223 Holley Carb help
 

I have a '59 with a 223 and the original 1bbl holley carburetor. It is in bad shape, it seems the fuel bowl was screwed on too tight by the p/o and the screw fittings have bent up and cracked the case of the carb. I have determined it needs to be replaced. Two questions. Does anyone know the model number of the holley carb that came on that year/that era of trucks? I know some of the early sixties 223's had a glass bowl on the 1bbl holleys and the one i have does not. Are they interchangable/what are some good options? I would like to stay reasonably close to original if possible. Thanks.

The glass bowl version was called a "Visiflow" by Holley. The bending and ultimate cracking of the main body is a common problem with these. The glass bowl and pot metal bowls are interchangeable provided you have all the parts for the glass bowl. Your original was probably a model 1920 as that's what my '58 F100 had on it.

Here's one on Ebay, they are quite plentiful.

1950-60-70 FORD-MERCURY-RAT ROD HOLLEY 6R-931-B GLASS BOWL CARBURETOR | eBay

The Holley on my Ford is 1904. I bought one of those glass bowl carbs from EBAY. While it is really cool, I think mine was originally intended for a car. There is no spark valve and no provision for putting a spark valve in it. The spark valve was made to work in conjunction with the vacuum advance on the distributor. The shop manual indicates that the "economy" carbureters didn't have spark valves. Also the jet was smaller than the one in my other carb...just saying you might not get the right application and your truck might not not run quite like it did before. You can get LOTS of info on these carbs on an International Scout site--I think it's called Binder Planet or something similar. Personally, I'm saving for a Clifford Performance intake and exhaust setup...can't wait to get rid of the 1904 and the 90 degree intake runners. Also, check your local carb shops. Mine had a couple of 1904's laying around the shop...

Yes, you definitely have the spark valve as these engines used a Holley "Loadamatic" distributor. Very likely the one on eBay is an industrial engine carburetor, those engines got a centrifugal advance distributor. I stand corrected on the Holley model, it's been 35 years since we sold the carburetor shop and close to that since I pulled the 223 out of my '58 and stuck a 312 and OD T85 in it.