Well I had that vapor lock problem we've talked about on here before. Well I put on an electric fuel pump and just knew that would fix it .. and it was better, maybe, but just like last year during a cruise up and down main street as soon as the heat gauge hit 190 she conked out again. Let her coast to a parking lot and sat there about 10 minutes and she fired right up .. she spit and sputtered a bit and I turned the electric fuel pump on and she ran fine but I headed out of town and the temp came below 190 (usually runs about 160). Now I'm right back where I started. I think my next move is to block off he heat risers under the manifold. I have a 1" plastic spacer under the carburetor. I may replace that with a 1/2" aluminum one... Am grabbin' straws now ... Any ideas?

Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

Did you check out the ignition? Stalling when hot and starting once allowed to cool can be a sign of a bad coil. I would suspect something electrical.

The 1" plastic spacer will do about the best job at insulating the carb from the heat. If it is a carb related heat problem, a 1/2" aluminum spacer will only make it worse. I don't think 190 degrees is hot enough to cause carb problems. It should be easy enough to check. Get a hold of an infra red thermometer and the moment it happens, open the hood and check the carburetor temperature in various places. You can do a base-line check while it's running fine. That way you can see if it is, in fact, hotter when it stalls.


Lawrenceville, GA

I have been through the exact same scenario.  Thought it was vapor lock, but it was the coil not firing when hot.

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Dang I don't know guys, it's got a brand new Mallory hi output coil on it. Last night I started it up one time and it acted like it was about to die again and I turned that electric fuel pump back on and it immediately cleared up. Right after that I was on the road coming home and it was fine from then on like it always is in cruise mode. Thanks y'all.

Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

Wait, does it have the mechanical pump, too?


Lawrenceville, GA

Yeah Charlie, it's got the old mechanical pump too, the one with the vacuum hoses that run the windshield wipers. I have wondered if it was weak but that electric pump is a 7# pump. I have heard (probably on here) that they get hot as hell. I mean I'm sure this didn't do this back in '56 and I didn't have the 2bbl on it long enough after I got it to know if it did it with it or not... The first time it ever did it was at Turkey Rod Run while cruising Atlantic Blvd. It did it again at the cruise in Cario GA. and that's where it did it the other night. I know 190 degrees is nothing but that's where it conks out at. You don't reckon it could be carb ice do you? I've thought about that too. That Holly 390 has little bitty venturi's... You ever heard of such a thing? I know it could happen in airplanes real easy but normally they ran rough before they died.

Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

I've experienced icing in the winter with a 1" aluminum spacer. In summer, and in Florida, I would not suspect that as the problem.

Let's start at the basics.

Did it seem to occur after changing anything? What have you changed in an effort to fix it?


Lawrenceville, GA

I had an old Mopar that used to vapor lock, the previous owners had tinfoil wrapped under the manifold and around the carb to shield it from this. I bought a kit and rebuilt the carb and it never happened again.

So IMHO if a carb is vaporlocking it needs to be gone through, they didn't vapor lock from the factory and I am sure there are many running the same setup as you with the same temps that are not vaporlocking. I don't know exactly which particular item I changed that fixed it, as it was 30 years ago, I just followed the kit instructions and removed all the tinfoil around the carb and it never had a problem for the next ten years I drove the car.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Well Charlie & Billy. Here's the deal. When I got the car it had the stock Holley 94 (I think) 2bbl carb on it. I got a B manifold and cleaned it all out and installed it. I ordered a 1/2" spacer from Summit but they sent me a 1" so I installed it. It is plastic. I put a brand new Holley 390 carb on it. I have the vacuum going to the distributor and that is all. It has an electric choke on it. The first time it vapor locked was at Turkey Run in Daytona Beach. I recognized what I thought was a vapor lock. Back in the '70's I had a '67 Ford pickup with an 11' slide in camper on it. When in the mountains of Colorado from time to time, under certain conditions, it would vapor lock. It acted the same as this does. I could wait awhile and things were fine. I had all steel lines, on the '56, and my son said to replace the line from the fuel pump to the carb with a rubber hose. Did that and it made no difference. On the pickup I installed an electric fuel pump and that was the end of it's vapor locking. I installed an electric pump on the '56 not long ago and I just knew that would fix it. It didn't so now I'm at my wits end. I said in my first post what I planned to do next. That's the whole story. I never had it in the configuration with the 2bbl that I had with the 4bbl so I don't know if it would have vapor locked or not ..


Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

But did it run with the 2 barrel and if so, did you ever experience it in the stock configuration? Was the installation of the 4 barrel an attempt to fix the problem?


Lawrenceville, GA