Technical Ford 2100 Carb problems on a 260

Hello all,

Have a 63 Meteor with 260 , and two barrel ford 2100 Carb.

Car sat for a year, ran great before sitting. Now it wouldn't stay running, junk in Carb.
I pulled it apart, cleaned it, put a kit in it, slapped it back on the car, now nothing but problems. Ive done about 10 carbs before, who knows if I am doing it right. Atleast it stays running.

Now its running very rich, and idle is wonky, runs best with idle mixture screws all the way in.
I wonder if the power valve in the kit is shot? Im 100% sure this carb is clean and ***embled correctly.
Fuel and float level everything else seems ok.

 

Was there water in the carb when you took it apart? Does it freeze where you live?

Bones

 

Old gas in the tank?????......

 

2100 is a good carburetor. First let the engine idle for a few minutes on level ground. Shut engine OFF. Pull the air horn (4 screws).

Verify that the fuel level in the bowl isn't too high. Setting the float height just gets you close, but it's the fuel height that counts. A US Quarter .25c is a handy fuel height gauge, it measures 29/32" or near enough. Measure from the machined surface of the carby body to the fuel.

Raise or lower the float height as required to achieve the proper fuel level in the bowl. If you are very careful you can even idle the engine and observe the fuel level in the bowl. Keep a fire extinguisher handy, do this outside. All the usual standard disclaimers apply.

The power valve isn't going to screw up idle I don't believe. You want it to work right sure, but even if it were to open at idle, there isn't going to be any fuel enrichment. Most rebuild kits include a 6.5", that should be in the ballpark for a stock motor. A mechanic's vacuum gauge would show how much vacuum your engine is pulling at idle.

 

The gasket that goes under the venturi cluster is very easy to break. You have to install it on the venturi cluster itself and then install the cluster; otherwise, it will probably rip because there are two "ridges" on the cluster itself that center the gasket. Something to check...

 

Don’t forget the little metal clip that secures the float to the seat. The float will “float” and not shut off the needle and flood over. This was the first carb that I ever rebuilt at age 16 and I made the same mistake. These are the best two barrel carbs ever made. And that’s coming from a Chevy guy!


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There is this spring, it clips the float in place and latches it to the needle & seat. Its a ***** to figure out if it is the first time you've done one of these carbs. Anyway, if that spring isn't clipped it'll act exactly as you described. The spring clip holds the float down at the float axle/pin end, if the spring clip is left out the float will rise along with the fuel and the needle & seat won't work.
That carb was the result of engineers from Ford and Holley sitting around a conferance table so you can bet there'll be a spring involved somewhere in a critical spot, a practical mechanic would have had a provision cast into the lid to hold the float but he wasn't invited.

 

There was not water in the carb when I took it apart and it doesn't freeze where I live

The gas tank was cleaned and has only fresh gas with no rust

I ran it with lid off, fuel height seems correct

Ive checked for vacuum leaks, none to be found

The metal float clip is installed correctly

The car is up on quite an incline, I wonder if thats causing me problems trying to tune idle.

 

Well you know what they say - 90% of carb problems are ignition related.

 

I can ***ure you that a ruptured power vale will adversely effect the idle. That will let fuel go directly unmetered into the intake manifold. Car will run fine at 1/2 throttle or more, will have a rough, smoky, idle.

Bones

 

He put a new power valve in, should be good to go there.

 

Tune the carb on level ground and hook up a vacuum gauge. Look for low vacuum or a bouncing needle.
Check ignition.
2100 is dirt-simple and hard to screw up.

 

I did screw it up

It turns out the guy who built it before me used the wrong gasket on the power valve and it was ****ing gas through the bleed hole. Funny enough the thing ran great even with the wrong gasket before, but, i guess it was so gummed up that the idle circuit wasn't doing anything but it still had enough fuel to idle through that damn power valve hole.

Oh well it runs good now