Pulled from an 83 l6. I know it's a Carter, made for Motorcraft is the USA, and that it was inspected by Larry L. Is this the one I've been told has the goofy air bleeds? Is there a workaround for that? I'm not against buying a replacement carb, but if l can rebuild and use this one, I'd rather do that than take my chances on a Chinese knock-off.

 

That looks just like the one in my 81F100 with a 300 six.
I would get a kit and rebuild it and use it.

The later smog carbs before feedback ran lean to pass smog but it to the point you should look for a presmog carb.
With out a working EGR you can get pinging at part throttle.
With some tweaking of timing you can "dial it out" and still have a great running engine.

Before you get a carb kit check the throttle shaft going into the base for play- egg shape. This can cause a vacuum leak leading to other issues.
Heck if looking down the carb and it's some what clean I might just boolt it on and see how it runs before a rebuild.

BTW my carb dose not run lean, anything but lean!
I have a Air Fuel Ratio AFR installed for dialing in and it reads rich most of the time but I am still playing with the carb & timing.
Dave. ----

 

Good info there, thanks Dave.
Where would l find the part#? I'm guessing it's a Carter YF or YFA, as yet l don't know the difference. If the throttle shaft bore is good I'm thinking that a gasket set will probably be in order. But if it's still factory sealed without leaks l may do just what you said, clean it and run it as is. At any rate, it'd be helpful to know which model it is in the lineup in case l do need to crack it open.

 

Be aware i'm not a carburetor expert, but I've learned a lot from my experience.

This page shows two versions of the YF compared to a YFA. Our trucks with emissions come with the YFA, which I identify by the big hose barb on the front (for the purge valve and carbon canister hookup) and the multiple vacuum ports on the carb's side. Other than this, the YFA looks almost identical to a late YF.
The only signifier of the name "YFA" seems to be that these carbs are made with emissions in mind. YF's are stock for mid 70's Ford and Jeep applications where most vehicles had no EGR, no cats, and points ignition.

I put a late YF on my 83, because I was running a YFA and I couldn't make it stop pinging unless I disconnected the vacuum advance. With the YF there is no ping and it runs great. This truck has no EGR or smog equipment.
The difference between my particular YFA and YF could be as simple as a different main jet, but I know as a fact the YFA in general has more air bleed.
While you can adjust how much of the idle circuit feeds your engine at low throttle situations, you can't adjust the actual mixture of the idle circuit, and the YFA has a lean idle circuit because of this air bleed.

Anyways, your carb in the pictures is a YFA with electric AND thermostatic choke. The electric is an assist that helps pull-off the closed choke as soon as your alternator begins to output (i.e. once the cold engine starts), and the thermostatic line to the exhaust manifold is the main temperature control which heats the choke's spring and opens it as the engine warms up.
My YFA had both inputs and my YF is thermostatic only, which works fine.

Anyways, since you own the YFA try running it. Some people get away just fine like that. If you have ping then you might need to try something else.

I don't want to lead you astray or give you an overload of info, so keep in mind I'm still learning just as much as you are.

 

I'm in the habit of running non ethanol gas in my carbureted vehicles. A local independent station carries NE 91 and 101 octane... it's expensive, but it's available.

Do you think using a higher octane gas in a low compression motor would help with the pinging? I have my doubts. Or is there a way to obstruct the air bleeds without causing drivabillity problems?

 

Looking at the chart posted by @can0fspam makes it pretty clear that l have a YFA. I also noticed the 3 bosses on the bowl... those have been filled/blocked/epoxied on my junkyard carb. Are those just more emissions ports? The link within the link (to an expanded diagram) is no longer in service (dreaded 404 message).

 

The bosses on the bowl (with threaded holes) are for mounting emissions-related accessories. My YFA originally had a throttle dashpot mounted on a bracket on the side. There is also a WOT valve for the EGR which shuts the EGR off at wide open throttle. This is all for pre-TFI carbs, if you look at a TFI YFA it has even more accessories since those carbs are tuned by the computer and not adjustable manually.

I always run 87 octane regular gas. It's just fine. When I had all the ping problems I tried 91 in a tank and it had no effect.
Just run it and most likely you'll be fine. You might have trouble if all your emissions equipment is gone. If so you can get a YF for $60-70.