I have a 57 TBird intake (ECZ-9425-B), distributor, and have a Holley 4150 list 1273 carb lined up. I want to get all my ducks in a row before I start the project. My questions relate to things like fuel lines, vacuum lines, linkage, choke assembly, etc. What will have to be changed and what can be used that is already there? It's a 56 312, automatic of course and is presently equipped with a Holley 4000. I presently have a dry element, domed air cleaner assembly. Does this have to be changed out as well?



Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide.

JerseyJim

As far as a distributor you can purchase a rebuilt unit from your local parts supplier.Ask for one for a 64 F100 with 292 motor.This was the last year the Y was used in N.America.This has the dual advance(centrifugal and vaccuum).Your loadomatic will NOT work with the new setup.Check around for best price.They all come from the same rebuilder as far as I know.The air cleaner SHOULD be re-useable.Try it now before you get into working on the swap.You dont say what you are working on.If its passenger car the throtle linkage will work with a little modification.That carb has a ported vacuum outlet only I believe.Hook your distributor vacuum line to that port.By the way you will also need a 57-74 Ford V-8 cap and rotor if the distributor does not include them.This is a fairly straight forward change over.You should have little trouble getting it done.You might consider blocking the heat crossover passage in the intake when you reinstall the later one.Just cut a couple of pieces of tin to cover the passages in the head and install the gasket on top.Cuts unneeded heat to the carb for good weather driving.Get a 1/2 inch phenolic spacer to go under the carb.Helps isolate heat transfer from manifold to carb.Ask any other questions you have.This is a popular swap.I did mine.

  

Sorry... I gave you everything but the car. It's a Thunderbird. As mentioned, I have the major items (intake manifold, distributor, and carb) either in hand or on the way. I have a modern dry element air cleaner made to look like the original chrome oil bath. I see that the T-Bird parts houses list different numbers for the 56 and 57. I was wondering if just the lid is different or if the base is as well.

Also wondering about vacuum and fuel lines as well as linkage. Any changes to the choke heater?

JerseyJim

fyi, since it's a bird you are going to be losing your mechanical tach drive, if that's of interest to you.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

You'll need a new fuel line from the filter to the new carb. For the choke it depends on what's on your new carb. If it's set up for the heat tube you can use that (check condition of heat tube in the manifold) or you can convert to manual choke or, if your running 12v, you could go electric. The last two require conversion kits. For me, you can't beat the control of a manual choke

Richard

As mentioned above, I have a 57 T-Bird distributor. So I should be okay with the tach. The carb I am getting is a Holley list 1273. So it has an automatic choke as mine does now. Just wondered if it is any different on the 57.



In looking at the various parts catalogs, I see a carb spacer is required. A carb to spacer gasket is shown... But not a spacer to manifold. Does it use the same gasket? The Load O Matic distributor has two vacuum lines. Is the primary line the same on the 57?



Emailed Tee-Bird Products, Hill's and one other and asked if they could give me give me a parts list and quote. None of them responded. Business must be good. You would think for a $500-600 order, they could spend five minutes and help you out.

JerseyJim

ok, so you're golden on dist/tach. Call Don Hyde in Dallas at FORDCRAFT. he doesn't do computers. He knows his tbirds and the swap. Nine-72-Four23-463SIX. jsut tell him what you are up to.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

Don't condemn them based on this, unless it's been days, or weeks without a reply - then it simply becomes a poor business practice.

As a person who works on the other end in a similar business, I will tell you that email is not a vessel for immediate reply but it should be fairly swift. And, the fact is, they have no idea how much an order will be until the email is read, so don't expect the fact that you know you have a high dollar value order will result in a faster response. As far as I'm concerned, every customer is important whether they spend $0.50 or $10000 or more, so I don't put one ahead of another in that respect because another fact is that the customer who only spends $0.50 today often times is spending many thousands tomorrow, so it is not wise to blow them off in favor of another.

One thing to remember, as frustrating as it can be, is that you are not their only customer; they do have other matters at hand. It's not really an excuse but they are only human and can handle only one thing at a time.

It is an interesting time now. The survivors of the downturn may be understaffed due to the recent boom and even seasonal business but the future is uncertain enough that hiring is stalled. We aren't out of the water of this economy yet. It can still get much worse.


Lawrenceville, GA

I am a business owner and feel the same way about my customers. I actually think that the problem with many small companies like this is that while they accept the fact that a website provides a great way to reach their potential customers, they are actually not completely onboard with computers and tend to react more to the telephone rather than email.



Even though I'm the same generation, I actually prefer email these days. It gives us the customer's message in writing and it keeps it in our face, reminding us to follow up. It also give us an opportunity to research and find the answers without someone waiting on hold. If we need time to get the customer an answer, we respond back promptly to let them know that we will follow up. My problem here is no response from a couple of these for over a week.

JerseyJim

I used to get upset when emails went unanswered, until I realized how spammers have destroyed all sense of reliability the medium may have once had. Any anti-spam ISP software that is remotely useful will always lose a certain percentage of valid messages that seem to disappear forever into the ether. The alternative (aside from constantly changing email addresses) is deleting large blocks of spam automatically, so the less-than-attentive recipient will always flush a few real emails accidentally.


6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA