My wife just bought a 1950 f-3 with a flathead V-8. It hasn't been driven for sometime and among other things I plan to rebuild the carburetor. My local parts distributor has a book that shows a holley carburetor rebuild kit is availible for ford trucks in that era but the carb on the truck indicates it is a ford carburetor. It appears to be a 2bbl. Is the ford imprinted carb really a holley or do I need to track down a different rebuild kit?

Thanks, Karl

 

i believe it should be a holley carb. there are some that have an 1 1/16 venturi insted of the stock 15/16. it didn't make a huge difference, but it did help my truck. tim

 

Karl,
There were about a dozen variations of that carburator built that say either Holley or Ford - Holley was supplying Ford with carbs at that time. Most of the differences are in venturi size or spray bar design, but they all fit the 2 bbl intakes.

The 1 1/16" venturi that Tim is talking about came on the mid-50 carbs - I had one on my 48 pickup that was marked ECG 6 and was used in 56 or 57. Some of these have automatic chokes and others do not.

The rebuild kits contain enough parts to rebuild any of the carbs. Be sure to use a good fuel filter before the carb as the float bowl only screens out bugs and dead birds. It's the fine sediment that will plug up a carb - ask me how I know.........



>My wife just bought a 1950 f-3 with a flathead V-8. It
>hasn't been driven for sometime and among other things I
>plan to rebuild the carburetor. My local parts distributor
>has a book that shows a holley carburetor rebuild kit is
>availible for ford trucks in that era but the carb on the
>truck indicates it is a ford carburetor. It appears to be a
>2bbl. Is the ford imprinted carb really a holley or do I
>need to track down a different rebuild kit?
>
>Thanks, Karl

 

Thank you both for the replies. I will go ahead and order the standard rebuild kit and give it a shot.

The fuel filter will be essential. The truck currently runs off a recycled one gallon lacquer thinner can that is wired to the firewall and sits on top of the oil filter. The previous owner epoxied a tube into the bottom of it to gravity feed the carb. Given this I can only imagine the condition of the fuel tank and line must be pretty atrocious.

Thanks again for the help
Karl

 

>The truck currently runs
>off a recycled one gallon lacquer thinner can that is wired
>to the firewall and sits on top of the oil filter. The
>previous owner epoxied a tube into the bottom of it to
>gravity feed the carb.


Don't you just love those temporary fixes - must be really annoying to drive beyond the mailbox with - lol


Given this I can only imagine the
>condition of the fuel tank and line must be pretty
>atrocious.


I have a pretty good idea what it looks like - I had to trash mine and was lucky to find a junkyard replacement that was like new. Go ahead and get it cleaned - there are a couple of recent articles on the 48-60 forum about this topic.

Replace ALL the lines and then still use a good filter - I like those 5/16" clear plastic ones so I can see what's happening. This is one of the most frustrating parts of keeping these old trucks running. If you have any specific troubles or questions, ask - I've had most of the problems that come with these - and have succeeded in overcoming them. (As a result, I can drain, pull my fuel tank, clean it out and reinstall it, and refill it in about an hour - that's way too much practice)

 

Tim, Fortunately the truck did come with another gas tank. I haven't given it a thorough inspection but just by glancing in the filler hole it looks to have some potential. It could be thick with rust at the bottom but time (and a flashlight) will tell. I did read several posts about cleaning gas tanks so I feel fairly well informed on tackling that one.


Thanks for the input, Karl

 

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 07-Jan-03 AT 04:41 PM (EST)]Karl: I have a 51 F-3. It is a fine specimen of Mr Ford's handiwork. They are killer bulls that have to be beaten to death in order to die. You won't regret your purchase.

As for the fuel tank, you should be able to remove the fuel guage float a see quite clearly down into the tank with a flashlight. It should be on top of the tank behind the seat, if it is installed. There should be about six flathead screws that attach the float into the tank. Also, slide under the truck where the tank is located behind the seat and look to see if you have a little brass drain valve. Follow the fuel line up into the tank, it should be at the end of the line before the tank. If you do you are lucky. You can unscrew the fuel line and even unscrew the valve which projects up into the fuel tank. You can of course drain the tank from here as well. You can replace the lines forward to the little glass fuel filter. My filter works great and I can see any sediment which collects through the glass. I suppose I could put in one of those little plastic in line filters, but I have never had problems.

My mechanic books for the 51 lists several type of carbs for the V-8.
It sounds like you have that identified though. I agree with replacement ot the fuel lines. It can't hurt. We have discussed cleaning the fuel tanks before. There were several good suggestions so before I go into them try and see if your tanks are any good. If not, come back and we have several ways to clean them. I also see from your previous post that you have researched this as well.
A new SS tank that I priced out of a outfit in Buffalo cost $500.00.
I think they sell fiberglass tanks as well. So check your tanks well, A little rust is no big deal. Scaling & flaking is a problem. A laquer varnish build up is common and can be rinsed. Let us know what you find.:-)

 

Brien, thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. I am currently on hold til some of the rainy weather is past but I will follow your suggestions on checking out the condition of the fuel tank. It sounds like you have been there and done most of it yourself already. I will give a holler if I run into more confusion as I get back into it.

thanks, karl