1982 Ford LTD-S 351W Police Car

[packman]

Nice!!!

I was/am going to run 2015 Explorer wheels when I am done with my bigger big brake swap. I just have to wait until the machine shop opens up again to get the wheels bored out a bit.

[Tiggie]

Stance looks perfect!

[87gtVIC]

looking mean Phil.

[Brown_Muscle]

Thanks guys!

[clutch47]

Nice looking rig ya got there man. Those dog dishes make me weak in the knees. Love them.
Car sits nice.

[Brown_Muscle]

I love the dog dishes too- eventually I'll adapt some dodge 17" steelies to accept them.

Finally got around to re-tuning the carb. I had been getting 16MPG highway on long trips for the last year, going around 72. In the past I had always got 18. The wideband said i was cruising rich (high 13's low 14's, with it way to rich when it went into the power mode (like 12's). I changed the rods a couple of times and got it cruising lean (maybe 15.3:1, and power mode in the high 13's). This normally would be too lean for me...but there was no drivability issues.

I drove 350 miles and filled up twice. I got 20MPG the first time, which i thought was a fluke, however the second time i filled up i got 21MPG! I'm pretty damn happy about that. I'm sure the slightly better aerodynamics helped as well.

[gadget73]

You can also change the springs under the metering rod pistons to alter where they start to pull if its more a matter of when the enrichment comes in vs how much. Too strong of a spring and it will want to be in enrichment mode in cruise which isn't useful. Too weak of a spring and you'll get a lean bog before engine vac drops enough to let the metering rod lift and add fuel.

[Tiggie]

That’s great MPG. Carbs can do well if well tuned.

[Brown_Muscle]

Oh yes, I have a whole spring kit, and far too many rods and jets. Thankfully haven’t had to mess with the springs since I originally tuned it. (I can’t wait for fuel injection!) it may get good mileage but hard hot starts and having to mess with the choke with each temperature change is annoying... being able to control the fuel and spark with a touch screen will be awesome!

[gadget73]

do you have a carb spacer? that helps with hot soak problems. Return type fuel system can help too. Otherwise, foot to the floor and crank it.

shouldn't have to mess with the choke constantly. If its right it ought to be good enough for most of the weather we get here.

[Brown_Muscle]

I do have a phenolic spacer- my old 2150 carb didn’t require much messing with the choke. This edelbrock is very finicky. The fuel ratio bounces around way more too... I’m certain it’s no where near the quality of my oem 2150.

[gadget73]

whats that use for a choke, just the electric heater? Basically the same as the 2150 right?

[gadget73]

sitting here doing mindless repetitive work and I had a thought. What are you powering the electric choke from? IIRC the stock setup used alternator stator supply at ~9v. I expect the Eddy choke wants full battery voltage. That might be why the choke is moody. Low voltage would make it open more slowly than it should.

[87gtVIC]

I suspect the same...I dont suspect that its the problem though just that I went through the same thing recently with dads new engine in is 85. We were giving it stator voltage and when reading the carbs booklet (holly street warrior or something) it said it wants 12v.


Thain this carb has no return fuel...dad has been having to step on gas somewhat to get car to fire after running...hot.

[gadget73]

never seen a carb with return fuel, it would be in the fuel pump or regulator setup. 85 should have been factory carb. Don't know if that had a 3 line fuel pump or not. If it does, its got a return setup. The idea with those is moving more volume of fuel keeps it cooler since it doesn't just sit there and heat soak. It also gives the fuel someplace to go when you shut the engine off and the fuel gets hot and expands. Instead of just blowing past the needle in the carb and flooding it goes back to the tank. That helps with the "floor it to start when hot" problem.

might also be interesting to know if the choke is trying to close even when the engine is hot but key-off. I'd think there should be enough heat in the engine bay to keep it open but maybe not.

a related thought

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t6geNGbEXM