The Ford Barn

LazarusLong · 05-06-2018, 07:41 AM

I have spent hours sending emails and searching the web for answers to the "What carb and dash pot do 51 Fords with FOM transmissions use?" with no luck at all. Not even the top carb kit and rebuild web companies have been able to tell me. One even sent me a photo of the weird 4 bolt base carb that was used on Mercury's,and asked me if that was the one.

This chase started at first because I was/am determined to put a FOM behind the original flat 6 in my 51 business coupe because the docs want to amputate my left leg. Not urgent at the time because I am driving it right now while I find and buy the parts I need to almost restore it. I am going for a early 50's hot rod with this one,so it's not going to be a actual restoration. I have a 3 x 1 intake for it with 1 brl Holley carbs,a Edmunds Racing finned aluminum head,and am looking for a set of cast iron headers if I can find them. Also plan on running an original 3/4 race grind cam.

The interior will be restored with the exception of the dash and garnish being painted Forest Green instead of silver. The exterior will be original including paint color,but MAY be nosed and decked.

Then I ran across a good buy on a 51 Victoria that has a flat V-8 and FOM,and said to self,"Self,this would be a good one to buy,semi-restore/refurbish and then drive while I have the coupe blown apart to weld in floors,etc,etc,etc,and then sell and maybe make a few bucks once the coupe is back on the road.

I also admit seeing the car for sale locally for maybe 6 months with the price dropping made me want to buy it to keep somebody from stripping it to make a hot rod,4x4 mud car (yes,that happens around here),or the 80 year old owner dying and seeing it go to the crusher.

The car had been sitting for 10+ years,but appeared to be 99 percent complete and original. The plan was/is to replace all the rusty chrome and bumpers with good chrome as I find it,replace the torn seats with seats I already have,and replace everything in the brake and fuel areas with brand new pieces to make it safe and reliable to drive. In other words,get it good enough it would be easy to sell to a potential restorer,or someone who just wanted to have a old car to paint the color he wanted and have something to drive to the weekend cruise events.

I got everything BUT the carb working nicely now. Engine runs whisper quiet,trans shifts perfectly,the new whitewall radials drive and handle good,etc,etc,etc.

The carb has been more of a nightmare than everything else I have done to the car. It is obviously not the right carb because it doesn't have a dash pot or a dash pot bracket,so it wanted to stall out when coming to a stop or when taking off. It has also been worked on in the past by monkeys that seem to have used rocks to disassemble and disassemble it. To be fair to them it did work good until the old,dry gaskets started leaking gas,but I have never seen a carb before with EVERY screw head looking like squirrels had been chewing on it. Looks like previous owners didn't own a single screwdriver that fit ANY of the screws.

On top of that it was the wrong carb,and when it started leaking so badly I could smell the gas while running down the road,I had to park it and give serious thought to finding out WHAT carb is the right carb,and then buy one and rebuild it.

As mentioned above,I mostly got "I dunno" or "those carbs with dash pots and the dash pots are made of unobtanium. You can't find or buy them anywhere."

So I decided to look for a carb from a 52 or 53 V-8 Ford with FOM since they use identical engines and transmissions. Found a junk yard with a 52 FOM for sale,and then bought the carb off the stuck engine for 54 bucks,including shipping. It has the correct dash pot,bracket,and carb linkage on it,too. Not only that,but even though it has been sitting for years and the choke plate is stuck,it doesn't look like it has ever been touched. Even has traces of the inspectors decal on it that are too faded to see.

I clean it off and here is what I discover.:

It is a Holley 2100-DD EAB-D that has "FORD" on the driver side, "94" in a circle on the rear,"FORD" on the driver side,and EAB and 15/16 on the passenger side.

There are a LOT of the 2100 Holley carbs out there,but most are for the 50's Y-Block engines and flow too much air for a stock flathead V-8.

The good news is any stock 51-53 carb will work if you can find the dash pot and the bracket,and come to find out they were used on various FoMoCo cars up through 1959. I wouldn't be surprised it it was used on PU's with the 292 up through 64-65. You MIGHT need slightly longer screws where the bracket bolts to the carb top,though.

Here are the details on the dashpot only:

DASHPOT B2A-9800-B-1952-1959-FORD-LINCOLN-MERCURY-THUNDERBIRD

I bought one new from ebay for $24.95 the same day I got the carb in.

After doing a web search,it seems like that same dash pot bracket was also used through 59 also,and maybe up to 64-65 in pu's with auto transmissions and Y-Block engines.

I don't know what the parts number is for the bracket right at this instant because the carb is perculating in carb cleaner. It will come out today,so if anyone needs the parts number just post here or send me a PM,and if it has one I will give it to you.

This stuff is a LOT easier to find once you know what it looks like.

51 MERC-CT · 05-06-2018, 09:13 AM

I have a '51 Merc. with a MOM transmission. (virtually identical to FOM)
At one point I found that the dashpot was not functioning and removed it, anticipating getting a new one, but never did.
There were never any issues with the engine stalling or anything else.
In the case of the Merc. carb. the only difference in it is that it has a threaded mount hole for the dashpot. Otherwise the standard shift carbs are virtually identical. I suspect that the Ford carbs. are identical also with only a possible variation to mount the dashpot.
I am currently running a 4bbl. Edelbrock carb. without using a dashpot, also with no issues.

LazarusLong · 05-06-2018, 12:51 PM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

>>"I have a '51 Merc. with a MOM transmission. (virtually identical to FOM)
At one point I found that the dashpot was not functioning and removed it, anticipating getting a new one, but never did.
There were never any issues with the engine stalling or anything else."<<

Maybe the carb on mine was leaking enough air and gas at the base to make it stumble and cut off,but I am of the opinion that if the Ford engineers thought it was a good idea to have one,it is probably a good idea to have one.

I'm one of those people who like to do something once,and hate to have to go back to it and redo it later on.

>>"In the case of the Merc. carb. the only difference in it is that it has a threaded mount hole for the dashpot.<<

The carb on your Merc wasn't one of those 4 bolt base "Mercury and Lincoln" carbs with the "elbow" top for the breather to mount on the side?

05-06-2018, 07:41 AM	#1
LazarusLong Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: NC Posts: 273	Carb tips for 51-53 Ford V-8's with FOM I have spent hours sending emails and searching the web for answers to the "What carb and dash pot do 51 Fords with FOM transmissions use?" with no luck at all. Not even the top carb kit and rebuild web companies have been able to tell me. One even sent me a photo of the weird 4 bolt base carb that was used on Mercury's,and asked me if that was the one. This chase started at first because I was/am determined to put a FOM behind the original flat 6 in my 51 business coupe because the docs want to amputate my left leg. Not urgent at the time because I am driving it right now while I find and buy the parts I need to almost restore it. I am going for a early 50's hot rod with this one,so it's not going to be a actual restoration. I have a 3 x 1 intake for it with 1 brl Holley carbs,a Edmunds Racing finned aluminum head,and am looking for a set of cast iron headers if I can find them. Also plan on running an original 3/4 race grind cam. The interior will be restored with the exception of the dash and garnish being painted Forest Green instead of silver. The exterior will be original including paint color,but MAY be nosed and decked. Then I ran across a good buy on a 51 Victoria that has a flat V-8 and FOM,and said to self,"Self,this would be a good one to buy,semi-restore/refurbish and then drive while I have the coupe blown apart to weld in floors,etc,etc,etc,and then sell and maybe make a few bucks once the coupe is back on the road. I also admit seeing the car for sale locally for maybe 6 months with the price dropping made me want to buy it to keep somebody from stripping it to make a hot rod,4x4 mud car (yes,that happens around here),or the 80 year old owner dying and seeing it go to the crusher. The car had been sitting for 10+ years,but appeared to be 99 percent complete and original. The plan was/is to replace all the rusty chrome and bumpers with good chrome as I find it,replace the torn seats with seats I already have,and replace everything in the brake and fuel areas with brand new pieces to make it safe and reliable to drive. In other words,get it good enough it would be easy to sell to a potential restorer,or someone who just wanted to have a old car to paint the color he wanted and have something to drive to the weekend cruise events. I got everything BUT the carb working nicely now. Engine runs whisper quiet,trans shifts perfectly,the new whitewall radials drive and handle good,etc,etc,etc. The carb has been more of a nightmare than everything else I have done to the car. It is obviously not the right carb because it doesn't have a dash pot or a dash pot bracket,so it wanted to stall out when coming to a stop or when taking off. It has also been worked on in the past by monkeys that seem to have used rocks to disassemble and disassemble it. To be fair to them it did work good until the old,dry gaskets started leaking gas,but I have never seen a carb before with EVERY screw head looking like squirrels had been chewing on it. Looks like previous owners didn't own a single screwdriver that fit ANY of the screws. On top of that it was the wrong carb,and when it started leaking so badly I could smell the gas while running down the road,I had to park it and give serious thought to finding out WHAT carb is the right carb,and then buy one and rebuild it. As mentioned above,I mostly got "I dunno" or "those carbs with dash pots and the dash pots are made of unobtanium. You can't find or buy them anywhere." So I decided to look for a carb from a 52 or 53 V-8 Ford with FOM since they use identical engines and transmissions. Found a junk yard with a 52 FOM for sale,and then bought the carb off the stuck engine for 54 bucks,including shipping. It has the correct dash pot,bracket,and carb linkage on it,too. Not only that,but even though it has been sitting for years and the choke plate is stuck,it doesn't look like it has ever been touched. Even has traces of the inspectors decal on it that are too faded to see. I clean it off and here is what I discover.: It is a Holley 2100-DD EAB-D that has "FORD" on the driver side, "94" in a circle on the rear,"FORD" on the driver side,and EAB and 15/16 on the passenger side. There are a LOT of the 2100 Holley carbs out there,but most are for the 50's Y-Block engines and flow too much air for a stock flathead V-8. The good news is any stock 51-53 carb will work if you can find the dash pot and the bracket,and come to find out they were used on various FoMoCo cars up through 1959. I wouldn't be surprised it it was used on PU's with the 292 up through 64-65. You MIGHT need slightly longer screws where the bracket bolts to the carb top,though. Here are the details on the dashpot only: DASHPOT B2A-9800-B-1952-1959-FORD-LINCOLN-MERCURY-THUNDERBIRD I bought one new from ebay for $24.95 the same day I got the carb in. After doing a web search,it seems like that same dash pot bracket was also used through 59 also,and maybe up to 64-65 in pu's with auto transmissions and Y-Block engines. I don't know what the parts number is for the bracket right at this instant because the carb is perculating in carb cleaner. It will come out today,so if anyone needs the parts number just post here or send me a PM,and if it has one I will give it to you. This stuff is a LOT easier to find once you know what it looks like. Last edited by LazarusLong; 05-06-2018 at 07:47 AM.

05-06-2018, 09:13 AM	#2
51 MERC-CT Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: East Hartford, Ct Posts: 5,898	Re: Carb tips for 51-53 Ford V-8's with FOM I have a '51 Merc. with a MOM transmission. (virtually identical to FOM) At one point I found that the dashpot was not functioning and removed it, anticipating getting a new one, but never did. There were never any issues with the engine stalling or anything else. In the case of the Merc. carb. the only difference in it is that it has a threaded mount hole for the dashpot. Otherwise the standard shift carbs are virtually identical. I suspect that the Ford carbs. are identical also with only a possible variation to mount the dashpot. I am currently running a 4bbl. Edelbrock carb. without using a dashpot, also with no issues. __________________ DON'T RECALL DOING SOMETHING FOR MYSELF BASED ON SOMEONE ELSE'S LIKES OR DISLIKES Last edited by 51 MERC-CT; 05-06-2018 at 12:27 PM.

05-06-2018, 12:51 PM	#3
LazarusLong Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: NC Posts: 273	Re: Carb tips for 51-53 Ford V-8's with FOM Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) >>"I have a '51 Merc. with a MOM transmission. (virtually identical to FOM) At one point I found that the dashpot was not functioning and removed it, anticipating getting a new one, but never did. There were never any issues with the engine stalling or anything else."<< Maybe the carb on mine was leaking enough air and gas at the base to make it stumble and cut off,but I am of the opinion that if the Ford engineers thought it was a good idea to have one,it is probably a good idea to have one. I'm one of those people who like to do something once,and hate to have to go back to it and redo it later on. >>"In the case of the Merc. carb. the only difference in it is that it has a threaded mount hole for the dashpot.<< The carb on your Merc wasn't one of those 4 bolt base "Mercury and Lincoln" carbs with the "elbow" top for the breather to mount on the side?