Hi everyone I am Will from Belgium and a proud owner of a '55 Ford customline 223 L6 Ford-O-Matic, with vacuum wipers. I would like to have some advice on which combination of fuel pump/carburator I should place, while keeping the wipers going on vacuum. The carb has to be replaced, I can rebuild the fuel pump, but before doing that, I rather make the right choice of parts and methods. It's not intended to be a race car, just want a reliable and economic fuel system. The fuel pump now is an original AC 4207 dual vacuum pump(with gl*** bowl) The Carb is an original 1904 Holley 1BBL(the one with the gl*** bowl, which always leaks ) Greetings from Belgium W. 1955 Ford Customline L6 223, Ford-O-Matic by Will71 posted Aug 26, 2017 at 3:16 PM
If you are not going to modify the engine I would rebuild the fuel pump and carb and call it good.If after that the wipers are still acting funny go over the linkage-it needs to move VERY freely-and take the va***n wiper motor apart and fix it,you would not believe the **** I have found in some of those!Why do you feel that you need to replace the carb? Is the casting broken or what?
Dear Will, Last time I've seen your carb, one of the retaining screws of the float bowl cover was worn. No noticeable leak at that time though, so I left it as is and never completed the refurbishment. Should be an easy fix using a permacoil (avoid helicoil), or a slightly bigger, or metric, retaining screw. New gaskets, float level control and original fuel pump maintenance should make the 223 run smooth for another couple of decades. I agree with steinauge, the original Holley carb ensure fuel economy and decent performance. The vacuum wipers are reliable, as long as pipes are in good condition. The adjustable speed feature is tricky (release gas pedal to get them go faster) but performs well under any rain and traffic type. The 2CV blades used at that time were efficient, but didn't covered the whole windscreen surface and aesthetically very ugly. I should try original type ones. Nice to read you're driving the Ford in Antwerp region, as this Genk ***embled car was sold new to its first owner by Permeke. Hope this helps, Kind regards, Jean-Pierre 23/10/2003
Use the Helicoil if needed, but keep standard threaded parts all standard, and metric threaded cars all metric. Mixing the two is very bad practice.
The retaining screws for the float bowl on the Holley 1904 are often overtightened to try and solve leaks. It can lead to stripped out screw retainers or warped mounting surface for the float bowl itself. I have one in my parts pile that was done this way. If you are unable to find another Holley 1904 or repair yours you could subs***ute an Autolite 1100 which was used starting around 1962 on the 223s. It also has the spark control valve needed to work with your distributor.
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