Hey all my dad has a 83 F-150 with the 351W and were kinda wondering what we can do to wake it up a little. I'm thinking a 4 bbl and a nice intake will wake it up a little. What carb and intake would you guys prefer? Are there any other options i can take?

 

I like the weind stealth intake and an edelbrock performer carb myself. worked great for my truck.

 

I like the edelbrock Air-Gap rpm and a Holly 650 set up. Better than a Weiland Stelth and a edelbrock.

 

I admit I have never run an air gap manifold, but the thought of the intake runners not being heated by the engine just doesn't sound like it would work in cold weather. You could not give me one of those. If you live in a place where it's warmer, then thats another story.

Same thing with the aircleaner. I have tried running a chrome aircleaner, and in warmer weather it's fine. I cannot get a chrome aircleaner to work in winter weather, car, truck, 302, 351w, etc. They will just not run very well in cold damp weather. Keep the original aircleaner, the aircleaner vacuum lines, and the hot air pipe going to the exhaust manifold and install it with the new 4bbl carb, and you are golden. It will run like a champ no matter what the weather is outside.

 

I have to thank you, Franklin, for perpetually offering that up. My truck came with one of
those chrome things the kids like that a PO had installed. After having read your advice
on this a few times over the years, I was reminded of my first car, a 1970 Mustang, on
which I as a 16 yo kid also installed one of those chrome things. And I remember it
being a PITA to start on cold Colorado mornings after having been parked outside all
night.

I rebuilt my truck engine this past summer and put it all back together using one of those
original factory air cleaners I got from a late 70s sedan in the junkyard. I wanted the big,
blue thing cuz it reminds me of my Mustang. Still have to fine tune the hot air tube,
though; I have headers and am trying to adapt a factory air collector sheet-metal thing
(meant for manifolds) to work here, ended up pinching a spark plug wire. Gonna find
some studs and try a different route to mount the thing but I'm confident I'll get it to
work....

-chris

 

I had headers too on one of my vehicles, and I made my own little heat stove out of aluminum flashing you can get at lowes. Here's how I did it.

 

Hmmm. I was under the impression that the colder (denser) air in, the better. Would seem to run contrary to installing NOS and such.

Also, aftermarket cold air intakes go through great pains to ensure that warm under hood air is not sucked in. Maybe it's different for carbs and EFI.

 

on my truck i have an edelbrock performer intake and a performer 600cfm carb with the chrome 14" pro-flo air cleaner and i have never had a problem
also if you add a dual exhaust you will make much more power
more air=more fuel=more exhaust
hope it helps

 

My understanding is that the colder the air intake temperature, the better - that's correct.
Higher oxygen-content cold air, can be mixed with a proportionally higher amount of fuel for more power.

But to burn efficiently the fuel has to be vaporised by warming the air once it (& it's higher oxygen content) has been drawn into the carb.
Air that was already at a high ambient temp. outside the engine, would have a lower oxygen content.

The moisture content of cold air seems to help performance too

 

Do you drive your truck in the winter when it's nasty and rainy and about 32F to 45F temp outside? If you do, have you ever started the truck and let it idle for about a minute, and then it starts slowing down a little and running a little rough? Maybe you still have the heat riser in the exhaust manifold, and that is helping you out if you do not have problems. If you run headers, then you do not have a heat riser.

You have to have heat in the intake to make the engine run correctly. The engine cannot run smoothly on liquid fuel. The fuel has to stay atomized. One of the ways they keep it atomized is by having a hot spot in the bottom of the manifold. This hot spot is created by running the exhaust through the bottom of the intake. The heat riser increases this even further by blocking one exhaust manifold off, and forcing even more exhaust up through the intake. This is also the reason why the six cylinder guys have to run heater core water through a block under their carbs when they install a header, to keep heat in the manifold and the carb.

Then you also have the problem of the venturi cooling affect in the carb. Ever use a spray can for a long period and it gets cold? That's the same thing that happens inside the carb when it turns the fuel into a mist. It will cool the carb so well, that moisture in the air will actually start freezing inside the carb, and foul up the mixture and make it run rough. In some cases like my old mustang, the frost will actually make the throttle stick in position. This is what causes the rough idle and stalling right after you start the engine on a damp cold day. Usually this will go away after you finally get to were you are going and let it sit out in the parking lot for a little while. The heat from the engine will finally make it's way up and thaw out the carb. The heat pipe hooked to the original air cleaner really helps this problem go away.

Fuel injection works a lot better, since there is no fuel in the intake runners. But they still have a problem with the venturi affect at the throttle blades, so you will find most fuel injected cars and trucks will run coolant water up through the throttle body to keep it thawed out.

Of course the racers do not want any heat in their intake for the most power, but they do not have to drive their race car or truck in the pouring down snow, and they always are fiddling with their engine anyway, unlike normal people who like to get in and go without messing around waiting for the engine to heat up. Of course the manifold people will tell you the racing type manifold is exactly what you need, since they are in the business to sell manifolds.

If Ford could have left off some of this stuff and save a couple of dollars on millions of vehicles, I am sure they would have jumped on that cost savings.

 

I'm thinking this must be a carb only issue.

I do not know of anyone who has installed a cold air intake on their vehicle (EFI applications) who have had any such issues, including myself with my '05 Focus that I play with.

There is also no engine coolant circulation anywhere near the throttle body on any of my cars.

I suspect the injectors are capable of atomizing the fuel at lower temps than a carb can ideally operate, so the benefits of colder air are more easily taken advantage of by an EFI system.

 

I see the lightning trucks had coolant up there along with the efi 460's. I am not sure though, it looks like the lightning circulates coolant through the egr plate, so that may be more to keep the egr plate from overheating from the exhaust.

 

I think the whole routing coolant through the throttle body is a thing of the past. Its definitely not seen today.