i have a 55 customline with a freshly rebuilt 292. my question is can i put a 4 bbl carb off a 1957 312 on my motor for more power? the car is just a weekend cruiser so i dont care how much gas it burns.. mooore powwer ! thanks for any info

1955 customline

Sure you can. You will need the manifold to go with it.  You will

need to use a 57 and  up distributor, not that it won't run with the

loadamatic the 55 came with, but you would lose the vacuum advance

system of the loadamatic with your new four barrel. No matter, the

later model distributor is better with it's centrifugal advance,as well

as vacuum advance.

55f100

West Monroe,La.

thanks for the info jonnireb!  do you guys think it will make a very noticable power gain??

1955 customline

Yeah, it will be well worth your while.

55f100

West Monroe,La.

You will definately be happy with the performance increase. Have had a couple of stock 292's with 312 4 barrels back in the day. They ran much better and the carb is just the right size and is very driveable.

You can figure on at least a 20-25HP gain with the four barrel carb assuming the engine is in top notch condition and in good tune.  It will be really noticable after 3500-4000 rpms.  Under easy driving, you might actually see an increase in the fuel mileage but easy driving likely negates why you’re ultimately putting the four barrel on the engine.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I did the same swap to my father-in-law's 55 Club Sedan a couple of years ago, but I put an Edelbrock 500 cfm with manual choke on a 57+ 4 barrel manifold (292 with ECZ-G heads).

Assuming that you have the Holley/Ford 94 2 barrel carburetor right now, you will have to modify the linkage heavily, or...acquire the 4 barrel linkage pieces that Ford originally offered. The pivoting linkage on the firewall is different, as is the bellcrank attached to the manifold/carb. It is really interesting if you are running an original Fordomatic, because you have to make sure that your kickdown rod is adusted properly. I used a 56 Ford 4 barrel bellcrank for the intake manifold, and a 4 barrel firewall pivot from a 56. If you use a 57 intake bellcrank, you will have to change the clevis attachment on the top of your original kickdown rod.

The increase in performance is much more noticeable since the cfm has such a large increase. 500 cfm is no problem for all the 292's I've ever run.

Look at this link here for another thread that is sure to help you see what I mean...these "veterans" on this site can help you out quite a bit.

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic8187-3-1.aspx?Highlight=bellcrank

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

to get a good look at the type of intake manifold bellcrank you need, check out this ebay listing. I don't know the seller, and this is probably more than I would pay, but these units are out there....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1956-ford-victoria-automatic-292-kickdown-linkage-312-/110638371047?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19c28f90e7

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

If you have a manual trans you should be able to get by with a 6 cylinder throttle linkage,I picked one up to use when the 292/FMX goes in my 55 to simplify the linkage situation.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio