RIP carburetor

[tampabronco]

After 46 years the carb finally gave out. Having fuel issues and instead of rebuilding it I'm going to try the Holley Sniper. I've been reading up on Holley and Fitech so I'm familiar (as I can be) of the good and bad. Wish me luck...

 

[msmith]

Good luck with it. How about a thread documenting the install and test runs?

I'll probably eventually go with the Sniper system simply because of the elevations I drive in, 700'-4000'.

 

[blubuckaroo]

I'm a carb guy. I was raised up working on carbs. I had my CA smog license in '72 when carbs were king.
I've got to tell you... the big problem with a carb is that owners don't have the patience to get them right anymore.
That said, my current project is getting an Edelbrock Pro-Flo injection system.
Bottom line though, horses and torque are the same. Drivability is the only improvement with fuel injection.
Also, if you've noticed, the FI system s with throttle body controllers are taking a licking by the remote controllers. That same heat that messed up carbs is messing up the throttle body controllers.

 

[Eoth]

Rust in Peace......... While I love the mechanical nature of carburetors, there is just no denying all the upsides to FI. My only word of wisdom is to pay close attention to your install.... These FI systems are not very forgiving. "That should do" or "close enough" wont work and you will be left unhappy with the results.
Good Luck!

 

[armynavy17]

Well whatever you do, don't trash that carb! They're becoming harder and harder to come by, I'm certain someone on here will have need in the future. Going rate is about $100 for the rebuildable core on here and ebay. I still kick myself for trading in my old 2100 as a core, it had it's problems (PO removed all choke equipment including the choke plate), but it still had good parts on it someone could have used.

No denying FI is better overall, I just like the original aspect of a carb and it gives me something to tinker on when I get bored.

 

[bmc69]

Well whatever you do, don't trash that carb! They're becoming harder and harder to come by,

Speaking as an old carb builder (even used to own a carb shop back in the 80s), it's becoming more and more difficult to find good 2100 cores due to the effects of ethanol fuel on the brass parts (embrittlement). In particular, the emulsion tubes that are pressed in to the boost venturi assy will split lengthwise and that totally screws up the fuel atomization process and leads to erratic engine operation.

I try to scavenge the boost venture assembly out of every 2100 that I come across in hopes of finding good ones.

 

[phred]

I try to scavenge the boost venture assembly out of every 2100 that I come across in hopes of finding good ones.[/QUOTE]

I love carbs. (Dying breed I’m afraid)
I feel ya Bill. I took 4 4100’s and attempted to build one good one (good core is off of a 289 hipo with the mismatched jets). As it turned out every emulsion tube in the stack was bad. It’s a beautiful piece of shop art until I scratch up some more parts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jckkys]

I've been saving booster venturis for many years most from before ethanol and I see no connection between ethanol and cracked emulsion tubes. There were just some that are under stress from the manufacturing process. I've recently found that the Holley 4010 copy of the Autolite 4100, has booster venuris with larger diameter emulsion tubes that don't crack. Additionally the newer Summit version has selectible accelerator pump nozzles and idle feed restrictions, adding to the tuneabillity. The main body of 2100/4100s has to have the emulsion tube wells drilled larger to use them. The pre-emission carbs usually have a transition circuit that's too lean for gasohol, leading to the drive-ability problem. The more tuneable Summit boosters fix that. I've learned how to enrich the transition circuit of 2100/4100s. But with the Summit parts anyone with a wide band A/F gauge can tune the booster. The other complaints about carbs are equally fixable. These Ford carbs are more insensitive to altitude changes than other carbs and running at 4000' has no noticeable negative effect. Use at 6000' and over calls for idle mixture and auto choke adjustments. I have a separate 4100 with a manual choke, different power valve, and jetting for extended stays at high altitude. Otherwise early morning start ups are super rich with the automatic choke. EBs and other classics are carbureted so I'll keep mine that way. I have/had many EFI vehicles and don't see anything special about them.

 

[bmc69]

I have/had many EFI vehicles and don't see anything special about them.

I sure have...when you wheel the extreme stuff, you do it with EFI or propane.

 

[Timmy390]

I sure have...when you wheel the extreme stuff, you do it with EFI or propane.

YUP...

While I don't wheel my Bronco I do my Samurai and EFI or Propane solves all the off angle stall issue.

My Sam has a Weber carb. So easy to tune. The choke on the other hand is a huge pain to get right......My Mach 1 has a Holley Street Avenger. It' never ran right and I've had it on/off, cleaned and rebuilt several times. If I had $1500 and the time I would go "Sniper". When a car/truck has a problem carb, it's just not fun to drive so you end up not driving it.....

Went EFI on the Bronco because it seemed to be a battle every other week getting it started when I wanted to drive it. Jelly in the carb is a real thing. Once running it ran great. With EFI, it starts every time no matter how long it's sat and runs great.....

Tim

 

[jckkys]

I'm guessing what you mean by wheeling is rock crawling, that creates a purely artificial environment to pursue a purely artificial activity. I drive on either roads or natural places where there are no roads. That's real 4 wheeling. It's a testament to how great EBs were as made that pinheads had to create an artificial obstacle course to challenge them.

 

[WheelHorse]

I'm a carb guy. I was raised up working on carbs. I had my CA smog license in '72 when carbs were king.
I've got to tell you... the big problem with a carb is that owners don't have the patience to get them right anymore.
That said, my current project is getting an Edelbrock Pro-Flo injection system.
Bottom line though, horses and torque are the same. Drivability is the only improvement with fuel injection.
Also, if you've noticed, the FI system s with throttle body controllers are taking a licking by the remote controllers. That same heat that messed up carbs is messing up the throttle body controllers.

You keep it up with these modern amenities and the next thing I know you'll be going Coyote.

 

[sprdv1]

After 46 years the carb finally gave out. Having fuel issues and instead of rebuilding it I'm going to try the Holley Sniper. I've been reading up on Holley and Fitech so I'm familiar (as I can be) of the good and bad. Wish me luck...

good luck.. nothing wrong with a simple ole cheby throttle body FI too.. works great for me

 

[Rustytruck]

Before tearing down make sure everything is in the best of tune and running as best it can. check compression, vacuum, all ignition components and fix any exhaust issues I would check exhaust temperature at each exhaust port. make it run as best as you can.
That way your not chasing any additional problems when you make the swap.