Is it still any good?

[nvshooter]

Pictured is how I've managed to get a two-barrel carb to fit a one-barrel intake manifold. The adapter is made by Trans-Dapt, but doesn't fit the Ford 300 inline six. It fits a middle-1960s Mustang with a 144 or 170 engine. I had to have a good bit of machining and welding done on it to get its original 2-5/8" bolt spacing to fit the 3" bolt spacing of the 300. The aluminum plate is to provide a platform whereupon the throttle bracket will be placed. The plate extends beyond the fuel bowl so as to provide an area where a set of throttle return springs can be located. There are so many notes written on the assembly because it can only go on one way. The multiple gasketed surfaces will be slathered with Indian Head, so it must go on 100% correctly the first time. Getting something backwards or upside-down will create a huge mess accompanied with a torrent of bad language. What is shown in these pictures represents over $1000 in parts, shipping, welding and machining. My time and frustration is not accounted...

 

[1971Chevelle]

This suggestion/idea is probably bit late, but wouldn't it have been easier to just install a 4 barrel intake manifold on there and use an off the shelf 4 barrel to 2 barrel adapter plate?? The 4 barrel intakes are plentiful and not very expensive. Heck, you could have used the intake and put a 500 CFM Edelbrock carburetor on it.

 

[nvshooter]

This suggestion/idea is probably bit late, but wouldn't it have been easier to just install a 4-barrel intake manifold on there and use an off the shelf 4-barrel to 2-barrel adapter plate?? The 4-barrel intakes are plentiful and not very expensive. Heck, you could have used the intake and put a 500 CFM Edelbrock carburetor on it.

I started this project two-plus years ago. I wanted the Holley 2300 because it's easily adjusted. That I was able to find the adapter is what headed me toward the way I've gone. I'm so far down the road now, there's no alternative. I have to finish it. Offenhauser makes an aluminum four-barrel intake for around $500. A Holley 4150 is another $500. I figgered I could do it for less but as anyone who's ever worked on cars knows, it never works-out that way. I may have to have an air cleaner fabricated to clear the hood. We'll have to see...

 

[nvshooter]

Getting to the point in this journey when I'll be bolting the aluminum one-barrel to two-barrel adapter onto the original cast iron intake manifold. I'm going to use two pieces of three-inch piece of all-thread 3/8" rod; going to use blue loc-tite to secure the rod in the holes. My question for all you master mechanics is which type of nut should I use. I have four, as shown below. The nuts will be completely out of reach once the carburetor is bolted to the adapter. I have to secure the adapter such that I never need to take the carburetor off the engine again. Which nuts would you use and why? I'll follow the best advice...

 

[Capn Jack]

The biggest problem I ran into refurbishing an old plumbing truck was the fuel tank. It had been empty for so long
that it had rusted inside. When I filled it, the new fuel loosened all of the rust which plugged up the fuel lines.

 

[nvshooter]

The biggest problem I ran into refurbishing when an old plumbing truck was the fuel tank.

I put a new fuel tank on my truck in 2012, I think it was. I used a steel one because the original steel tank had served from 1986 to 2012. That's 26 years. I figgered I could get as many years out of a new steel tank versus a plastic tank. Now I'm wondering if the present tank isn't full of some slop that will create a minefield of problems for me. I say this because a friend has a little Toyota that set for many years. He drained the tank and what looked like semi-liquid mud came out of it. That's all I need...

 

[1971Chevelle]

Well, at least your issues are relatively minor. I lost oil pressure in my engine yesterday, so I have to pull it. Probably going to bore it .030 and turn it into a 383 (currently it is a 377). Also going to source a different camshaft - I want to be close to 500 horsepower.

 

[nvshooter]

Also going to source a different camshaft -- I want to be close to 500 horsepower.

I had a Crane 272/284 in my 302 Ford; don't remember the lift. I sold that car in Fall 2002; I barely remember I ever owned it. A motorhead friend was totally enamored with some grind by Comp Cams in his 360 Chrysler. He had no trouble smokin' the tires in his early '70s Dart.

 

[1971Chevelle]

My current cam is 280/288, but there is a lot more to it than just duration. I am going to get a cam from a guy who knows how to create grinds that make excellent power. His cams are sometimes unconventional, but they flat out work. I will also be gaining 6 cubic inches - the 383 small block Chevy is usually an awesome engine. I would love to have a 406 or a 421, but that is a lot of money that isn't sitting around in my bank account right now.

 

[nvshooter]

My current cam is 280/288, but there is a lot more to it than just duration.

Yes, there is. The rate the ramp climbs from the base circle toward the top of the lobe, especially. Not a problem for guys with the cash to install roller lifters; I was never one of those blessed few. Just a poor White boy, stuck with a flat-tappet cam...

 

[1971Chevelle]

Yes, there is. The rate the ramp climbs from the base circle toward the top of the lobe, especially. Not a problem for guys with the cash to install roller lifters; I was never one of those blessed few. Just a poor White boy, stuck with a flat-tappet cam...

Well, my engine came to me as a full roller - roller cam and roller rockers. It always made good power and pulled hard, but something broke. I am just hoping that my crankshaft is okay - otherwise I have to shell out another $600-$700 for one of those.

 

[nvshooter]

Received today a 14" air filter element that is 2" high. Measurements that are a little bit finer than "rough" indicate the whole stack of adapter, carb, aluminum plate and air filter is going to fit under the hood-- but not by too awful much. Half an inch is as good as a mile, so let us pray it's at least that good. Next problem will be to dream-up a system to make the original throttle cable several inches longer. I'm thinking a piece of steel strapping with a throttle ball to snap into the original clip, and a few more inches to bring the end of the steel up to where the throttle ball would be on the carburetor. I'll put a bolt there because there's already a hole at that point for a throttle ball. All of this takes so much time because I have no transportation and no enclosed facility in which to do all these things.

 

[1971Chevelle]

You could get an adjustable throttle cable from Lokar. They are too expensive and you should be able to make it work.

 

[nvshooter]

You could get an adjustable throttle cable from Lokar.

I've seen the offerings by Lokar in the JEG'S and Summit catalogs; only ones listed are between twenty-four and thirty-six inches long. I really think I'm going to need one probably closer to sixty inches long; maybe longer than that. I have no idea how the gas pedal end is hooked-up; haven't bent myself into a pretzel and looked at how Ford did it. Being 61 and in terminal aches and pains every day makes that a bit difficult. I never expected I'd be in such bad shape when I was 18...

It's sunny and sixty degrees, today at 1210 PDT, where I am. Looks like a good day to mix-up some JB Weld and get the 3/8" studs that secure the carb to the intake epoxied into place. Hope to hellsinki I never have to take them out...

Considering the JB Weld: Will a lower temperature make the stuff cure-up with a cold joint between the parts being epoxied? Maybe I should use blue loc-tite?

 

[nvshooter]

Considering the JB Weld: Will a lower temperature make the stuff cure-up with a cold joint between the parts being epoxied? Maybe I should use blue loc-tite?

Looked around on the internet and found that JB works to as low as 0 degrees Farenheit. Curing time is about twice as long, but I'm not in that level of a hurry. I guess I'll do it. No turning back once those studs are slathered with JB and run into the holes...

 

[nvshooter]

No turning back once those studs are slathered with JB and run into the holes...

Just as I turned tail and ran like a little girl when it came time to swear the Oath of Service in November 1976, I instantly grew a vagina at nut-crackin' time this afternoon and used blue loc-tite on the studs. If nothing else, I can get them out if the need ever arises. It might; I may have to get an aftermarket one-barrel carb and bolt it to the existing manifold if my retrofit turns-out to be too tall to get under the hood. I saw there are stiffeners under the hood, which can most likely be air-chiseled away to gain another inch or so. Don't want to cut one side of the stiffeners away, but it may come to that...

 

[nvshooter]

Got the adapter bolted to the intake manifold, today. Once I'd let the blue loc-tite dry a bit I set the aluminum plate, spacer and carb onto the adapter. I strung a long shoelace across the fenders directly over the quarter-inch stud that secures the air cleaner. I have right around half an inch of clearance between the absolute top of the carb and the imaginary line that is my limit for height. In short, it looks like the whole thing will fit under the hood, but I had to get a 2" air filter element to do it. Now we have to figger-out the throttle cable. It looks like the OEM cable will be long enough-- which is a huge relief. I detached it from the head and held it about where it looks like it wants to be. I think it's going to work-out just fine. I took sixteen pictures, but I'm not going to post all of them. Just a few will do for now.

 

[Gabby]

If you have a gasoline siffon you can get almost all of it out that way, then add a new filter inline, so you can see if there is water. They are cheap and if you get a lot of water just replace them till it runs clean. top up with 5 or 10 gallons of fresh gas, and you will have that crossed off your list. Fire it up and go for a good warm up drive, then go home and check the gas filter once more, and replace if needed, and drain all the old oil and replace the filter and fill it back up with new oil. BTW don't forget to replace the oil drain plug, it makes a heck of a mess, and is expensive with the cost of a quart of oil these days. Don't ask how I know! LOL
Actually I've dodged that bullet, but I know the stuff is liquid gold!!
Gabby

 

[nvshooter]

If you have a gasoline syphon you can get almost all of it out that way, then add a new filter inline, so you can see if there is water.

I can't use a syphon; the filler neck takes a 90-degree turn right at the gas cap. I can't use the pump to put gas in the tank, either. Some sort of overflow baffle stops the pump at less than a quart. I have to put a long transmission funnel into the filler, then pump the gas in slowly enough to avoid overfilling the funnel. It took a few attempts to figger this out but now that I have, it's not a big problem. I just pump slowly enough to provide enough time for the gas to clear from the funnel. I never put much fuel in, anyway. I only go a few miles from my home to get to the desert. The whole truck is like something you'd see on Green Acres: The thing is tied together with baling wire and chewing gum, you have to kick the front-left tire just right in order to make the starter engage and you can't go over 35 mph against a wind lest the engine overheat. The thing is right out of Rube Goldberg, but it's mine and it does the job. I'm giving away my two wildcat rifles, so the truck may very well set for quite a while until I get a new Howa M1500 in 6.5mm Creedmoor. I just want it to run again after having set for almost four years...

 

[Gabby]

Well shoot I guess it's time to drop that tank so you can get at it properly and wash it out. and while you are at it get rid of that ninety degree bend so you can actually pump some gas in it like it was originally designed to do. Sounds like old Rube may have tied one on when he put that rig together. Maybe you should find out what band of booze he was drinking so that you can figger out how to "fix" it. LOL
One benefit of removing the tank would be that if you found it was too rusted or gunked up you wouldn't have to try to take it off with half a tank of gas and junk with it sloshing down your neck. You would have it off and could just go and find a replacement and bolt on a clean
tank!,
Thanks for correcting siphon for me my spell checker says it's spelled with an i and an h. LOL
Maybe this is actually correct. I don't have my Wagner's Dictionary in front of me and at my age I really don't give much of a hoot anymore, anyway.
I hope you get your money's worth out of it once you get her running again.
Gabby