Hi guys. New to the forum and have a problem I was hoping you could help me with. I rebuilt the original teapot carb on my 56 T-bird because it leaked fuel down the secondaries and it wouldn't advance all the way. The fuel leaks are fixed but now it goes to max advance as soon as it cranks! Rechecked my rebuild and made sure all steps were followed correctly. Also checked distributor, timing, intake manifold, timing chain, crank/cam alignment, balancer, etc and everything checked out ok. After a ton of research, I believe my problem is that the primary venturi vacuum port hole (located just under the lip of the p***enger side primary venturi) is too big. According to the Holley 4000 Instruction Sheet, it's supposed to be .036" but in my tear down pics it appears to be much bigger than that. My problem is that I don't know if someone has messed with it in the past or if some of the actual production versions were made this way. Can one or some of you post a picture of your's to see if mine is in fact too big? Thanks!
With no disrespect intended, did you replace the plastic distributor check ball (not shown on the Holley diagram) when you rebuilt the carb? There is a small br*** plug with a screwdriver slot on the underside of the throttle body in one of the vacuum slots. Removing this plug gives access to a small plastic ball (Holley part number 28R-31, normally red in color). If this ball is not present, then the condition you describe will exist. Jon.
Jon, appreciate the input. Short answer is no. During my research & in some of my do***ents it says to only add that check ball of it's a standard transmission, and mine's an automatic; not to mention that when I took it apart there was no check ball. Now that being said, I'd like to install it to see if you're right but in my enthusiasm to dis***emble the carb, I stripped the head of that br*** plug and had to drill it out and replace it with a homemade one. (Hand palm to the face!) Soooo if any of you fine folks happens to have an extra distributor check ball retainer screw that you'd like to sell, or if someone could give me the dimensions of one (55 or 56 teapot) so that I can make one, please let me know.
Still running that dual diaphragm distributor? Send me a P.M. with your address and I can send you the check screw. Oldmics
Oldmics, just sent you a PM and yea I'm still running the old Load-O-Matic distributor. She's a show car and I'm trying to keep her as factory original as possible. Unfortunately that also means running the orginal, poorly designed carb/ignition system.
Poorly designed carb/ignition system??? Maybe, from a hotrodding standpoint. My very first carb was a Holley haystack (a.k.a. teapot) list number R-1161-A on a 292 at age 15. After the rebuild, got 100,000 plus TROUBLE-FREE miles (well, with the exception of 12 MPG) on that 1956 Ford. Well, maybe the MPG reflected the driving habits of a teen-ager. That "poor design" was exceptionally reliable! Jon.
Jon My first car was a 56 Ford too, but I got 8 miles to the gallon. Sometime I got less mileage than that on transmissions.
Sorry... didn't mean to hit a nerve. From what I've read and experienced, I agree that for normal everyday driving the Load-O-Matic systems work fine... as long as everything is dialed in perfectly and it stays that way. But as soon as a small issue pops up with either the fuel pressure or fuel mixture or if there's a small vacuum leak anywhere or if any of the various small vacuum ports inside the carb get clogged up even a just a little bit, the effects on the whole system can be significant. That coupled with what many folks at the time complained as "sluggish acceleration" due to the distributor's slow advancing properties is (again from what I've read) why Ford dumped the Load-O-Matic on V8s in 57. In the end, I hope I can fix mine so that it too could go 100,000 miles trouble free (Not that I plan on diving it 100,000 miles... you know what I mean).
My 56 had a "teapot" and Loadmatic with a single stage vacuum can when I purchased it and started and ran fine. We had a 55 Sunliner and 56 Victoria both when new and they gave us good service. I knew my " new" purchase could just be better and converted to a 57 dist with Pertronics and a Carter WCFB from a 53 Cadillac. Ted Eaton shows how to make the changes to a Holley for service with a 57- up dist and is a definately option for you. Good luck.
There is a teapot expert over on the 'FordBarn' select the proper forum and ask your question there. If you've never been there there is a tab on the upper right hand corner at the top of the hamb page screen, click on it and select the 'Fordbarn' from the list.
Thanks for all the input guys. I'll definitely check out the fordbarn. Just wanted to ask one last time if anyone can tell me if the hole on their primary veturi is the same size or smaller than the one in the picture that I posted?
I never knew anyone that had one catch fire....ever. We had 2 cars with them from 55 to 64 and never had a problem with either.
Hey guys, just wanted to give a quick update on what I discovered... Apparently the size of the primary venturi vacuum port hole on my throttle body is in fact correct. According to the attached Spark Control Valve diagram, there are supposed to be two vacuum ports in the upper half of the primary venturi, one that is .036" in diameter (labeled Primary Venturi Vacuum P***age) and one that is .067" (labeled Primary Venturi Vacuum Port on the attached Secondary System diagram). In reality, only the .067" hole exists in the primary venturi which tells me that either the Spark Control Valve diagram is incorrect or there was a design change at some point in production. The other important thing to note is that the .067" hole in the primary venturi is also connected to the .0465" hole in the secondary veturi (labeled Secondary Venturi Vacuum Port in the Secondary System diagram), which brings me to the root of my problem... When I plugged the p***age going to the Secondary Diaphram and blew compressed air into the .0465" secondary vacuum port NO air came out of the .067" hole! That immediately told me I had a blockage between the ports. After blowing air back and forth between the ports, I heard a distinctive "pop" come from the .067" primary port followed by a "hiss" from the air rushing out of it! I put the carb back together, bolted it back on the motor and fired it up. It's now running 1000 times better, but I still need to tune everything. I'll keep you all posted
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