Purchased a 1967 F350 with a 240 6cyl in July. Started fine on warm summer days .... it's now Nov. in western NY and getting cold. It takes many tries and many MANY pumps on the accelerator to start but it always starts..... seems like it's impossible to flood this motor. A mechanic friend believes it is not the original carb. It looks very tired to say the least.

Thought about replacing it .....Searched the internet and can't find a original replacement for the carb .....nothing

Those searches lead me here ....

Would greatly appreciate any help
1) Any ideas on the cold starts ..... its a manual choke and I learned from this site about depressing the gas before pulling choke to get it to fully engage
2) What was the original carb? Has a Holly 1 barrel now. ... but what would be a original replacement ?

I got this truck to be my daily driver around town. I am not a mechanic but have some basic knowledge. Got it from a local Volunteer Fire Dept. who had purchased it new in 1967. They drove it less than 1,000 miles a year. I am retired now and this my "Keep busy project."

Any help whatsoever is much appreciated!

My best to all who read this,
Zig

PS - full description - 1967 F350 Long bed - Flare side RWD 240 w/ 4 speed manual stick tranny.

 

Sounds like an amazing truck/project you got there Zig!
Can’t really help, other than to say check the basic tuneup stuff and go from there.
Is it still a points and condenser ignition? Might just need cleaning and adjusting to get a stronger spark to help fire it up in those cold mornings.
There are other things to check too, while you’re drilling down into possible culprits.
Such as making sure that the brown “I“ wire on the starter relay/solenoid is getting power during the start process.
But that can come after a basic tuneup check.

and speaking of the choke, are you pulling it all the way closed on these cold mornings? Or are you leaving it partially open? Partially open is the correct way.
It’s a little dance between too little and too much depending upon the temperature and “R&R Factor” (relative recalcitrance) of the motor setup.

And have fun!

Paul

 

The Holly 1940 1bbl carb is a good carb. I wouldnt replace it.
the hard starting is what goes on with my ‘67 I6. It always seems like the gas drains back out of the carburetor for some reason when it has sat overnight or not been started for some time.
Rebuilding and resetting the carb might not be a bad idea, and the previous suggestions as well.

—(the Holly 1940 was a common replacement carb for these motors)

 

Thanks Paul. I did replace the points with electronic first thing hoping it would help with the starts. It runs a lot better but still hard to start on cold mornings.

I was not aware partially open choke might be better. I did learn (from reading posts here) That to fully close the choke you need to fully depress the gas pedal before pulling out the manual choke lever. If not it only closes partially. Not how one would expect it to operate but I checked it and sure enough that's how the choke operates. I was under the impression this (fully closed) was what was better for a cold start.
Are you saying it should be better and start better with the choke partially open?
What is this "I" wire from the starter relay? How might this effect starting the motor?
Starter seems to get plenty of power as it turns the motor over many times before it finally starts. I worry about burning up the starter ....

Anyway ... thanks again ... I'll try pulling the choke back a bit and see how it starts tomorrow morning .... it's gonna be cold again tomorrow.

 

Thank you James. definitely want to do a rebuild on the carb Now if I could only find find a local shop that rebuilds carbs. Can't seem to find one here in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Thanks again! Best wishes,
Zig

 

A kit should not be a lot of money and the first step on rebuilding it.
A few cans of carb cleaner and start pulling it apart.
It cant be any harder than the Carter carb and that is easy.

As for the choke press the pedal to the floor and hold it there till you pull the choke on then you can let up.
As you said it should not be pulled on all the way. Pull all the way out and then push it in just a little.
You may also need to hold the pedal down a little when starting.
Each motor is a little different on what it takes to start when hot/ warm / cold / vary cold it just takes time to find it.
Dave ----

 

yep, it’s called a “choke“ for a reason. It literally chokes off the supply of air flowing through the carburetor. This richens the mixture with more gasoline.
A richer mixture is easier to fire off in the cold.

But you still need air, and to close the choke all the way usually means there’s not enough air for efficient combustion.
You can easily tell the magic point where the engine runs best during this cold period, by opening and closing the choke slightly.
When you close it to a certain point, the engine starts to run rough and bog down, or I suppose, choke. It’s hard to describe in words, but you’ll know it when you hear it.
As you slowly open the choke, the running engine will clear up and idle even higher as it perfects the mixture.

Carburetors with automatic chokes have a setting for this described in the set up instructions.
There’s a mechanism (usually a vacuum diaphragm) with linkage that does the opposite of the linkage that closes the choke plate. When you push the throttle pedal to “set the choke” the plate closes all the way until the first moment you start cranking the engine. Once the spinning engine develops a vacuum signal, the linkage then pulls the lever to open the choke just the right amount.
Since you have a manual choke, you have to do this yourself. But you’ll easily be able to determine that point, now that you know what to look for.
Or if not exactly what to look for, you at least know to look for it. :-)

 

Time to spray down the external linkage with some lube that penetrates.

 

Thank you Dave ....I pump the pedal like crazy just to get it to start. It like this motor is impossible to flood. Appreciate and will take your advise. I have noted that when I spray down the carb with cleaner, that the next morning it starts right up .... weird. Distributor cap/rotor/ wires/ plugs all new .....

 

Many thanks. I will give this a try. Appreciate the info.

 

PS I was wrong about the Carb .... it is a Carter AF ...... I think ......