Hi Guys!

I have been looking around and searching this forum for that past few weeks, and have really learned a lot!
I am in the Air Force doing my bit over here in South West Asia for a few more weeks and when I get home I am planning on putting an Ebrock 1406 600CFM electric choke carb on my '75 F250 2WD w/ 390 4V EGR (CA emissions). This truck was given to me last year by my father, and had been sitting for about two years. (he bought the truck new when I was a little kid) It is totally unmolested with the exception of an "RV" cam installed during the rebuild. Unfortunatly I don't know any more about it than that. My father was not very mechanically inclinded (but I am) so he just went with what the machine shop guys told him needed to be done. I do know he spent about 2500 bucks having it done. It was rebuilt about 10 years ago by a company called Pro Power in Northern CA that built race engines, but they were having a tough go of it, and started building engines for anybody, but it only has about 25K on it since.
Now the truck started up and ran fine during the drive from CA to Utah where I'm stationed. (If you can call 8 MPG fine) I started working on the truck this last winter to fix it up and see if I could improve the mileage. When I pulled the carb (stock Holley) off to see why the secondaries weren't opening, I found that some water had gotten into it and rusted the secondaries shut and there was some rust down under the carb in the manifold. So my plan is to either just yank the manifold off (I do have access to a chery picker) sand blast it inside and out and put it back on, or get like a Performer and save some weight and maybe pick up a few ponies at the same time. But the only manifolds I can find are for non-EGR applications. So my question is this - what are my options in replacing the intake?
Since I am currently stationed in Utah, I am required to smog the truck every year, but there is no visual test, just the "sniffer" test. But I may also one day return to CA, and the way the laws change there, it may have to have the EGR installed to pass the visual test.
I suppose I could lose the EGR if it didn't make it pollute to much to pass the Utah test, and just hang onto the stock manifold in case I ever went back to CA.
But I think I read on a couple of posts here that said the EGR models had more holes in the head than the non EGR models. Will a non-EGR intake (Performer 390) fit on my engine?
Thanks, and long live FTE!

 

Hi Dave! Short answer, there are no extra holes in the heads for EGR, the Performer will fit fine. Are you saying your truck with that unknown cam passes emissions in Utah? Do they put the vehicle on rollers? If you wait until 2005 to move to CA your truck should be exempt by then unless they change the laws again.

Barry

 

just move up north to Box Elder county, we don't have emissions testing here, on anything, not even a visual test.

 

Great, I think when I buy the carb I'll get the intake too.
I have another question though. The 1406 carb has an electric choke, and the stock Holley has an insulated metal tube that comes up (presumably from the exhaust manifold somewhere) that activates the choke. What do I do with that tube? Can I just disconnect it where ever is connected at the manifold? Do I need to plug the hole with something?
Thanks for the help

 

I wish I could move up there, its a lot nicer up there, but I live on Hill AFB in Layton.

 

no smog equipment really is needed to make them pass...........so if you just need it for the visual there's alot of things you could do.
since you have a 4 barrwl egr valve, clean it up and when smog time comes place it under the carb and dummy up a hose goin to it and it should be fine...........then again it depends on the inspector, and maybe how the engine looks. if the inspections where you moved to were really tough im sure if you painted the manifold blue and with an egr valve, it would pass......if their strict they look stuff over more if it's not stock looking, and california is bad with air filters ( they want a heat riser tube ).
i also don't know how big of gain you'll get from the performer as opposed to the stock 4bbl, so unless you want the weight savings of an aluminum manifold, your truck would be fine with the stock 4bbl and egr............but i blame no one for wanting to swap that boat anchor for an aluminum one....
you could also take a 1 inch carb spacer, get crafty and bold an egr valve to the back of it just for looks and that would work too..........lol.........be creative.........