Well, my Bronco wouldn't start again this morning, so I don't know what's up.

 

Something in my ignition died, so it'll be a few before I can report back on the 465. In the mean time, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a DUI distributor. It should be a week or so.

Figured the red wires / red cap would match the red body / red cap of my Bronco.

I was reading some write-ups from some car magazines that stated that all of their AFRs changed after they switched to it due to more complete burns. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

 

One trick I read about that works, is remove one of the lower fuel bowl screws, with a tuna can or suitable container underneath to catch the fuel.

 

That's what I've come to do. I keep a little Sucrets tin handy.



I like it because a full emptying of either fuel bowl only fills it 2/3 full, and it's small enough to fit between the valve cover and the carb.

Those George Forman grill drip trays work really well too, but they don't fit in my tool box, so I don't use them nearly as much.




Put it in place and then crack the lower bolt. Still, though, trying to keep it from dripping down the side of the carb, or from squirting out over the top of the container and hitting the valve cover is still an art I haven't mastered yet.

 

keep up the great work AB

 

Okay, finally back up and running!

So, as luck would have it, my distributor sheared a pin. Replaced my distributor (under warranty) and then my coil died!
So, my Bronco has been sitting until my DUI showed up, which was yesterday. Took two weeks to get here.
I had a fun time putting it in. Pretty straight forward. My only complaint was the length of the LiveWires I purchased from them, which were all wrong. I still got it hooked up, but it was a test of ingenuity to do so when the #1 and #2 spark plug wires were the same length, and too short to begin with...

That said, WOW. What a noticeable improvement all around.
In the 10 years I've had the bronco, the words "instant throttle response" have been something that I had no experience with. I'd always dreamed that... maybe... someday... I might know what that was like. I felt like the 40 Year Old Virgin of throttle response. Others were lucky enough, but for me it just never happened.

I imagine it's a combination of both, but I'm finally in the club.

Nice, snappy off-the-line acceleration that pulls like a banshee up to 4500 RPMs. I've been flooring it from every stop light in glee. I'm sure the newness will wear off, but in the mean time, my wallet's going to suffer. =P (Although, hopefully both the carb and the DUI contribute to some better gas mileage).


As for the carb itself, there are still a few minor issues to address:

First is that the power valve is still a little lean. It might just be the design of the carb, but it's around 13.5 - 14.0 when it opens up fully and it should be more around 12.5 - 13.5. This will be fixed when I have some adjustable restrictions installed and open it up a tad. In the mean time, it's not a big deal.

The second is that the secondaries open up too late. When I floor it, I can see the O2 sensor lean out around 3200 - 3500 RPMs and then go rich again as the sound of the secondaries roar in. A lighter spring should fix that right up.
The nice thing is, unlike the spreadbore 80555, the primaries actually run out like they should. The 80555 would supply a 11:1 AFR all the way up to 80mph and 4500 RPMs just on the primaries (secondary arm disconnected).

Other than that, the secondaries were a little lean when they did open, so since I installed an adjustable secondary metering block, I was able to open them up from a size 65 to a size 68 pair of jets, which quickly remedied that.


Around town, 35mph or so, I have a nice 15.0:1 AFR, which is great. A little richer on the open road at around 14.5, but still not bad at all. Yesterday, I got out on the interstate and cruised at 80mph for about 10 miles and it was 14.5AFR the whole way and about 8 - 9hg on the vacuum gauge. Can't complain with that! The Bronco felt effortless at that speed, which was downright awesome.


Overall, I'm really pleased. Hopefully a few more tweaks and this carb is it. I still plan on bringing it down sometime to have it fully worked over with adjustable air bleeds and idle/power valve restrictions, but I don't think I need to be in any hurry. I'd like to richen up the power valve a touch and try leaning out the cruise to around 15.5 - 16 for some more mileage.


This weekend, my wife and I are just going to get out of town for the weekend and drive to Bend Oregon, which is about 320 miles on way, so I'll have some good gas mileage reports to share.

 

The first reports are in.

So, I drove from Boise, ID to Bend, OR this weekend, which was a 320 mile drive.

The first leg of the drive is 80mph on the interstate (from Boise, ID to Ontario, OR) for about 70 miles. I normally do 65 for the sake of gas mileage, but wanted to see what it could do, so I did 75 on this stretch and then filled up when I got to Ontario. I averaged 14.8mpg. Previously, with the spreadbore Holley 80555, I did a trip at 75 and got around 13mpg, so a huge improvement.

I then maintained about 65 across Oregon for the next couple hundred miles until we pulled into Bend, and then topped off. It wasn't as stellar as I was hoping at 16mpg (was hoping for at least 17), but certainly nothing to complain about! I should also note that it was averaging high 13s, low 14s on the AFR, so there's definitely some room for leaning it out.

After this, I didn't fill up until we got back to Boise, so the last stretch was around forty miles of driving around town. I also drove around 70mph on the way back, and then for the last stretch, I wanted to see how it would do and did 80mph from Ontario to Boise. After topping off after 375 miles, it took 25 gallons for an average of 15.0mpg.

Those are certainly numbers I'll never complain about! As said, I know I can lean it out a point or so, which I'll try, but those numbers make me happy.



What makes me even happier though is how it drives. It drives like a dream. I have seriously been giddy ever since I installed the DUI and this carburetor. It doesn't bog, it doesn't hesitate, and it pulls HARD. It does everything I ask it to without effort. My wife was even singing its praises as she was driving it around.
It flies along without even trying. I was able to do 80mph on the interstate comfortably. Not to mention being able to do 80 uphill without even getting into the power valve. (Granted, these aren't the steepest hills, but still). It's luxuriously powerful.

Unlike the 80555, I love how when it gets into the powervalve, it drops down to around 13.5 - 14.0 AFR instead of 10.0. Just that little extra strength when you need it, instead of just dumping rich. I could probably richen it up a tad, but so far, it doesn't feel like it needs it.

The secondaries drop down to around 12.5 when they kick in, which is how they should be, giving it that extra strength when it needs it most.
The only odd thing that I don't know how to address is that the secondaries seem to be very sluggish to come in.
When I was climbing some of the bigger, steeper hills out in the countryside while driving across Oregon, i'd really have to mash down on the pedal to climb, which dropped my vacuum gauge down to 0hg (WOT). My AFR would slowly climb up to around 15:1 before suddenly dropping down to the 12.5 when the secondaries opened. I could see if they just didn't open until a certain vacuum reading I could put in a softer spring, but seeing as how I have it floored and have to hold it for a second or two before the AFR richens is weird. I may write Holley and ask.


Otherwise, wow. I'm very happy.

 

To get the secondaries to open quickly on a Holley you can drill a tiny bleed hole past the vacuum diaphragm check ball seat. Maybe .025 - .030".
An old hot rodders trick was to take a Philips head screwdriver, remove the check ball, use the screwdriver as a punch and strike the seat, putting four indentations in the seat to create a leak path for the check ball. But that way does not give a consistency amount of leakage and the bleed hole method is preferred if you have the tools to do it.

Another option - which we used on the Mustang GT carbs, is to isolate the primary diaphragm signal from the secondary signal, if they are joined together, using only the primary side signal.

 

For a brick going 70-80 mph..considering stock the max torque would've netted you about 45 mph...and with that gearing..

Seriously: congrats..I'm sure you'll be pleased when you get it sorted out.

 

That's awesome! I finally got my afr hooked up and man I need new jets! Idle goes to a 9.6,the best I can do, so I gotta change something.

 

Jets don't effect idle. I wouldn't run out and change the jets. Are you reporting the extreme rich reading on the gauge? It bounces around, mine at least, and you need to find the middle for a reading. I would check your mix screws and float level. Good luck.

 

My aem gauge bounces around like .3. Meaning it's 9.6 then 9.7, 9.5. Nothing more then three. My 4 corner idle screws(air bleeds I think) didn't do anything but change the driveability of the engine. Driving around with 1/4 throttle gets me 10.7 and then I need at least half throttle to get it to go past 11.5. Wot will drop it to a proper mixture or closer at least.

Spark plugs are nice and black

 

Yup, that is one rich puppy!

From the sound of it, I wonder if you have unmetered fuel leaking in from somewhere. If you can't figure it out, definitely give QuickFuel a call.

 

I'm going to try and get my fuel bowl levels a little better. The driver side sits a tad high after driving. but I don't think it's 9.5 high...

I'll give them a call anyway

 

Definitely give them a call. I'd also do some research and read posts from guys who have dealt with that issue. k