Has anyone ever rebuilt the stock fomoco 1 barrel? Problems encountered?

 

Some fellow posting down in the inline forum recently says he did and got along well. Might want to look him up down there. FWIW, I ended up swapping to a Carter YF, as it seems to be a much more universally acclained carb for efficiency and performance both. Certainly seems to run better, but the old 1101 might have been in dire need of a rebuild. If you need a kit, I have a kit for the 1101 that I would send you real cheap, as it is just sitting around. But I am not trying sell it, just mentioning it. The kits all come with instructions as well, FYI.

Have to be careful to with the 65 240 --- had a loadomatic distributer setup which is rather novel. Means you have to use an 1101 with a spark control valve, and it precludes you from ever doing the duraspark conversion. I upgraded the distributer at the same time.

We have the same engine and truck in many ways. I don't know how expereinced you are, but I have somewhat reluctantly leared WAY too much about mine in the last 18 months. So feel free to ask. Welcome to FTE

 

I have rebuilt the Carter carburettor on my 66 F100. It is a very simple carb and very easy to rebuild. Just be carefull when you open the top of the carb. Make sure that you have the carb upright if you open it. The little brass pin and tiny ball bearing is loose and will fall out and the ball bearing will disappear into a crack in the floor and you will end up on you knees with a strong magnet sifting out a gazillion little pieces of iron filings and sundry metal parts before you find it again!

The accelerator pump actuator inside the float boal may also be stuck. You must be able to move it up down without effort. I freed mine up by just lightly working it until it was smooth again.

I also found that the carburettor is very easy to tune again. There are several aftermarket replacements that you can use but why bother if it is working properly. I prefer to keep the truck as original as possible. My truck is idling like a swiss watch and I get 19.5 miles to the gallon (if I drive conservatively).

 

Marnus (love your name man -- has just the right "sound")

Your 66 would not have had a Carter originally. Should have had a 1101 as well. Just an FYI. Someone probably did the swap early on. But, as noted above, I really like what the carter swap did for me.

I havn't rebuilt my Carter -- runs great out of the reman box. But I have one off ebay that needs rebuilding -- I am going to use it as a practice carb! Great cold winter evening project on the kitchen table, wife permitting!

 

cdherman, thanks for the welcome, the insight, and the info. The truck was given to me by a nice lady who was tickled with a restoration I did on her friends truck. Seems it belonged to her dad and she has had it sitting for 15 years. Mine to have if I bring it back to life. With help from ya'll and luck I may succeed. I appreciate the info on the carb and distributor swap. I ordered a rebuild kit - will give it a try and see where it goes from there. What distributor did you swap into yours?

 

Marnus,
Thanks for the response. When I open mine upside down I'll make sure it's over a white sheet or something. Does that mean I learn well? Or not?

 

Pid --

Autolite and Carter both have some parts that will fall out if you open them up upside down. Marnus rebuilt a Carter, and was referring to loosing a ball from that carb. But same can happen with the Autolite (aka Fomoco, Motorcraft)

On the passenger side of the 1101 carb, above and to the left of the fuel inlet, there is probably a bullseye shaped valve. This is the spark control valve. Anyhow, you will get a new one with your 1101 rebuild kit. This valve regulates the vacuum that goes to the distributor. The distributor that works with autolite spark control valved carbs is called a loadomatic type.

Distributors "advance" the spark. The spark plug needs to fire a little before the piston gets to the top of the cylinder. The faster the engine is running, the more "in advance" the spark needs to be. When an engine runs faster, it USUALLY generates more vacuum, but not always. The vacuum to a distributor sucks on a vacuum advance canister, which in turn rotates a plate in the distributor. On this plate are the points. If the points move in relationship to the distributor shaft (which is of course, attached to the cam shaft via a gear, and the crank via more gears), the point in time when the "points" close and a spark is released to the spark plug can be varied.

Because the vacuum only advance method is unreliable in certain circumstances (Wide open throttle, with engine bogging down, is an example I have been given), a second method of advance was developed, based on the centrifual force moving some small weights and springs in the distributor. The combination of both vacuum and centrifuagal in one dizzy is better, for usual driving situations. Racing engines often have centrifuagal only advances.

OK, I have labored to explain this very carefully, for the following reason. The Ford loadomatic carb/distributor system is different than both of the above. It uses a combination of vacuum from the engine, but when that vacuum falls, it uses vacuum from the venturi. The flow of air through a carb, through the venturi, creates a vacuum inside the carb. This is what sucks and atomizes the fuel. Anyhow, the loadomatic dizzy has NO centrifgal advance. It saw its last years of use in the mid sixties. In fact, ONLY the 65 240 engine got it. The 300 had a conventional vacuum/centrifugal setup, and the 1101 carb for the 300 was made without the spark advance valve.

The loadomatic distributor and carb MUST be used together. Otherwise, you will screw up your advance and either have too much or too little. I would suggest you verify that you have both, or neither. The carb I have described to you. The distributor is also easily recognised. Twist on the rotor (with cap off dizzy). A meachanical advance dizzy will have a "springy: feel to it in one direction. You will be able to twist it about 20 degrees, and it will sping back when you let go. The Loadomatic dizzy will have no such springiness. It has a fixed shaft. The advance is varied only by the action of the vacuum canister on the plate/points.

OK, very long winded post. But it took me WEEKS to figure all that out, and I think I will be saving you some serious trail and error learning. If you choose to keep a carb with a spark control valve, you must keep a loadomatic dizzy as well. The only electronic upgrades for these type of dizzies are from Pertronix. Highly recomended, but I am tired of writing.

You got a great project, by the sounds of it. Keep the old 240 -- as Marnus says, it is capable of decent mileage, and its a reliable old girl. If you have not found it yet, another good forum is the "slick 60's" group over at MSN -- you can post pics for free over there. And for us 6 cylinder guys, fordsix.com is usefull too.

Keep up the questions -- I know I am nuts but I like helping out with someone working on these old trucks.

 

Thanks for the compliment on my name cdherman. You are now officially added to my buddy list ;-). From the way the carb is installed I thought it was original. When I rebuilt the engine everything else certainly was. I don't like to mess around with the originality of anything. The Carter sure works well though.

Good luck with the rebuild piddlar. It is a very gratifying experience to drive around in an old truck that you brought to life yourself, especially the first time you drive it! What a blast. My motto was "if in doubt replace". This means that all critical components are either new or reman. If you can afford it then do it. That way you have a reliable truck that is only a pleasure to own and drive.

I am taking my old girl on a safari to Mozambique during the last week of June and the first week of July. Just to show the guys in their newfangled, bells-and-whistles, difflocked, 4x4 japmobiles what it's all about!

 

Always possible that trucks in South Africa got the Carter before the rest of the world, but seems unlikely.

later.....

 

Does CD Herman still have the 1101 kit? I bought a couple of kits that had some of the parts, but neither had the right main jet needle and float needle for my carburetor. Thanks.

mbmoore

 

His profile says he’s not been on FTE in ten years.

 

I am still alive! The email that there was a post to this thread reached me and I decided to drop by. I don' think I have any 1101 parts anymore however.

 

Have you tried Mike's Carburetor Parts https://www.carburetor-parts.com/
I have seen good things posted about him for anything carb.
Dave ----

 

I have a 1065 F100 w/240 and have used this kit for the Autolite 1101 which I think was original to this truck.
https://www.carburetor-parts.com/110...build-kit-k436