The Ford Barn

Daves55Sedan · 07-21-2018, 11:08 PM

This is an update from my previous post about the '55 Ford EBU carb which I had portions of re-plated by the Holley shop. After the carb was re-assembled with a new kit from Daytona Parts, I installed it on the engine (replacing my spare EBU carb which still works good but leaks down all the fuel if the car sits for a couple of days).
Somehow or nother, I did not have a new carb base gasket in the kit so I made one out of paper/composite gasket material, but I was skeptical if it would be much better than the old gasket that was on there. My assembly does include a 1/4 inch thick phenolic spacer with a gasket below it and above. It only takes five minutes to replace a EBU carb, so I went ahead and installed it with my paper gasket. I primed the carb and fired up the engine. The engine ran pretty rough at idle even after warming up a bit and the intake vacuum was only around 17. I was not satisfied. So I went and got some rubberized gasket material and cut out a new carb base gasket to replace my paper gasket. I spread some Permatex fuel resistant gasket maker on both sides of the phenolic spacer to glue the gaskets on and spread some on the bottom of the carb base. You need to work real fast when using this stuff because it sets up pretty quick. I immediately installed the carb on the intake and snugged down the nuts that hold it down on the intake. A few hours later, I torqued the nuts down permanent. In addition, I checked the float position. It was only about 1-1/4 inch from bottom of float to underside of upper body. I decided to change the float position to 1-3/8 inches down. It's possible the float may have been too high originally, causing overspill which would account for the rough idle. I put everything back together and she fired right up. Now the intake vacuum is 20 at idle after warmup and the engine idles smooth as can be. This darned old car still runs like new, has excellent accelleration, plenty of pep and the carburator does not leak all the gas out of the float bowl if it sets for a couple days. So far, I haven't left it sit longer than two whole days. It sure is nice to be able to go out and start the car without having to take off that oil-bath air cleaner to prime the carb with a bent tuna fish can full of gas. Awful nice!

Ole Don · 07-23-2018, 08:57 AM

I like the idea of adjusting the float to the lowest level. The gas today seems to either expand with heat, or boil over at hot shut down. The least amount of gas in the bowl to get the job done works well.

Daves55Sedan · 07-23-2018, 09:53 PM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Ole Don

I like the idea of adjusting the float to the lowest level. The gas today seems to either expand with heat, or boil over at hot shut down. The least amount of gas in the bowl to get the job done works well.

I haven't looked down the carb throat after running it a while and shutting it off to see if gas is boiling over, but I do have a thick phenolic spacer between manifold and carb base which should help to reduce some of the heat. However, the engine does start right up again after being run a while and shut off, so I think that is a fair indication that it is stable.
According to the instruction sheet for adjusting the float, I could have possibly lowered the float down to 1-7/16" from the underside of the top. That's only 1/16" lower than where I have it now. But I still have that little bit more it can be lowered if I need to.

07-21-2018, 11:08 PM	#1
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Update: '55 Ford EBU carb This is an update from my previous post about the '55 Ford EBU carb which I had portions of re-plated by the Holley shop. After the carb was re-assembled with a new kit from Daytona Parts, I installed it on the engine (replacing my spare EBU carb which still works good but leaks down all the fuel if the car sits for a couple of days). Somehow or nother, I did not have a new carb base gasket in the kit so I made one out of paper/composite gasket material, but I was skeptical if it would be much better than the old gasket that was on there. My assembly does include a 1/4 inch thick phenolic spacer with a gasket below it and above. It only takes five minutes to replace a EBU carb, so I went ahead and installed it with my paper gasket. I primed the carb and fired up the engine. The engine ran pretty rough at idle even after warming up a bit and the intake vacuum was only around 17. I was not satisfied. So I went and got some rubberized gasket material and cut out a new carb base gasket to replace my paper gasket. I spread some Permatex fuel resistant gasket maker on both sides of the phenolic spacer to glue the gaskets on and spread some on the bottom of the carb base. You need to work real fast when using this stuff because it sets up pretty quick. I immediately installed the carb on the intake and snugged down the nuts that hold it down on the intake. A few hours later, I torqued the nuts down permanent. In addition, I checked the float position. It was only about 1-1/4 inch from bottom of float to underside of upper body. I decided to change the float position to 1-3/8 inches down. It's possible the float may have been too high originally, causing overspill which would account for the rough idle. I put everything back together and she fired right up. Now the intake vacuum is 20 at idle after warmup and the engine idles smooth as can be. This darned old car still runs like new, has excellent accelleration, plenty of pep and the carburator does not leak all the gas out of the float bowl if it sets for a couple days. So far, I haven't left it sit longer than two whole days. It sure is nice to be able to go out and start the car without having to take off that oil-bath air cleaner to prime the carb with a bent tuna fish can full of gas. Awful nice!

07-23-2018, 08:57 AM	#2
Ole Don Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: St. Michael, Minnesota Posts: 1,713	Re: Update: '55 Ford EBU carb I like the idea of adjusting the float to the lowest level. The gas today seems to either expand with heat, or boil over at hot shut down. The least amount of gas in the bowl to get the job done works well.