After doing a bunch of work on the trunk area in Truckstang, it was time to move on to the engine bay and get that portion done on the car. I have a 2bbl carburetor that I picked up to install on this engine. Why a 2bbl? Because I had a 2bbl intake and it was cheaper to just get a 2bbl carb for $80 online than to spend $200 for a 4bb intake and another $200+ for a generic 4bbl carb. Besides, the 2bbl will be a nice little economical arrangement for the car during these preliminary trials before we move on and start throwing more money at this car to make it even more than it already is.
I had to trace and cut out another base gasket for use with the spacer that is used for raising the carb off the intake as well as provide a vacuum port for the PCV valve. Only problem is, this spacer is of a variety that uses a slightly different base for a slightly different variant 2bbl carb, so when the carb was placed on the base, there was a small gap behind the carb base that provided an opening to the vacuum passages within the carb and spacer. This had to be blocked off to close up that air leak in the making. I ended up mixing a glob of JB tank weld epoxy and squeezed it in the small cavity, then placed the base gasket on top of the spacer, with the carb smashed on top of it. After securing the carb with the nuts and washers to the studs, the epoxy was allowed to cure, creating the plug for that opening on the spacer. Of course, that plugged up the vacuum port for the PCV valve, but there is another port right on the carb that I can use. With the carb bolted down, the next order of business was the throttle. The accelerator pedal is part of a one piece lever setup instead of a flexible cable like on newer cars. The height of the lever put the loop several inches above the plane that would be required for the carburetor throttle lever. Even a test with a piece of wire showed that the throttle lever would not pull the carb lever all the way back. I ended up having to cut the throttle lever arm down, then welded the cut off portion to the side of the remaining lever arm. This put the loop in line horizontally with the lever on the carburetor. Next I took some scrap rod that had an eye bolt welded to it. I trimmed the eyebolt and a short length of the rod, then welded a short screw to the side of the rod end. I screwed a linkage end onto the screw and snapped the clipped opening of the end onto the ball on the carb throttle lever. With everything welded up and snapped in place, the testing of the throttle showed that the pedal will pull the carburetor throttle the full swing, allowing me the ability to go wide open throttle on the setup. There were a few other little incidentals to take care of. I took a length of rubber hose that is connected to a small manifold of vacuum hoses and routed it down to the transmission. From there I took a 90 degree hose piece and plugged it to the vacuum diaphragm on the transmission. Between this hose and the length of hose coming from the intake, I installed a short piece of metal brake hose and zip tied the piece in place. With that I have the vacuum line hooked up to the transmission. I ran a wire to the electric choke, tapping into the same power line feeding the ignition system. I also found a spacer for the air cleaner, which was borrowed from Rustang (since we're working on the Lawn Mower Carb Conversion on that car). I also had to set the timing on the distributor by finding TDC (top dead center) on #1 cylinder then where the rotor pointed is where I started the plug arrangement. With the wires all plugged up to their corresponding plugs, there's only a few things left to do before I can attempt a startup. I still have to hook up the fuel sender and gauge, along with an oil pressure gauge and sender. I have to fill the radiator with coolant to verify there's no leakage, then install a PCV valve and hose to close up that little air leak. I'll have to put a T fitting on the port coming from the back of the carb so I can run a hose to the brake booster as well as the PCV valve. It won't be long before this car's finally running, and hopefully driving.
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