My teapot tuns very well except for that little bog i get when driving local. I dont kill my 55 Bird since its not a racer but i think when i accelerate harder it doesnt feel as bad. I only get this flat spot when i come to a red light or stop sign and have to stop then take off again. It annoys me because when it stumbles it feels like it will stall. Some rebuilders told me this is the accelerator pump causing the bog others told me it did that when new and will never go away. My carb was rebuilt by a T Bird guru last year. SApoke with Pony Carbs and I dont know if its a sales pitch or not but they told me they reengineer the carb and it will run flawless. I dont know how much of that is true and its not cheap $500. Any of you guys use Pony or can comment on the Teapt flat spot bog further? Thanks I dont want to replace my manifold and carb etc. plus i dont have an extra grand laying around for that today.
teapots are dangerous carbs, and leak fuel everywhere. One we had on the merc would spray fuel all over the motor. That bog isnt how they are. Ours ran good on a 255 flathead
Mine in my 55 Lincoln has been doing really good, I have been noticing the same bog you speak of over the past couple of days though. I am sure it is the accerelrator pump giving issues after many years of relative inactivity. Certainly these carbs were never meant to be off the line performers, but for cruising it seems to do a good job, and actually seems to do very well once up to speed. The complexity of the thing bothers me a little, once the thing becomes troublesome I will probably ditch it...
Mine was rebuilt and driven maybe 5 miles in 2007 then it sat until i got the car in Sep 08. So i am sure it could use a new rebuild I just want to know is Pony Carbs is BSing me on their higher priced rebuild. I can rebuild it myself with some luck or get it done for 1/2 of what Pony charges but i just want the carb to run smooth with no bog. i have to say once up to speed it runs perfect for an old ****er
Pony does a great job. That being said, the best things I did to mine were ditching the teapot for a Blue Thunder/390 Holley and an MSD. Mine is a daily driver and it definitely made a difference. I ran a 525 Demon on it at first but the 312 really likes the 390. Adding the MSD distributor meant I could not run the factory tach. It is possible to run an electric tach in the stock housing, let me know if you go that way.
The teapots really aren't that bad of a carburetor. Once you get to know them, they're easy to work on. Rebuild kits and reprints of the manual are readily available from the T-bird suppliers. In fact, the '55 version has a good diagnostic section in tha back. And, be careful not wreck anything when taking one apart. Replacement parts are almost impossible to find!
If anyone needs anything I would sell this dirt cheap, I don't have any use for it and it will end up on the s**** pile.
My 4bbl teapot on my 54 Lincoln has that bog too. Other than that it isn't a bad carb. I rebuilt mine a few years back and it has held up pretty good.
i'm interested in these now,have any pictures? i'm working on a set of 1972 hitachi SU's that were never sold in the US,so parts are impossible to find also, I'm always interested in old carbs that aren't the usual mainstream stuff.
I really can't say I have ever heard any good things about them . They are a dangerous piece of **** ! If you have them and use them you will understand . I call them Flame Throwers ! Other than that the guy who designed them should have lost his job ! There are some good choices you can use on your Y block ! Most any small base 4 bbl will work . Better yet change the intake and get a modern Holley , Demon or Edelbrock .
I had a 4 bbl. Teapot on a 55 292 and it did not have any flat spots. Fuel mileage suffered when it started to leak gas but a kit fixed that. New accelerator pump might help.
I ran the t pot for many years and actually modified one in 57 for performance and never had any problems with one leaking gas. The stumble is usually caused buy lack of prime gas. This can be changed by one size larger in the squirter circuit and I did change /modify the air bleeds on one and it solved low end stumble.I also on one of my y blocks use the 55 cad rocheaster carb. I can't fathom how any one could charge $500.00 to overhaul a simple carb like that to begin with but then I have been retired many years and not up to current shop rates but it has to be a whopper!
They tend to be infamous for that flat spot. It's caused by a lean condition at throttle tip in. The power valve port just isn't allowing enough fuel flow. I drilled out my power valve orfice, and even added one, but it still has a slight hesitation. My next fix will be to jet it up a little. The little teapot on my '55 runs great otherwise. Cold start, automatic choke works like new, always has. As for being a fire hazard, I think all carbs have the same potential. I plan to run a pair of them on my '55 in the near future.
I recently put this together using an Edlebrock 257 and twin '56 Mercury teapots. It'll eventually go in my '55 Mercury. But, I'm unsure if it'll really work. I know the factory dual quad teapots have some differences from the regular teapots. I guess I should just put the set-up on and see if I can get it tuned. Even if it doesn't work all that great, it'll definitely look cool!
The one on my 56 T bird has a little over 100,000 miles on it - no leaks, no hesitation, other then the typical lazy acceleration due to the dumb distributor advance mechanism
looks like we all have similar opinions. I of course can swap out the manifold etc but the way i have this car restored is for originality. I dont want to mess with my fuel lines, tac or other parts now that the car is 95% finished. I am going to wait until i get my steering wheel back to drive the car and see how she purrs. I may send to Pony only if they can 100% gaurantee they will fix the bog and it will run better than what i have otherwise i will use a T Bird rebuilder. Pony Carbs told me that after they are done they advise you time the ignition by hand with no timing light. They also told me to use a very agressive advance for the new rebuild and they include a DVD explaining this. My 55 is far from a race car but i just am nervous one day i will be far from home and the damn bog gets worse and shuts down and Im stuck in the middle of no mans land with no cell service. I would like to see a YouTube video of the Teapot shooting flames now.
I think you're over reacting to the problem. There's no reason to spend that much on a carburetor that has been rebuilt a year ago. I looked in my Holley manual and it sounds like either the accelerator pump seal is failing or the check ball in the pump bore isn't seating completely. Both are a super easy fix that does not require a complete dis***embly of the carburetor. Just pull the top off, disconnect the pump from the linkage, pull it out and replace the seal. The check ball is retained by a wire clip in the bottom of the pump bore. The clip is easily removed with a pair of long needle nose pliers or a pair of surgery forceps. A little magnet can be used to pull the ball out or you can turn the carburetor over and shake it out. The later usually results in a lost ball. The kit should come with a new ball, though. Before you install the new ball, check to see if there's any crud on the ball seat. If it's OK, drop the ball in and give it a little tap with a br*** puch to seat it. Now reinstall the accelerator pump and hook up the linkage. This is a good time to check the float level. Once that's OK, install a new top gasket and reinstall the top. Voila! You're done! Any carburetor will get a flame shoot through it if it leans out enough. The teapot is no more or less prone to this than any other carburetor. Just one of those Old Car Urban Legends!
Does The Carburetor Shop in Mapelwood, MN work on teapots? They did an Edelbrock for me, and it works like new. I thought the price for repair was reasonable...and I'm REALLY CHEAP.
I forgot to mention my secondary tubes have epoxy on them a total bs fix. Also the br*** set screw in the rear is leaking at times which was also epoxied. This is how the T Bird rebuilder did it go figure. Pony promised me they would change those parts out. It does bother me that my carb looks so clean but has epoxy all over it. I may just look for a cheap core on ebay and mess around with rebuilding it myself in my shop to see how it turns out. whole point of my thread was to see if anyone knows if Pony Carbs was BSing me on "re engineering" the carb" and if they are worth the inflated price. Doing a basic rebuild should be cake however i dont know how to re engineer a carb to fix the design flaws in it if there is such a thing.
I really don't think the carburetor needs to be "re-engineered" if it was working earlier. It sounds like performance has degraded over time (a year ) and now it needs a little work. Certainly worth trying to fix yourself before jumping into a major and expensive rebuild. Another thing to check is the carburetor numbers. Not having the right carburetor for your application can be the start of poor performance. I know the right numbered carburetor doesn't guarantee the right stuff is in it. But, I can give you that info if you need it. Pony Carbs probably "re-engineers" carburetors by putting the stuff that should be in them for the application that you want to use it!
I ran one for over 200,000 miles on a 1956 Ford. Only Holley I ever owned that DIDN'T leak! Biggest problem was that, like all Holleys, it never met a filling station that it didn't like (maybe love is the proper term)! Average fuel economy on the 1956 292 was about 12~13 mpg. I have do***ented in another thread on this forum a couple of known (do***ented by Holley) issues. As long as the rebuilder reads his tech bulletins, these are decent performing, reliable carburetors. If the $500. job includes replating of the steel items (and I would guess that it does), then the cost (my opinion, others may differ) is certainly very reasonable. As to Pony, they are on the list of compe***ors that we DO recommend! And most parts are readily available by mail order; however parts are not inexpensive! Jon.
i just rebuilt the teapot on my 54 merc, after it bogging and stalling from a stop and start basis. it would also spit half way between throttle you would just loose all power and it would spit gas like crazy. i rebuilt it and cleaned every part i made sure air blew through all the holes where gas would be p***ing by. havent had a problem since. although i am switching my intake over to a 3 deuces so idk which one will be better.
Could this be a distributor issue? Maybe the curve isn't matched up well and you get a flat spot? I had a similar issue once, and when I went back to a vac. advance distributor, it was a lot smoother and the issue went away. It was an accidental fix, I was just trying to make the motor more original. EDIT, I didn't mean to imply I have this carb, or engine. Just an alternative idea I'm throwing out there.
Really?!?! Where?!?! I've got a bunch of NOS and canniblized stuff but I'd love to get some more secondary jets and power valves in various sizes! Even some dual quad specific stuff!
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