I know that this is not the original carburetor for this engine. The original had both hand throttle and manual choke. This is in a 1971 F600 with a 1964 6 ton Holmes wrecker. Need to rebuild or replace this carb. But, as usual the identification tag is missing. I wish the morons that removed those tags could be prosecuted for stupidity. But, I need to identify it so as to get the correct rebuild kit.

 

It looks like a Motorcraft carb., could be wrong
The hardest part will be to get the adjustments right, but not really that hard.

Probably still has contact points and condenser in the dist.

Sure looks like nobody messed around with it much and that can be good, too.

 

I think what this is is a Ford Square 4bbl for a 1968-69 Thunderbird. But, would like confirmation on that. It would make sense for that to used as a 1971 F600 had a FE 330cid engine. Plus I found lots of extra black silicone around the valve covers. Probably enough to do 3 more covers. So the intake was replaced. The truck has both throttle and choke levers. Would like to find a Rochester 4bbl with manual throttle and choke for trade. But, that is a long shot. Also, it started to run rough so I popped the distributor cap to check the points and found an Ignitor solid state system. But, they left the standard ignition coil. So, I've upgraded it to the Flame Thrower coil, all new cap, rotor, wires and plugs. Fortunately the very same plugs are used for either coil. Just a wider gap. It hesitates when I try to accelerate but, the accelerator pump is working. In order to operate the Holmes wrecker they turned the idle screw up. So, I still have to check the vacuum advance and set the timing. It is just not running as rough as it did.

 

When you start switching carbs, you are opening a can of worms. Right now all the linkages fit and will operate fine , but once you switch carbs , many things can go wrong and once you switch control pieces. and it doesn't work right, you wind up with double trouble.

 

That's what's wrong now. They switched the original 2bbl for this 4bbl. Plus, I'm almost 60, I've switched a few carbs in my day. It used to be easy to find a cross over carb that would fit. Plus, this carb is way oversized for this engine. If it is the T-bird carb then it's actually made for the 390-429 engine size. Not a little 330 cid. This being a truck engine is lower compression than the high performance T-bird engines which is another consideration when choosing the correct size of 4bbl to switch it to. Whomever switched it over probably didn't consider that. I can build the brackets that I'll need to put the manual choke and throttle back on.

 

I'm at somewhat of a loss here.

Are you telling us they switched the intake manifold to accommodate a larger carb? Seems like the can of worms has been opened.

 

Yep, these 330 engines were only put out with a 2 bbl carb. Which is one of the reasons they were referred to as a gutless wonder. They wouldn't die and yet they never had much power, with slow acceleration. This 330 engines are an FE block so switching it to a 4 bbl intake isn't that hard. Which they probably did so that it was easier to tow a matching size of truck. It's just too large which can create problem with gas condensation on the cylinder walls. And the hand throttle and choke doesn't work on it currently. I have treat it like an old Chevy and pump the heck out of it until my foot is tired of pumping before it'll start when cold.

 

In order to figure the correct carburetor size there is more to consider than just engine displacement. Engine rpm, valve size, heads, cam, and differential. But, a basic formula is: cid x rpm/ 3,456= cfm. My 330 cid at 3,000 rpm would need a 288 cfm. So, a 300 cfm carb should be the closest match. This T-bird carb would be well over that. If this the T-bird carb. So, far that's the only one that I've found online that looks closest to the one on the engine.

 

From what I can see in the pix,,,,,,,,,,, if the engine is not at operating temp, that choke blade should be closed.

I noticed a choke coil on the side of the carb. if the engine is cold you should be able to depress the accelerator pedal ONCE and the choke butterfly should snap shut and the high idle speed should allow you to start the engine without touching the throttle pedal. There is a choke pull off adjustment that the diaphram should pull the choke open just enough to allow the engine to run smoothly. That is where fine tuning comes in , because the general spec for choke pull off is a ball park opening and not all engines will operate smoothly cold with the same opening . Since you mentioned you have to pump the accelerator several times to get it to start ,, to me,,sounds like the choke is not closing when cold.The black circular plastic covering contains the choke coil inside and when installed properly will catch the lever to rotate the choke butterfly to the closed position. There are index marks to allow you to loosen the 3 screws holding the cover on and rotate the cover to cause the choke butterfly to go to the closed position.. On the carb housing should be marks in both directions, indicating RICH or LEAN. . A reasonable starting point is like 2-3 marks rich. If the choke pull off is adjusted properly it will open the choke , so one mark or 2 is not too critical ,it will only take a little longer to get the choke to fully open.
Hope I didn't confuse you with all the hi winded suggestions.

 

You are exactly right. If they had run an electrical wire to that choke. I would start at 3 marks to the rich side and adjust it from there once the engine was started and while still cold. Where the electric choke was never wired in, it doesn't work. The original 2bbl was a manual choke. Plus they sped the idle way up in order to run the old mechanical Holmes wrecker. Which is why I'm searching for a smaller 4bbl with manual choke and manual throttle. I know that these were made as I have not only worked with trucks that had them but, I've installed them too. They're kind of hard to find these days but, I'm a patient person and will keep looking. FYI, I was in the USAR as a mechanic. My dad was a mechanic for Kiewitt Corp. He was their trouble shooter here in the Midwest area. I joined my junior year in high school so, I was split training. Before the end of my second year and still a PFC I got my 3rd mechanic MOS. As a SP/4 I received the highest award for both wheeled vehicle mechanic and driver. I'd like to get this engine running right which to me means putting the proper sized carb with a manual choke and manual throttle. In that way it'll start and run correctly and I can manually speed the engine up some when I operate the wrecker. The way it was meant to be run.