36 Ford truck on Ranger

I have one Stromberg; not quite enough to make a triple setup.
Now that you guys have been bringing up questions and I've been thinking heavily, Maybe I should have tried taking the plugs out of the power valve holes and putting 4.5 power valves in the existing seconaries.
Anyhow, I've started rebuilding Holleys, with some set backs. It seems somebody threw away some of these old carburetors for a reason. Some are not fixable.
I went to a local fair and parade today.

I know you're probably inclined to have that tri-power setup, but one decent Edelbrock would solve a host of problems. Plus they have features that don't let them leak and I've never had problems tuning them. Parts to make changes are available easily. I used to run holleys but haven't since I tried Edelbrock! Just sayin...
I'm also sure that one of these days you'll find the combo that works. As Torchie would say "Keep on keepin on"

Small, that Edelbrock would look out of place on a flathead.

Yes, Smalls, I would like to keep the three deuces, and learn how to make them act nicely, but I didn't think it would take this much fooling around. I have a cool Cadillac/Oldsmobile air cleaner to set over a four barrel if I end up going that way. There's a chance that I can make these three carbs work, though.

I know guys, it's the "cool" factor.
I know you'll find the sweet spot Mac. Most everybody here that builds stuff succeeds by trial and error...that's how we roll!

smallfoot said:

I know guys, it's the "cool" factor.
I know you'll find the sweet spot Mac. Most everybody here that builds stuff succeeds by trial and error...that's how we roll!

Click to expand...

For some of us, more error than success. (Speaking for myself)

Yes, Smalls, I am shootin' for the 'cool' factor.
I've been in the 'trial and error' group all along. It's neat to just record the hits and disregard the missed, but then nobody else can learn from your mistakes.
Keep on tinkering.
Anyhow, I cleaned up a bunch of pieces and made a carburetor out of them today and it is now installed on the truck.

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The second carb was a complete one so it just needed to be taken apart, cleaned and rebuilt. Now it's also on the truck. [Pic one]

You know how some of the people say 'if there are no pictures, it didn't happen', well here is my box of 'has been Holley's'. So, some of my story is true. --- There are a few possibilities in there yet.

As my sister said last night;
" Most stories are true and some actually happened "

Looks like a box full of stories and experiece ,Mac. I have no doubt most really happened. The carb set up looks worth fighting for...

Well, I test drove those two rebuilt carbs today by going to A&W. I had a leak in one gasoline inlet but fixed that with a homemade washer made out of an oil jug wall. Was it Bob that got some copper washers that were cone shaped for the sealing of gas leaks? Well, I just took that idea and made a plastic gasket.
There's still a small problem with some of the carbs not coming back to a full idle. The truck sounds a way better at an idle and feels better on acceleration. Today I went to visit my brother and had him drive the truck in his driveway while I kneeled in the back and hung out over the tailgate listening. Cool.

Are you tuning the carbs with a vacuum gauge or just by ear?

OI, I haven't got that far yet. I have a vacuum gauge, but haven't used it. So far, the idle sounds really nice. I turned all of the idle screws in 1/2 turn from where I usually run them. So little time, between showing off and showing off somewhere else.

The other day I told you that I fixed three little things and then test-drove them, well, I wasn't lying that time. Here are some pictures. The first one is about the new gas pedal linkage. I'm holding the old linkage up there to show you it has different ends on it to clip the rod to the little balls, [on the carb throttle linkage, and gas pedal lever]. There are little springs in each tin cap on the ends of the rod. Those springs are not strong enough to open three carbs, so the gas pedal moved down about an inch and half while squashing up the two little hidden springs, every-time I wanted a little more revs. The new rod is solid, and it works very nicely.
Just below the carbs, is a brass heater elbow screwed into the head. It was leaking because it was too loose. It turns out that the outlet is too close to the base threads and the last 'needed' revolution wasn't going to happen. The outlet kept hitting the head. I squashed the outlet oblong with Visegrips and screwed it one more turn. All fixed.
My oil pressure idiot light sender quit working and started dribbling out oil. I changed it and added a four inch length of pipe to bring it up where it will be easier to get at. All fixed.

Always satisfying to see how somebody fixes those little glitches! Good work Mac! [cl

It definitely is a good feeling to get the bugs worked out.

I reread some of my '36 truck story just now and found out that I've been whining about getting my three deuce carbs working nicely. Well, here comes some more whining. In the last week the truck has been running rougher and burning more gas than it should. Then on the way home from a car show, there came this knocking. I diagnosed the high internal sound as either a collapsed lifter or something fell out of a carburetor and was stuck in the top of a piston. Today I took the head off and there the culprit was, [pic one], a little screw had come out of a throttle shaft and bashed around in one cylinder.
I still have to find out which carb the screw came from and why some of the carbs are starving some cylinders and over-fueling others.

Not much damage there. Do you have progressive linkage?

No not much damage, Bob, and yes I have progressive linkage. At first, I had the two secondary carbs with the idle circuit's blocked but with a 'Sharpe' intake manifold you starve at least two cylinders that way. Those two carbs didn't open up until you really leaned on the gas pedal. Now I've gone back to three original carbs and I had them all opening at once. But tonight, I adjusted the throttle rod that runs the front and back carbs to open at half throttle. I like that better. The front carb had three things wrong with it. The accelerator pump mechanism had come unhooked, one main gas jet was plugged, and the vacuum gallery that holds the power valve closed was plugged. [The power valves on those Holley's are sprung open and vacuum closed]. The middle carb had a screw missing from a throttle plate and one idle circuit was partly plugged. To remove the front carb on a flathead you will need three completely different wrenches to take off the three nuts. Some of the wrenches have to be unique. Here's a picture of the way I take off the front passenger side nut on this setup. It's crowfoot with a short piece of 3/8" key-stock jambed into it and the whole thing turned with a 3/8" combination wrench.

Wow, you found a passel of problems. Hope it runs well now. And, adapting/making tools is part of the fun.