s from 1980 to the end of production. They will not have a SCV.

All Holley 1900 series one barrels can be characterizes as having a rough idle and being less fuel efficient that an Autolite 1100. Their choke system works somewhat better.

The Autolite 1100 was last manufactured in 1969. It is a very simple carb and easy to rebuild and maintain. They are somewhat susceptible to dirt and contamination, primarily through the choke hot air chimney and poor fuel filtering. If I were in your shoes, I'd stick with the 1100.

Like Slade, my advice to you is to rebuild the Autolite 1100. Make sure that the carb is in good structural shape; a relatively tight throttle shaft and good mating along gasket seams. Buy a rebuild kit and start by reading the directions and studying the photos. Go slow and be careful. This is very basic stuff and would be a great father/son project. It requires nothing more than basic tools, a can of carb cleaner and the ability to read and follow directions.

Also know that many of the so-called carb problems on early Mustangs can be traced to the ignition. Before you blame the carb it might be wise to do a thorough check of the distributor/vacuum advance mechanism/ignition system to make sure that it is functioning properly. Also check for vacuum leaks anywhere.

You should also consider upgrading your ignition system with a pointless, meaning replacing the points, with a Petronix Ignitor I conversion, for a stock appearing electronic ignition system. This upgrade will make a significant improvement in idle quality and engine smoothness.

You didn't mention what tranny is in the '66, but you can make a nice improvement in performance, mileage and driveability by increasing the initial advance setting by 5 degrees over the factory specifications.

Again, welcome to the neatest forum a Ford Six lover could ever have. Check in often and read past posts and threads. There is a wealth of info here.

Adios, David

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy back Mike:

I just realized you're in California. Is your Mustang an original California car? If it is it may have the California Emissions (C/E) required engine package. To verify, check the casting # on the intake log behind the carb. You will see a series of four letters and numbers followed by a dash and then one ore two letters. The 1st four digits will be either C5DE or C6DE. The capital letter(s) after the dash is the critical identifier.

Check on your local emission laws before you begin to modify. And there may be some evidence that the CA formula gas will not support an additional 5 degrees of initial spark advance without knock. However, (note CR below)...... The Petronix Ignitor is EPA approved.

And, if you have a C/E engine- the good news is you will have a distributor with both vacuum and centrifugal advance and no SCV. The bad news is that the carb will be down on CFM flow as compared to non C/E carbs. The C/E 1100s have a venturi of 1.1" and flow 150 cfm. The non C/E 1100s have a 1.2 venturi and flow 185 cfm. That is significant to performance. It will also be down on compression- advertised 8.7:1 for C/E. 9.2:1 for Non-C/E engines. This may not be as significant as it sounds because advertised and actual CR are sometimes similar. The difference is the size of the dish in the top of the pistons. This makes the additional 5 degrees of initial advance workable.

No doubt this is way more info than you wanted, or need. Sorry, I do go on. A good, clean running engine is still possible.

Enjoy the journey.

Adios, David

 

[Anonymous]

i liked my 1100...but the accelerator pump kept going bad. I agree..tune it and forget it...ran for awhile like that

The 1946 I bought ran strong, but the choke broke. I also found it to run rich and i couldnt correct it.

the 1100 got way better milage

sometimes I regret selling my 1100's to spyke...sometimes I dont...

I get frustrated with carb stuff...I have a carter RF that I will stick on once i get linakge sorted out.

start with the ignition....

back to my gyro snadwich
chaz

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the replies, what would we do without the internet...
It is AT, not California emmissioned, I have ordered the Petronix I already, not installed yet.
The carb looks like it was rebuilt. I like to read and get info before I start messing with things, tuning the carb will be the first thing I like to try.
I have not found any site or book with instructions but plenty of sites offering rebuilding carbs, that defeats the purpose of having a Mustang...
Thank you all,
Mike

http://webpages.charter.net/mkambourian/carb_rh.JPG
http://webpages.charter.net/mkambourian/carb_lh.JPG
http://webpages.charter.net/mkambourian/carb_top.JPG
http://webpages.charter.net/mkambourian/dist_top.JPG

 

[CobraSix]

From those pictures, it looks like you have a very emaculate engine bay. The carb looks fine. Get the pertronix in first. Putting that in made my car idle so much better and run so much better without touching the old Carter Carb. Also look at getting a hotter coil with the pertronix. THey make a nice upgrade.

David is right on when he mentions that most "carb" problems are actually timing and ignition problems.

Since you just got the mustang, I would suggest the first book you get is an actual shop manual for the car. Not Haynes or Chiltons, an actual shop manual from someplace like www.mustangs-unlimited.com or www.npdlink.com . They are pricey at around $50, but worth it's weight in gold.

Rebuilding carbs is really straight forward, but unless you've done it before and recently, I would suggest buying a rebuilt one as a back up. Plus, it's always good to have a spare carb in the garage. You don't want to know how many I have in mine...and I just got ride of 5 of them. I seem to collect them. I have a 1V carb of every type that was on a mustang 6 on my shelf in my garage. I have a couple of 2Vs (3 autolite 2100s and a Holley from a mexican 351) as well. Only 1 4V and that's on the car.

Slade