Homemade downdraft intake

[Onlybackroads]

I picked this little guy up at Turlock today for $15, pretty interesting home-made manifold. I've never done any kind of speedy things to a model a, but I couldn't pass this up and might someday use it. Any opinions on this thing from what you can see in the pictures? I was told it might accept a chevy 1-barrel, I have no idea about downdraft carburetors so maybe some folks could school me on it, and if this thing would work fine or if it's just a wall hanger/conversation piece. The flange is definitely an odd shape. I definitely like things like this on cars though, farm ingenuity is more exciting to me than high-dollar "buy-and-bolt" things (no offense, if I had a massive wallet I wouldn't mind buying all kinds of aluminum this and that.)

[pat in Santa Cruz]

putting a Rochester carburetor ( from a chevy) or a Carter ( from a mopar car) was not an uncommon experiment in the 50's. They have different base sizes, so you'll have to try them out to determine which works. You might need a fuel pump to get them to work.

[Onlybackroads]

I looked at a bunch of carbs today but got overwhelmed with all of the different ones, especially the prices varying so much! What sort of models are common, which are better, and what kind of prices should I expect? Is this a good route to go, or should I try to go more towards the stromburg route? I know that's probably a lot of vague questions, but I am not expecting very precise answers

[40 Deluxe]

You probably want to stick to a hand choke to avoid the hassle of hooking up an automatic choke so a carb from a '40's or 50's car or pickup into the '60's will work. In addition to Carter and Rochester there are Holley and Ford (Autolite) and Stromberg one barrels. Most came on engines with about the same displacement as a Model A so jetting should be close enough. Big thing is to get matching bolt pattern and then look at how easy the throttle linkage would be to adapt.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by Onlybackroads

I looked at a bunch of carbs today but got overwhelmed with all of the different ones, especially the prices varying so much! What sort of models are common, which are better, and what kind of prices should I expect? Is this a good route to go, or should I try to go more towards the stromburg route? I know that's probably a lot of vague questions, but I am not expecting very precise answers

A Stromberg carb mounting base is three bolt and very different from what you have there. I think that , if the welds do not leak air, you should have a nice running downdraft one barrel ! I have a matched pair of one barrel carbs in the shed for decades now. If I remember they had about 11/2" throat.

[Bruce of MN]

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What is that nipple on the left side for?

[chopo]

Originally Posted by Bruce of MN

What is that nipple on the left side for?

throttle linkage attachment/pivot point

[sidhartha]

Originally Posted by Bruce of MN

What is that nipple on the left side for?

I'm guessing it's a mounting/pivot point for the throttle linkage. I can't imagine an A needing a vacuum port that big.

[peter schmidt]

looks like a single barrel holley off a falcon or inline 6 ford/edsel may fit it i can measure mine if you want

[Onlybackroads]

throat is 1-1/2" and studs center to center are 2-5/8" for anyone who wants to measure their different carb flanges. thanks!

[Pete]

I have made several single and dual manifolds for model A's and used the Holley 847 single throat carb from early Ford 6 engines. There are several model numbers in that series that will work also.
They are reasonably priced.

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by hardtimes

A Stromberg carb mounting base is three bolt and very different from what you have there. I think that , if the welds do not leak air, you should have a nice running downdraft one barrel ! I have a matched pair of one barrel carbs in the shed for decades now. If I remember they had about 11/2" throat.

Stromberg also made a number of one barrel carbs with the two bolt mounting flange. NOT EVERY STROMBERG WAS A 97!!!

[just plain bill]

One popular carb was a small glass bowled Holley. Some guys ran Jeep carbs.