Carb Spacer |
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rodgy2
New Member Joined: 20-February-2011 Location: PA Status: Offline Points: 13 |
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Posted: 13-July-2011 at 8:54AM |
I've got a 75 Ranchero 460. It's got a mild cam and Hooker headers. I'm putting on a Edelbrock Performer manifold and a 750 Holley carb with vacuum secondaries and electric choke. I'm wondering if I should be running a carb spacer, how thick it should be and what material. Just looking for mid range performance.
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MarkGubinski
Senior Member Joined: 17-March-2004 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 344 |
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If you have the hood clearance a one inch spacer would work great. There is metal, wood & plastic. They all have their advantages & disadvantages. If it's just for the street, I'd go metal. No maintenance.
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72 Gran Torino Sport 557
10.12 @136 @3600lbs. 2 Time Milan Dragway Track Champion. 2012 IHRA Div. 5 No-Box Champion. 97 career wins. |
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Dan the ranchero man
Senior Member Joined: 24-July-2011 Location: Mchenry,IL Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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Metal will work fine but it transfers heat. If you find that the fuel is boiling in the carb on hot days I would use a phenolic spacer (plastic) because it stops the unwanted heat transfer to your carb.
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GranTorinoSport
Admin Group Admin of "The Org" Joined: 20-May-2003 Location: Seattle Status: Offline Points: 2287 |
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I am using the Edelbrock phenolic spacer on my pickup. That 360 generates enough heat to cause boiling fuel in the carb when it sits after being turned off. The spacer does help, but I have a ton of hood clearance in the pickup...
I believe Edelbrock makes 0.5", 1.0" and 2.0" spacers. |
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Scott Eklund
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moose0211
Senior Member Joined: 23-September-2009 Location: Baltimore Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Just curious, what kind of maintenance would a wood carb spacer need? Would look cool and stand out at car shows.
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Dan the ranchero man
Senior Member Joined: 24-July-2011 Location: Mchenry,IL Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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gas would eat anything that you would coat that wood with to make it "look cool". Plus wood by it self is very porus and you would have one hell of a time machining it straight so you could have a tight seal (no vacuum leaks) I would not use wood for that application.
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moose0211
Senior Member Joined: 23-September-2009 Location: Baltimore Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Thanks, I was thinking there would be a problem with vacuum leaks. Another question, if they're so hard to machine and maintain, why are they used? And for what application would they be good for? It seems that a phenolic spacer would be better for everyone.
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Blueoval76
Senior Member Member of the Stroker Club Joined: 20-February-2010 Location: Sussex WI Status: Offline Points: 698 |
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In my expierence you should run the tallest spacer your car allows with clearance. A good choice I found out from a local custom carb builder is to run a Super Sucker spacer. It is pricey at around $80 but is a proven 20hp. I run a Moroso phenolic one inch on mine.
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68 Galaxie Wagon 390/auto/2.70
03 Bonneville some mods |
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Dan the ranchero man
Senior Member Joined: 24-July-2011 Location: Mchenry,IL Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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Psquare75
Admin Group Member of the Stroker Club Joined: 26-November-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4591 |
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I went aluminum on my F100, a 4 hole standard type spacer, 1".
I also have a spacer/adapter on my gray Cougar to get a squarebore carb onto the OEM Ford 4v intake, which has the EGR passages. From what I can see, the aluminum does heat the carb, as it gets, well, hot! On a 90 degree day sitting in traffic, the carb is leaner than normal (normally idles around 13.5-14 :1, where as it was idling in gear around 14-15:1 with a few random blips into the 16s). No phenolic adapter exists, so I was stuck with aluminum.
I don't have a baseline for this without the spacer, so I can't tell if it'd be 'normal' or not. I read too many threads about phenolic spacers falling apart, so I wimped out and went aluminum on the F100, as well. |
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Paul
77 XR7 460/C6/3.00:1 *SOLD* 78 XR7 523/C6/3.5:1 79 F100 460/TKO500/3.25:1 'I also have some left over potatoes-I understand you can generate electricity from them'- Foote500 |
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Dan the ranchero man
Senior Member Joined: 24-July-2011 Location: Mchenry,IL Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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I am using them on both of my 460s and have NEVER had one fall apart. The one spacer has to be about 20 years old and it is a good as the day i bought it.
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GranTorinoSport
Admin Group Admin of "The Org" Joined: 20-May-2003 Location: Seattle Status: Offline Points: 2287 |
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On my pickup, the phenolic E-brock spacer has helped with the carb getting too hot and causing problems. Had it on and off the last couple of years, no problems thus far. I would assume the E-brock ones are at least decent if not better quality than some others.
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Scott Eklund
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Psquare75
Admin Group Member of the Stroker Club Joined: 26-November-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4591 |
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I equated 'phenolic' with "thermoquad" carbs, which do tend to warp and catch fire.. Am I overreacting a bit?
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Paul
77 XR7 460/C6/3.00:1 *SOLD* 78 XR7 523/C6/3.5:1 79 F100 460/TKO500/3.25:1 'I also have some left over potatoes-I understand you can generate electricity from them'- Foote500 |
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GranTorinoSport
Admin Group Admin of "The Org" Joined: 20-May-2003 Location: Seattle Status: Offline Points: 2287 |
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I don't think so, early ones I can imagine were bad. Modern E-brock ones are prob a different material, not that laminate stuff I think you refer to.
I would never re-use an old vintage one. I think the E-brock ones (assumingly other quality brands as well) would be ok in "normal" conditions. |
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Scott Eklund
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Carl
Member Joined: 21-March-2010 Location: Colorado Spring Status: Offline Points: 191 |
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There are two ways to tell what kind of carb spacer will make the best power in your application. A dyno or a dragstrip. Every engine is different, and some will like more or less spacer, open, 4-hole or taper. You just have to try them and see what works.
In theory, an open spacer will make more power when you need more plenum volume, and a 4-hole will work when you need less. An open spacer will also reduce the carb size requirements just as a single plane intake does, and visa versa. A good guide for a starting point, but that's it.
Personally, I run a plastic 1/2" open spacer on top of my Performer, mostly to insulate the carb from heat.
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woodpecker
Member Joined: 17-July-2008 Location: Waco,Georgia Status: Offline Points: 36 |
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Hey Guys,
This looks like a pretty good place to post my..... situation. I have a 429 that I would like to get running. It's pretty much stock with a DOVE 9425B intake and a 4300 carb. The carb has not been installed yet because I need a spacer. Yes, I'm sort of a don't know much about this stuff kinda guy. I know the bolt pattern has to match and what about the about the EGR passages? Any advise or pointing me in the right direction will be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff
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1972 Gran Torino Sport, fastback, bright red, 429
1924 Ford Model T, Tudor 1977 Lincoln Mark V 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix Convertible 1948 Buick Super Sedanette |
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papadeath
Senior Member Joined: 08-December-2011 Location: Eagle Rock, CA Status: Offline Points: 498 |
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Hahahahaha! I have a 75 toooo! Yay! I heard that the performer is only slightly better than stock, so I sent mine back to Jegs.com and ordered the RPM. Unfortunately, it's a lot higher than the performer, and with a spacer (I plan to add one), I most def will have to cut a hole in the hood. Oh well, was gonna' do it anyway, hehe. Didn't want the hole to be as big as my current air cleaner at 14 inches, so I reckon I'm gonna' have to dump that one. Any suggestions? Just a street car so I DO need a little filtration. |
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75 Ranchero in progress
04 Harley Deuce stage one kit 89 Toyota pickup modded 09 Scion XB (bought for the ol' lady) buy American! (sorry) skateboard 4 bicycles 1 scooter 2 dogs 2 stupid cats |
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papadeath
Senior Member Joined: 08-December-2011 Location: Eagle Rock, CA Status: Offline Points: 498 |
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I know this is an old post, but I never told you guys what happened with the spacer I used.... It was aluminum. It fit well but after getting it in it opened up a bunch of other problems, like my kick-down rod didn't line up any more and wouldn't run right either. I assume it has to be fiddled with (the carb), which is beyond the scope of my abilities.
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75 Ranchero in progress
04 Harley Deuce stage one kit 89 Toyota pickup modded 09 Scion XB (bought for the ol' lady) buy American! (sorry) skateboard 4 bicycles 1 scooter 2 dogs 2 stupid cats |
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papadeath
Senior Member Joined: 08-December-2011 Location: Eagle Rock, CA Status: Offline Points: 498 |
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I forgot... I probably should have tried harder to make it work.. Due to the amount of heat this motor kicks out, I imagine it has a lot to do with it running not as well. May look back into a spacer in the future,,, anything to help.
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75 Ranchero in progress
04 Harley Deuce stage one kit 89 Toyota pickup modded 09 Scion XB (bought for the ol' lady) buy American! (sorry) skateboard 4 bicycles 1 scooter 2 dogs 2 stupid cats |
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Robbdtme
Senior Member Joined: 06-June-2012 Location: Central WI Status: Offline Points: 765 |
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The spacer is more for RPMs than low end. I had to ad one to mine to clear the fuel rail on a Barry grand Speed Demon carb but yes it tosses the kickdown and throttle linkage out of wack.
Edited by Robbdtme - 12-August-2012 at 10:44PM |
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Psquare75
Admin Group Member of the Stroker Club Joined: 26-November-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4591 |
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It depends what kind of spacer you use.. In general a 4 hole spacer adds lower end torque while an open spacer adds top end, but your particular combo may vary.
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Paul
77 XR7 460/C6/3.00:1 *SOLD* 78 XR7 523/C6/3.5:1 79 F100 460/TKO500/3.25:1 'I also have some left over potatoes-I understand you can generate electricity from them'- Foote500 |
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