I have a 74 F100 with a 6.4 390. It has been acting up and I checked with a mechanic friend and he said to either rebuild or replace the carb. I need to know for sure what carbs will work. Do I have to just go OEM or can I get something else. Also what is a climatic choke? Is it better than an electric? The carb on it now is a two barrel. I believe it is the Ford 2100.

 

There should be a little ID tag screwed to the top of the carb. That will give the info needed to rebuild.

For replacement, a 500cfm with electric choke would be ideal. IMHO



John

 

The Holley carb should bolt onto your intake manifold and then you only have to fab your fuel line and posibly modify your throttle linkage to be certain you have Full open and closed positions. I have always found that the Holley carbs are the easiest to understand/tune/modify and they will give the best performance and economy, to me, that your right foot asks for.

 

First, is the carb a 2 barrel or a 4 barrel? Second replacement is expensive and in most cases will not enhance useful performance on a street truck. Rebuilding is cheaper. You need to find out what carb you have and get a kit for it. Instructions are included in the kit. Also get a carb cleaner dip basket setup. A bigger carb might improve top end but for a street truck it is irrelevant. Over carburetion is the biggest error made by street engine modders and builders. FYI, the 2100 is Ford's copy of the Holley 2300 2 barrel.

 

The 2100 is cheap and easy to kit out. If yours is shot, they are plentiful in junkyards.

1974 is new enough to have electric choke. If you don't have one, get one.

 

Weren't the 2100 and 2500 branded as Motorcraft but built by Holley?

 

If the tag is missing, which it probably is, there should be a four digit stamp on the base (number - letter - letter - letter). Using this you can get the part code for the carb which can tell you which rebuild kit you need, and also find out what vehicle the carb was originally on.

The "D" and "F" are constant, and just add in your stamp to the following:

D_ _ F - _ _

For example, if your carb has "4THA" stamped on the base your part number is D4TF-HA. I don't know what the last two letters represent, but the first for can be decoded with this:

The first character indicates the decade of design:

A = 1940s (often omitted)
B = 1950s
C = 1960s
D = 1970s
E = 1980s
F = 1990s

The second character indicates the last digit of year of introduction or revision. The number remains the same until the part goes through a major revision. Example: All '87-'95 <NOBR style="COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_6_0>Mustang</NOBR> (exc. Cobra) cylinder heads have the same Service Part Number prefix (E7TE) aka Casting Number. Decipher the Date Code to indicate when the part was actually made.

The third character of the prefix indicates the product the part was originally designed for:

A = Ford (generic), Galaxie
B = Bronco (1970-73), Maverick (1975-77), Fairmont (1978-83)
C = Remanufactured parts (1966-75), Elite (1975), Capri (1979-up)
D = Falcon (1960-69), Maverick (1970-74), Granada (1975-82), LTD (1983-up)
E = Truck (Cab over Engine 1970-73), Pinto (1976-80), Escort (1981-up), <NOBR style="COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_11_0>Explorer</NOBR>
F = Outside (Foreign) sales, Trans Am Racing
G = Comet (1961-67), Montego (1968-76), EXP (1982-up)
H = Holman/Moody Hi-Po Parts, Heavy-duty truck (1966-82), Medium-duty truck (1983-up)
I = N/A
J = Industrial
K = Edsel (1958-60), Tilt-Cab Trucks (1970-73), Comet (1975-77), Zephyr (1978-83), Marquis (1983-up)
L = Lincoln
M = Mercury
N = Tractor
O = Fairlane, Torino (1969-76), LTD II (1977-79), LN7 (1982-83)
P = Autolite/Motorcraft
Q = N/A
R = Rotunda Brand (Generic), Ford of Europe (1970-up)
S = Thunderbird
T = Light-duty and Medium-duty truck (1966-82), Bronco (1966-82, except 1970-73), Light-duty truck and Bronco I (1983-up)
U = Econoline/Club Wagon Van
V = Continental (1961-81)
W = Cougar (1967-up, except 1981-82), XR7 (1981-82)
X = Trucks (short highway 1970-73)
Y = Meteor (Canada 1962-72), Bobcat (1975-80), Lynx (1981-up)
Z = Mustang
1 = N/A
2 = Pinto (1972-75)
3 = Tempo (1984-up)
4 = Comet (1971-74), Monarch (1975-80), Cougar (1981-82), Marquis (1983-up)
5 = Recreational Vehicles, Continental (1982-up)
6 = Pantera (1971-75), Topaz (1984-up)
7 = Courier (1971-82), Ranger/Bronco II (1983-up), Explorer (1991-up)
8 = Ford Capri (US designed parts, 1972-75)
9 = Turbine engine parts (1970-75)

The fourth character indicates the following Ford Design Engineering/Division Offices:

A = Light Truck Engineering
B = Body and Electrical
C = Chassis
D = Overseas Products
E = Engine
F = General Parts/Electrical and Electronics
G = N/A
H = Climate Control (1972-up)
I = N/A
J = Autolite/Ford Service Parts
K = N/A
L = Industrial Engine Service Parts
M = Special Vehicle Operations, Ford Racing Performance Parts, Holman/Moody
N = Tractor Parts, Diversified Products Operations
O = N/A
P = Automatic Transmissions
Q = N/A
R = Manual Transmissions
S = Light and Heavy Truck Special Order Parts
T = Heavy Truck Engineering
U = Special Vehicles Operations
V = Vehicle Special Ordering and Engineering Section
W = Axle and Driveshaft
X = Emissions, Economy and Special Vehicle Engineering (Muscle Car Parts)
Y = Lincoln/Mercury Service Parts
Z = Ford Service Parts
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Not trying to hijak the thread, but - I'm rebuilding a '76 390 2v. I'm taking out a 360 4v and swapping the carb & manifold onto the 390. The 4 bbl is a 600 CFM and I was wondering if a 650 CFM would be better. I'm thinking about the Holley Truck Avenger, or would it be possible to "beef-up" the 600 ? The truck will see mild off-road use.

 

George, Bigger is not better when it come to carbs and FE engines. IMHO

Stick with a 500 or 600 cfm on a daily driver truck.

Going racing? That is a different aminal. LOL




John

 

Well first off no 360 ever came from Ford with a 4 barrel. So either the manifold and carb has been swapped or the engine is a different FE, 352, 390, 410 or a 428. Unless you have done porting work, added headers and
installed a better cam, stick with the 600. Even the 390GT engines only used a 600 CFM carb. Also stay away from mechanical secondaries and go with vacuum secondaries. Anything other than an all out race setup in trucks do not do well with mechanical secondaries.

 

Much Thanks for the advice on the 360-4v. Will get a new 600 CFM for the FE when I build it. I got the truck w/ a Carter 4-bbl/manifold on it...must have been a dealer-installed unit when new. Ran great till my X-son in law trashed it. The old 250 Sc will be used for Daily & farm use + campmobile ( mini-motorhome ). Will have pics during the "process".

 

A dealer would not have installed a Carter, since Ford gave those up decades ago and went to Holley and Ford's copy of Holley back in 1958.