hey guys, so i'm crusin in my '53 ford (inline 6, 3 speed) and i smell some gas.., it's my carb leakin'... in between the glass bowl on the front and the actual carb.., so i call the local carb shop and ask to order a gasket for that leaky area. the guy asks "what's the number on the carb?" uh..., it's a 1904 holly carb. he said "no i need a list number"..., so i pop the hood, take off my oil bath and look.., there's no number on it.. he said to drive up there and show him. i'm not thinking that's a good idea, visions of me and a burning car on the side of the road enter my head so it gonna sit parked for a minute while i figure this out. so, my question to you guys.., if i dont see a "list number" on my carb, how many different ones do they make? how can i tell which one i have? i looked right where the guy said, just above the glass bowl on the carb.., it's blank. he said digital pics dont help, he needs a number or a carb, end of conversation. WTF is he talking about? thanks -john
Just like the Holley 4 barrel, theres about 30 million variations of that carb because they were used on so many different vehicles. The basic gaskets should be the same though. I'm not familiar enough with them to know what any of teh major differences are.
the list number is on the front side of the fuel inlet on a flat pad. you might have to clean it up a bit. here's the kicker though, first, you need to make sure your carb body isn't warped too bad from over tightening the bowl screws. second, the gaskets i've gotten in new carb kits for these carbs are a fairly heavy gasket material that does not compress very good, much harder than cork gaskets, i'm running some with old cork gaskets(NOS carbs) and one that i cut my own gasket out of 3/16 or so cork gasket sheet. i still have to tighten the screws tighter than i think they should be with the glass bowl, but i havent broke one so it should be okay.
Here's what ya' need, check out how many versions were used on the Ford's alone. I figure if you gave him any of those #'s it should work: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Carburetor-Kit-Holley-1904-AMC-Ford-Mercury-Truck-CK39_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33551QQihZ005QQitemZ150023472278QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V My metal bowl 1904's for Falcons read LIST# 2245 and a larger based one I believe off a 223 is LIST # 2245AS. I have two 1909's and one has a glass bowl but I don't have the LIST numbers handy for those Powerband
ray is right. . cut your own gasket . . .the ones in the kits are way to hard to work with the glass bowl. The only way I got mine to seal was with a cork gasket. The lip on the bowl WILL break if you crank it down trying to seal against a hard gasket.
Ray is right many times it is the carb that is warped so the bowl never sits right, and I agree with using cork gaskets.
Turn the carburetor so you can read the word "Holley" on the bowl. The fuel inlet is on your left. The fuel inlet screws into a "boss" that stands proud of the surrounding surface by approximate 3/8 inch. The "list" number, as well as the O.E. number, is stamped into the same side of the boss as the word Holley. It is stamped in letters/numbers approximately the height of the width of the lead in a lead pencil. You will need a pencil eraser (to clean the surface), a magnifying glass, a good light, and especially a pair of "young eyes"! Armed with the list number, you will be able to acquire the proper kit (like the 4 barrels, Holley 1 barrel gaskets have special holes in different locations). And you certainly can cut the bowl gasket from cork. In any case make absolutely certain that you clean every spec of the old gasket from both the bowl and the housing. ANY residue can cause the new gasket not to seal. DON'T USE ANY SEALER! Jon.
A word of caution if you use cork for a gasket.......the ethanol in the gas could attack the cork. Or at least I think thats what happened to mine. I made a new gasket from Felpro cork sheet...1/8" thick I think. It worked great for a while, then the truck died and wouldn't run. I pulled the bowl and found this.... In the second pic, you can see exactly where the fuel level was. The gasket dried out and fell apart, and all of the little chunks plugged up the carb. I have not found a solution yet, any ideas?
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