My 56 Ford takes abit of cranking to start after sitting for a day.After the first start it fires right up. So I have been looking for a fuel filter to change. Is it on the bottom of this fuel pump? I don't see a gl*** bowl. Then I was following the fuel line and found this on the far left on the floor board. Is this a primer pump for the carburetor? If not then what is it. I have been reading the manual but without pictures I am a little clueless. Thanks in advance for any help
Yep. Whenever the old bucket won't start, just pump that there lever three or four times. It'll start right up! Guaranteed. Yer windshield will be nice and clean, too. (Is it true that I'll go to hell for lying? Unh-oh...too late!)
Before you get too involved in your fuel filter hunt, I'd suspect your problem lies elsewhere. There should be enough fuel in the carburetor fuel bowl to start the car, even if it has sat for many days. Next time the car has sat for a day or two, open the hood, take the air cleaner off, pump the throttle linkage and see if you get a strong squirt of fuel into the carburetor throat. If you do, lack of fuel is not the cause of your starting problem. If you don't, look for the reason the carb is dry...it's not supposed to be...or is not giving you a strong pump squirt. I think the first place I'd be looking is at the power valve. If it's leaking it could empty the fuel bowl overnight. If the fuel bowl is dry you'd have to crank the engine until you get fuel up to the carb, which is kinda what you've discribed. There's also the possibility that the accelerator pump is faulty and isn't squirting enough fuel to give enough enrichment for easy starting when the car is cold. Good luck!
just like missysdad1 says, that lever is for your windshield washer. The metal lever operates the rubber "pump" that moves the fluid out of your bag and onto your windshield...does your still work? The first photo of your actual fuel pump, if it is the original pump, or original style, should have a gl*** bowl at the bottom of the housing, where a small filter screen sits...if the pump has been replaced, the bottom of the housing may just be flat, with no gl*** bowl. If that is the case, you probably don't have a filter on the line unless someone added a modern fuel filter underneath the car, or somewhere between the pump and carb. What kind of carburetor are you running? The teapots are known for being hard to fill on startup because their power valves (at the bottome of the main bowl) go bad and have a tendency to leak down when the engine is sitting for a spell... How long have you owned the car?
Dan,I bought the car in October. The fuel pump is flat on the bottom with no gl*** bowl and the carb is a 4bll teapot Holey 4000?. I'll have to do more crawling to find a filter. Missysdad, I did hear the carb pump when the throttle was pushed but didn't smell alot of gas with the air cleaner off. I am still laughing about the windshield washer and I believe it is missing some parts. After looking at the schematic of the carb it is probably beyond my skill level and will look into having it rebuilt somewhere. My brother in law told me about old Fords being cold hearted and take a little time to get warmed up. So I might be a little impatient. I did install a retro radio today. it looks stock and works great. I'll consider it a win and celebrate. I really have enjoyed learning to work on this car and will probably have a few more clueless questions for you all. Thanks again, Jeff
Towering inferno holleys didn't get that name because they worked so well! You might look at getting an adapter or an intake that accepts a "modern" carb, but you can keep back the holley 4100, incase you ever want to make it "original" again. Just my suggestion. Blue thunder intakes, OE 1957 ford intakes, and adapters to go from those silly carbs to good ones are all out there.
Unless you're a stickler for originality (nothing wrong with that!) I'd take CC's advice and go with a more modern carburetor. I'm a fan of the small Holley 8007 390 cfm 4bbl myself, but Carter and Edelbrock make excellent carbs as well. Not only are the modern carburetors easier to get parts for, they are also ethanol-resistant which will sidestep many of the problems with vintage parts as has been mentioned before. Adapting a modern carb can be done very cleanly...even the original air cleaner can be modified to work...with careful selection of parts. If you decide to go this way, ask for input from the guys here. Their advice can help simplify the process and save you some trips down the wrong road. Good luck!
Also, you might look into an in-line electric fuel pump. This will prevent vapor lock and all of that fun stuff, just another suggestion.
I would second missysdad's suggestion, I was having the exact same symptoms, and in my case I found that the bowl gasket was leaking, which is pretty common on the Holley 1904s like I have. The leak would drain the bowl over a few days time so the carb would be dry at start-up. You can also use your plugs as a gauge to see if maybe your power valve is stuck open, usually when this happens you'll be running pretty rich, so your gas mileage will suffer and you'll see fluffy black carbon deposits on your plugs.
you can tell by my avatar (if you squint really hard ) that I have a teapot underneath a blown McClloch VS57 292 Y block. It runs just fine, starts just fine, but if you guys think the teapot was a towering inferno before being "blown", just try putting some psi to it. Even after all of the paxton mods to carb, I have still leaks in other places. Some of it may be age I guess. I would think hard about having this type of carb as a daily driver nowadays. Today's gasoline is different, that's for sure, and there has to be a good reason why Ford only used that style for 55 and 56 (earlier teapot carbs were different). Not that they couldn't run...look at nascar racing in 55, 56, and 57. Most 57 Fords were running the 2 four barrel setup (teapot carb again) or the supercharged version (teapot carb yet again). Couldn't have been carbs all that ****py! I sold my old 55 club sedan to my father-in-law. Ran very well with an Edelbrock 1405 carburetor. The 292 would burn rubber in all 3 gears. LOTS of power even though I think Edelbrock may not have the best for power...maybe the easiest to tune? You can get that adapter plate at Speedway Motors. Bolts to the "A" teapot intake and lets you mount any late model 4 barrel carb (maybe not a quadrajet). Or you could find a "B" intake from a 57 and up Ford Y block... that is what I did on my old club sedan. If you want to sell the teapot, I would be interested...could always use some extra parts. Hey, here is a link to that teapot carb running a blown 292 just outside my garage... http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg208/danaxjessup/paxton/?action=view¤t=100_4309-1.mp4
I had the same problem with my 56 when I got it. After setting, it wouldn't start without pumping the gas (a lot). I bought a Holley carb with the adapter & put that on the 312. No problems starting after that, pump the gas once and it started right up. I still have the carb & adapter if you're interested in it. I will sell it cheap. I don't know what size it is but if someone can tell me what # to look for I can find out. the only #'s I can find are: 8007 1685 4208.
The carb you have, the-stig, is a Holley 8007 and is the carb I recommended in my earlier post. It's a 390 cfm with adjustable floats and electric choke. It's a good choice for this application, in my humble opinion. On the other hand, a lot of guys prefer the small Edelbrock for easier tuning. They're usually pretty much perfect right out of the box. The Holley often needs different jets and a different accelerator pump "ramp" to work properly. If 1956Ford doesn't want the 8007, I'd be interested if the price is reasonable. PM me.
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