Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Late V8 (1954+)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-25-2020, 09:42 AM   #1
BorisK
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 10
Default 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

I am new to the forum and was hoping to get a little guidance. I've searched around and haven't found the information I was looking for.

I inherited a 1955 F100 about a year ago. The engine had been rebuilt and then it sat for about 10 years before the owner decided he wanted it out of the driveway. I carefully worked to get the engine running again in an effort to minimize damage to the rebuilt engine. To make a long story short the engine is running relatively well and the truck is road worthy. Even though I rebuilt the carburetor, there is enough slop in the linkages that the carburetor doesn't seem to be robust enough for how I want the engine to run. The carburetor will pop during acceleration and just doesn't work as smooth as I would like. The linkage pin that connects to the accelerator pump piston is worn and won't stay in. At this point I want to keep the truck as close to stock as possible and use it occasionally to drive around.

Here are the questions I have. I'd like to install a new carburetor that is similar to the stock carburetor. I would also like to replace the stock distributor with a distributor that is easier to adjust and doesn't have vacuum advance. I've found a couple of distributors. This is the less expensive distributor option. The company says it is a direct replacement for my distributor.

Carburetor Stamps: Ford ECG
Distributor: Ford Load-A-Matic with vacuum advance off the Carburetor
Engine EBV 9425-D (239 V8 Y-Block)

Hope that covers it. Any help you could give me would be appreciated.

Pretty sure I got an image uploaded. Original color was Aquamarine, someday it will be back to the original color.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 1955 F100 239.jpg (197.8 KB, 27 views)

Last edited by BorisK; 08-25-2020 at 09:48 AM.
BorisK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 10:06 AM   #2
darrell
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: p.e.i.
Posts: 1,060
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

newer carbs are not similar to your 55 and require a different intake.i see those dist, offered but dont know how good they are.
darrell is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 08-25-2020, 10:27 AM   #3
scicala
Senior Member
 
scicala's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Detroit suburb, MI
Posts: 3,697
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

There are reproduction carbs made by Edelbrock I believe, that will bolt to you 3 bolt manifold flange, however they don't have a spark valve like your stock carburetor to work with the original Loadomatic vacuum only distributor.
The distributor you posted online will not work as is. It has a hex drive for the oil pump drive shaft. You original distributor and oil pump have a slotted drive and shaft. You would have to change the drive shaft to the hex type and the oil pump too. Also, the drive gear had a different amount of teeth (239 engine) and would have to be swapped for your original drive gear.
Based on the price of that distributor, I would say it's in the Chinese junk category, but I have no experience with them.
Why not just make sure the diaphragm or your stock distrbutor is good and have a a known carb rebuilder like Charlie ny or myself to rebuild/repair your original carb.

That would be 100% original too. Just a thought to save money and a lot of work.

Sal
scicala is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 10:57 AM   #4
JeffB2
Senior Member
 
JeffB2's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Phoenix,AZ
Posts: 1,417
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by scicala View Post
There are reproduction carbs made by Edelbrock I believe, that will bolt to you 3 bolt manifold flange, however they don't have a spark valve like your stock carburetor to work with the original Loadomatic vacuum only distributor.
The distributor you posted online will not work as is. It has a hex drive for the oil pump drive shaft. You original distributor and oil pump have a slotted drive and shaft. You would have to change the drive shaft to the hex type and the oil pump too. Also, the drive gear had a different amount of teeth (239 engine) and would have to be swapped for your original drive gear.
Based on the price of that distributor, I would say it's in the Chinese junk category, but I have no experience with them.
Why not just make sure the diaphragm or your stock distrbutor is good and have a a known carb rebuilder like Charlie ny or myself to rebuild/repair your original carb.

That would be 100% original too. Just a thought to save money and a lot of work.

Sal
Hands down he just gave you the best advice available. The 1955 F-100 I had for about eight years had an all stock 239 it ran perfect the way it was,the big plus from back in the 80's though was that we still had USA made parts instead of offshore garbage.
JeffB2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 12:37 PM   #5
dmsfrr
Senior Member
 
dmsfrr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Abq, NM
Posts: 3,598
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffB2 View Post
Hands down he just gave you the best advice available. .....
BorisK, just FYI,
The pre '57 Loadomatic distributors advance the ignition timing based only on a low pressure vacuum signal from a year matching carburetor, 0 to 5 inches of vacuum. There is no mechanical timing advance in those distributors.

Ford updated their distributors to primarily mechanical timing advance starting in '57, and changed the vacuum function to more of a 'fine tuning' thing, using a 5 to 20 inches of vacuum signal from the redesigned newer carburetors.

Fixing what you've got will be the simplest thing to do. (at least until you're ready to change a lot more under the hood)
dmsfrr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 12:55 PM   #6
darrell
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: p.e.i.
Posts: 1,060
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
the 55 dist,cam etc is not like the 54.same as later
darrell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 01:21 PM   #7
dmsfrr
Senior Member
 
dmsfrr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Abq, NM
Posts: 3,598
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by darrell View Post
the 55 dist,cam etc is not like the 54.same as later
yes, the earlier version uses a cam gear / distributor/oil pump drive gear with 13 teeth, not 14 like the later ones.
Also the previously mentioned tang or flat/slot drive on the oil pump shaft, not the newer hex drive.
dmsfrr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 03:43 PM   #8
miker98038
Senior Member
 
miker98038's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kent, WA. Tucson, AZ
Posts: 1,373
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

I'm not sure I'm reading the 2 above posts correctly, but I heard (or read) some time back that the 55 239 used the same cam, oil pump drive, and drive gear as the 272 and up yblocks It did not use the 54 239/256 parts in that area. Pulling the distributor and counting the teeth and checking the drive (it's going to have to come out anyway for rebuild) might be worth the effort. It opens up some more possibilities for the carb and distributor. Assuming you can find a usable 57 up distributor.

Unless someone knows for sure, don't take this to the bank, I've never seen it in person.
miker98038 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 04:12 PM   #9
BorisK
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 10
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Thank you for all of your input. Looks like I need to make what I have work. I will check the number of teeth on the distributor to confirm. This is my first rehab of an old truck.

Thanks again
BorisK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 04:17 PM   #10
frank long island
Senior Member
 
frank long island's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: westbury ny
Posts: 854
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

rock auto lists a dist.for 57 272
frank long island is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 04:42 PM   #11
scicala
Senior Member
 
scicala's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Detroit suburb, MI
Posts: 3,697
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by darrell View Post
the 55 dist,cam etc is not like the 54.same as later
Yes, on cars and trucks with a 272 or 292 engine in '55 they used the later oil pump drive and gear, but I thought all 239's had the slot drive and different gear ? Maybe I'm wrong.

Sal
scicala is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 06:32 PM   #12
miker98038
Senior Member
 
miker98038's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kent, WA. Tucson, AZ
Posts: 1,373
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

When you know the count of the gear and the drive, please post it back. I'd kind of like to know which is correct.
miker98038 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 07:07 PM   #13
Daves55Sedan
Senior Member
 
Daves55Sedan's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Granite City, Illinois
Posts: 3,008
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by scicala View Post
Yes, on cars and trucks with a 272 or 292 engine in '55 they used the later oil pump drive and gear, but I thought all 239's had the slot drive and different gear ? Maybe I'm wrong.Sal
1954 was the first year for the Y-block engine (239 cu in). All the '54 car engines with a V8 had the oddball cam, slot distributor drive, smaller intake with ports closer together and heads to match. It is my understanding that the early '54 F100 trucks had this same car engine, but during the late '54 model year, they got production of the updated 239 up and running. The late '54 239 TRUCK 239 was basically a 272 block casting with 272 cam, intake and heads, but block had the 239 bore. Both the 239 car and truck engines used the same carburator in '54, a 3-hole base bug-sprayer type, Ford EBU with 1" venturi's.
This 239 Truck engine carries over into the '55 model year for trucks only, while the '55 cars used the brand new 272 Y-block.
Easiest way to figure out which engine you have is to pop the dizzy. If the drive is a hex shaft, you have the late '54, 239, in which case you should be able to use all later Y-block distributors, but you must use a later model carb and air-cleaner for a '57 and later dizzy, because these are mechnical/vacuum advance dizzy's and the old loadomatic type bugsprayer carbs will not advance the dizzy correctly without modifications to the carb.
Vacuum leaks thru the bores in the butterfly valve shaft in your existing carb can be repaired. Check with Sal Cicala for all repairs you are concerned about. If your core can't be repaired, you can find these carbs on e-bay all the time and I have a Holley 2100 (nearly identical to the Ford EBU) for sale. Direct bolt on. If you want to stay with original style bugsprayer carb, keep the loadomatic dizzy and have new bushings put in as needed.
Holley2100A.JPG
Daves55Sedan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2020, 08:13 PM   #14
paul2748
Senior Member
 
paul2748's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Midland Park, NJ
Posts: 3,965
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

55 should have the newer oil pump (hex drive) and the newer gear on the distributor



Quote:
Originally Posted by scicala View Post
There are reproduction carbs made by Edelbrock I believe, that will bolt to you 3 bolt manifold flange, however they don't have a spark valve like your stock carburetor to work with the original Loadomatic vacuum only distributor.
The distributor you posted online will not work as is. It has a hex drive for the oil pump drive shaft. You original distributor and oil pump have a slotted drive and shaft. You would have to change the drive shaft to the hex type and the oil pump too. Also, the drive gear had a different amount of teeth (239 engine) and would have to be swapped for your original drive gear.
Based on the price of that distributor, I would say it's in the Chinese junk category, but I have no experience with them.
Why not just make sure the diaphragm or your stock distrbutor is good and have a a known carb rebuilder like Charlie ny or myself to rebuild/repair your original carb.

That would be 100% original too. Just a thought to save money and a lot of work.

Sal
__________________
48 Ford Conv
56 Tbird
54 Ford Victoria
paul2748 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2020, 01:58 PM   #15
BorisK
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 10
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Pulled the distributor. 14 teeth with pictures attached. Can I use a 57 distributor with mechanical advance?

Thanks again for your help.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_20200826_133113.jpg (51.4 KB, 21 views)
BorisK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2020, 03:07 PM   #16
scicala
Senior Member
 
scicala's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Detroit suburb, MI
Posts: 3,697
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by BorisK View Post
Pulled the distributor. 14 teeth with pictures attached. Can I use a 57 distributor with mechanical advance?

Thanks again for your help.
Yes, it will work if it has the hex drive for the oil pump too, which it does look like it has. I stand corrected. '55 239's have the later hex drive and 14 tooth gears.

Sal
scicala is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2020, 04:08 PM   #17
Daves55Sedan
Senior Member
 
Daves55Sedan's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Granite City, Illinois
Posts: 3,008
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by BorisK View Post
Can I use a 57 distributor with mechanical advance?
Yes, a '57 and later Y-block distributor will be a direct bolt in without modifications, BUT you will need to modify the carburator (block off spark control valve, reconfigure vacuum from carb to dizzy, etc), OR change intake manifold and carb from a '57 or later Y-block and you will need carb linkage to go with it.
One other option is use a new chinese junk carb that fits on the 3-stud base and is allegedly made for use with mechanical advance systems. (I personally DO NOT recommend last option).
Daves55Sedan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2020, 08:03 AM   #18
BorisK
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 10
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Thanks again for all of the help. Remanufactured 57 distributor is very reasonable. Can you elaborate a little more on the process to convert the carburetor to mechanical advance? Is it as simple plugging the vacuum port to the distributor diaphragm and putting a plug in place of the spark control valve? Read a little last night, it seemed it may be a bit more complicated.

I've seen a number of new 3 bolt 2 barrel carburetors. Although you don't recommend it, it seems it might be a good solution. The only thing I'm concerned about is that all of them are rated for about 200 cfm. I've done the calculation and I think this is what is required for the 239.

(239 cubic inches)(4200 max rpm)(0.7 volumetric efficiency)/3456 = 203 cfm
BorisK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2020, 06:22 PM   #19
Daves55Sedan
Senior Member
 
Daves55Sedan's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Granite City, Illinois
Posts: 3,008
Default Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Quote:
Originally Posted by BorisK View Post
Can you elaborate a little more on the process to convert the carburetor to mechanical advance?
I was afraid you were going to ask that next. You will need to remove the spark control valve and block it off. I believe you can buy the plug with the mating threads from some places that sell piecemeal carb parts, like maybe Mikes carburator parts, and maybe look on the Holley website also. Get a new gasket for it too.
Now, this part I am NOT saying is guaranteed to be proper procedure for the ported vacuum to the distributor, but I have seen it recommended by several people on the fordsix website for the 223 conversion to mechanical advance. They say to remove the vacuum line from back of carb to distrib vac advance and plug the port in the back of the carb. Run a new line from intake manifold vac port to the distrib vac advance.
I will not endorse this method, because I don't know what they intended it to be used for nor am I aware of the performance using this method.
Hope others here can shed more light on a remedy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BorisK View Post
I've seen a number of new 3 bolt 2 barrel carburetors. Although you don't recommend it, it seems it might be a good solution. The only thing I'm concerned about is that all of them are rated for about 200 cfm. I've done the calculation and I think this is what is required for the 239.
It might be a good solution for you. I don't know what you are using your car for and how often. If it is just a trailer queen, by all means throw one on and hope for the best. I use my '55 (all original drivetrain) every day, and never hesitate to take a 200 mile trip if I want to. I have well-founded trust issues with the modern repro and semi-retro replacement stuff being offered now having been burned by poor quality and un-acceptable longevity.
Daves55Sedan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2020, 07:47 PM   #20
BorisK
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 10
Thumbs up Re: 1955 F100 239 Carb/Dist Upgrade

Thank you for the feedback. I have a path forward now. New 57 mechanical advance distributor and make the ECG carb work with mechanical advance distributor.
BorisK is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:45 AM.