Greetings everybody. I have an 83 F150 with 302, AOD and EEC-III (California).

I'm wishing to downgrade the system to DS-II and already have the DS-II distributor, ignition box and carb from a 1980 T-Bird. A couple questions:

1. Can I move the throttle linkage from my existing setup to this T-Bird carb? My current setup also has a TPS so the throttle shaft is different, I believe. I want to make sure my TV rod works without destroying my trans.

2. If I elect to install an Edelbrock Performer 289 intake manifold (which I have) for a 4bbl conversion, can I do this and keep my TV rod with an aftermarket carb such as a Holley Avenger or Summit carb (4100 style copy)?

Thank you for any help you can offer me. I appreciate it!

Troy

My '83 F150, 302, AOD - California Edition

 

Yes your linkage on the T- Bird carb should work. If the T Bird had an AOD.

Now this one is a bit more tricky, yes the TV rod can be made to work with a different a carb . Carbs you can use for this conversion 4100 Autolite, Holley and the summit unit and keep the rod.

You can go to the Lokar cable kit also, BUT the ratio is out on their kit. So I avoid them whenever possible.

 

Thank you for your reply, matthewq4b. I don't think the t-bird had an AOD as the throttle linkage is different than the one in my truck. If I use it, I was planning to swap the linkage from my truck's carb. However, I recently realized that the TPS on my truck carb may have a different throttle rod that doesn't fit the t-bird carb? I read something unfamiliar to me about compatibility with the accelerator pumps as well? The t-bird carb tag is pictured below.

If I can use my TV rod safely with a Holley or other aftermarket carb I am more inclined to do the 4 bbl route, so that's good news. I'm not sure how to do that, though since the linkages are different. I thought geometry and such was critical for the throttle and TV rod.

t-bird carb

When I do this I will plan to remove ALL the smog and EEC stuff since my state doesn't care about that stuff. I do have A/C, so is there a way to keep the vacuum operated idle control valve with an aftermarket carb and intake setup?


all stock CA 302 still plumbed



Thanks again,
Troy

 

I need to see the throttle linkage on the t bird carb to see if it was an AOD unit. I do not have the parts manuals for the '80s to pull up the application.
And yes the accel pump has an over travel on the AOD carb that is not used on non-AOD carbs.

And yes the geometry well ratio actually is critical. But you can keep the same ratio between the carb and trans just by changing the arc diameter of the levers in question. So it requires some simple fabrication to make work but it can be made to work the same as factory.

 

Thanks - leaning strongly in favor of 4 bbl conversion with Holley avenger 570 or Summit M08500VS paired with Edelbrock Performer 289. Any tips on getting the throttle and TV linkage to work would be very helpful.

 

If you want to do this in baby steps, you can swap the distributor and ignition out, take all the wires off, and keep using your computer carb till you figure out the trans linkage. You are right to ask and be careful about it, it's very important to the operation of your trans.

I did this exact swap, except it was on a Bronco II with a v6. But my carb looks exactly the same as yours. My carb was fine and gave no problems before or after the swap, and I am still running it with the dsII conversion.

The fuel solenoid in the back, just leave the wires disconnected. Same with the TPS.

That funny looking vacuum thing on the front of the carb, that is a control to control how much the accelerator pump squirts. More complication, just take the vacuum line off and leave it unhooked. It will then spray the max amount of fuel all the time.

That large line on the front of the carb that goes to that silver coil looking thing, keep that. The wire for that is not in the EEC harness. That vents the carb bowl when the ignition is off. I had a bad gas smell till I hooked this back up to the canister. You will have to scope out how your canister is purged. My system was a EECIV and was a little smarter than yours, so the computer controlled a solenoid on mine. No computer, so no purge. So I ran a very small line(one of the original plastic vacuum lines) from the canister to the little nipple on top of the PCV valve. So mine purges all the time through this little line. It seems to work ok with no ill effects to how it runs, and I got rid of the gas smell.

Your idle control. That is one thing I miss on the computer system. You can set it manually like a regular carb, but mine also helped with fast idle duties for the choke. So you will have to see how yours works out.

The choke. Mine was fully electric. It had a computer controlled relay that had apparently already gone bad years ago, and someone had re-wired it to the "S" terminal on the back of the alternator (white/black wire) Even though this is only 7 v, and the choke is 12v, it works fine like this, no problems out of it.

You are going to need a ported vacuum source for your new distributor. You can look on your carb, normally the computer controlled carbs did not have a ported vacuum port, but I found one on mine. It's hard to see, but it's right on the front driver's side corner of the carb. Mine had a hard plastic cap over it from the factory. I really had to work at it to get the cap off, but I found it was ported vacuum and I hooked my DSII vacuum advance to that, works great.

 

Was wondering how long it was going to take you to run the thread off topic.....

 

If you want to go with a aftermarket carb, the Lokar kit is really the only game in town when it comes to custom linkage for the AOD. Some of those carbs offer Ford kickdown linkage hook-up but of course that is not the same thing.

 

Here is a very interesting (and entertaining) thread that I think can answer your question.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-question.html

 

That's good info in there Lariat 85. Thank you.