1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Hello
I have a 1955 Ford Crown (all Stock)(Three Speed on the Column)with a Bebuilt 292 1955 Mercury engine in it (Bored out .020 over). What carb # was original for it?(1955 Ford)(the 272 CID) Also what size metereing jets should be in the carb.I am getting terrible gas milage(12MPG) even with Pure gas.I have the correct plugs in it,but they look very brown not good looking (Wet) too.Am going to take it out today and tear it down again.I have several sets of jets Between #44-60.So I have about anything that I might need to fix it,some of the complete carbs that i have are: #94(2),#1"(1)#1 1/16"(3),The 94s and the #1" have a 1 1/4" Throat size and the 1 1/16" Have a 1 3/8" Throat size. I will be back on line later to see if i get any help on this. Thank you again,great site and great "ford Barners" too. Jack Curtis

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Curtis shoot this message to Ken ct Senior member.( he is listed in the member listing) He is a great guy and does a super job rebuilding carbs. I am sure that he can help you with this issue. Tom G

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

admittedly our oz gallon is bigger than yours but when i used to check my mileage i was getting around 19mpg on leaded fuel (98 octane). With the stuff we get now I get about 17 (91octane)
Regards

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

I have a bone stock 56 292 with a 2bbl 94 holly #53 main jets, 3 speed with O/D, 3.73 rear end and getting an avg. 14.2 MPG on non ethanol gas. What size main jets are you using?

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

The Ford parts book states that the 55 272 came with a holly 2bbl. carb #B5A 9510-J and is replaced with #B5A 9510-P. Main jets are #59, 0 to 5000ft. altitude. I am running a 1 1/16th Holly 2bbl. with #53 jets in my 292 and it runs great. The carb numbers above have smaller throats then the 1 1/16 due to being on the 272.

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Thanks for all the nice comments and info so far.I took the carb off this morning and it had #53 Jets in it. I put some #50s in it and it still runs good (As it did before) will see if that helps.Thanks again The Carb is a #94 (1 1/4" Throat.

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Not too awfull long ago (Maybe 20 yrs) I used to get 15-16 MPG on these "Y" Blocks.I also got a 55 Merc with a 57 Ford two barrel on it and only get 12-13 MPG. I guess its the crappy gas we get now? Jack

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

the gas mileage issue would certainly be helped if you were able to "liven" up your ignition spark and give more juice to each spark plug. Half the reason for a weak ignition spark/advance mechanism in the 1956 and earlier Y blocks were the distributors... the old "loadamatics" as they called them. Vacuum only advance and no mechanical.

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

As suggested , first thing I would do is check the ignition timing & bump it up to 10*.

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Carb jet swaps won't really make any difference to be noticeable in your fuel mileage . Like said before , upgrade the ignition system with a hotter coil . Electronic pointless ignition will also help . Better spark plug wire than the small stock ones will help as well .
Now one thing that will hurt you fuel mileage will be the 3 speed trans and rear end gear ratio you are running . Can you tell us what gear ratio you have ? Should be a metal tag on the top of the 3rd member under a bolt unless it was removed or broken off by someone which was common .
If you upgrade the trans with an overdrive , that will help the mileage . Now if you change the rear and use a gear ration in the 3.00 to 3.25 ratio like in a Ford 8" rear , that will help the mileage by keeping the RPM's down which in turn will help the fuel mileage .
If you do change the rear , get a Ford 8" rear from an early Mustang which are usually a 2.79 gear ratio and some were a 3.00 ratio . Cougars , Mavericks and a couple others will work as well but the Mustang & Maverick rears will work plus they are super easy to find . You can buy the complete rear for under $200 most anytime . The width is the same as your stock Dana rear you have now . There are no gears that you can swap for your Dana rear you have now . Plus , No , a Ford 8" 3rd member will not work in your dana 8" rear . Many have asked but won't even come close .
This are the best ways to get better fuel mileage from your Y block ! That way your engine will look pretty much stock to most people . If you don't worry about the stock look , then consider swapping a T5 in place of the 3 speed trans .

Jim

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

This is only an additional data point. My 300 ci 292 with mild cam in a lighter pickup with 3.00 rear is 18.5 mpg highway, 3 speed manual.

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

I gatta jack up the rear today to rebalance the rear tires,will check the #s then. I do have a set of gears from a 56 Ford (330) that probably would help?Will follow up on that ignition advice too later.Thanks keep it coming. Jack

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

3.30 gears is a good choice BUT will work much better with an overdrive trans .

Jim

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

If you get everything else up to snuff and still think the carb is an issue I have NOS jets and some other parts. Rod

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

WHAT ? Somebody else is still running an old bugsprayer carb? I thought I was the only one left still using an original 55 carb.
I get about a 250 mile range on a tank of gas with 292, Ford-O-Matic and rearend ratio is 3.22:1 which was pretty common. Yes it still has the original load-o-matic distributor & points. But my car still has 6 volt electric system, so I probably won't ever change it.

Re: 1955 Ford Carb Questions
 

Ok Guys finally got around to drive it again,30 miles the other day and this morning looked at the Spark plugs, they now look good with the #50 jets in it, gotta check the mileage next. Will keep you posted.
PS: I do have the 57 Dist in it too. Jack