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Not just drag races, but circle track races, especially for a street car that will indeed see corners. A lot of drag carbs are great in a straight line, but fail miserably simply negotiating a typical on ramp or 90 degree street corner at reasonable speeds. I had my carbs built by a circle trac race shop and they were always flawless.
650 cfm is about ideal for a stock 460 Ford. If this was a 289 high performance then it would be better. Edelbrock makes a good simple and reliable carberator for a daily driver so check if they have any small four barrel carbs. I see in one of my books that Ford used the small Autolite 4100, 480 cfm four barrel in the mid 60s on some regular non high performance 289s just to show what size carb Ford used.
Without the choke grounded it won't work period! The only way it will open is from engine heat which will take a half hour.The choices are simple -take it to a good mechanic(few& far between in Az) and let them repair the open circuit for the choke;additionally please do not wait as you are only doing permanent damage to the engine.The usual problem is that the original installer actually put a gasket in between the choke housing and the carb body not allowing a complet path to ground so if you are handy take the choke cover off-remove the gasket-then reinstall being careful of were to index the cover so it is not set to lean or rich.Good Luck!
The OP really needs to put his problems, his specific symptoms, into one post. I tried to find it, he says his car is "lurching". That tells me he is running lean (could be a carb/choke problem) or has a timing problem (not a carb problem).
The choke? Easy enough to diagnose - just tie it open (disengage it) and drive around. After your car has warmed up, do you still have the problem? YES - not a problem with choke - look at other carb problems and check timing, NO- that's your problem.
I am not sure about mustangs, particularly stock ones, but my old car (the vette again) no longer has the choke. Does OK even in a northern MS winter. Arizona? Do you even need the choke?
As has been reiterated by others including myself - most of the new mechanics today have never been around a carb and only know the basic principles. Find an old car-guy who knows his way around and can tune a carb - maybe at a local hot rod car club, etc. Or learn yourself. You have an old car - it WILL break down. Learning the basics will save you a ton of money.
My model A street rod has a 350 SBC with weiand tunnel ram and dual 600 holleys (single pumpers). Engine isn't anywhere close to stock though.
We struggled with idle performance (like the op) but not highway driving or higher RPM performance. We played with jets, float levels, timing, etc etc etc. It wasn't until years later when I was looking at performance charts for tunnel rams that I realized why it could be that we were having trouble idling. Without getting into detail it seems that tunnel rams are not well suited for just poking around. They look cool.....and they perform well when you're wide open.....but not so much when you're just loafing around town.
One of these days I may experiment with it and just put on a single carb manifold with a 750 and see what kind of difference it makes.
I've never had an issue with dual quad tunnel ram applications that I've run. It's all about tuning the carbs BEFORE you bolt them on, then only jetting is what you do.
The OP really needs to put his problems, his specific symptoms, into one post. I tried to find it, he says his car is "lurching". That tells me he is running lean (could be a carb/choke problem) or has a timing problem (not a carb problem).
The choke? Easy enough to diagnose - just tie it open (disengage it) and drive around. After your car has warmed up, do you still have the problem? YES - not a problem with choke - look at other carb problems and check timing, NO- that's your problem.
I am not sure about mustangs, particularly stock ones, but my old car (the vette again) no longer has the choke. Does OK even in a northern MS winter. Arizona? Do you even need the choke?
As has been reiterated by others including myself - most of the new mechanics today have never been around a carb and only know the basic principles. Find an old car-guy who knows his way around and can tune a carb - maybe at a local hot rod car club, etc. Or learn yourself. You have an old car - it WILL break down. Learning the basics will save you a ton of money.
Ok. I can try. The symptoms are the last two times I drove it it was tough to drive without it stalling. The "lurching" (not really lurching, maybe rocking is a better word) was more like it wanted to accelerate and run smooth and then would fall back. It would have trouble coming out of first (glub, glub, glub) and then getting up to speed it would feel like it wanted to start running smooth, shift and it would stutter again, and then have this rocking motion forward and back as I was driving. This was just local driving.
Just "finding somebody" is easier said than done, but I am working on tracking down people and getting opinions. Yes, it is true I don't know much at all about cars, but I am trying to learn what I can. Even the basics. Heck, we had never even driven a standard before this one. Checking timing and floats is something I would have to have somebody else do. Today I was told that the electric choke was not original to the car, but I don't see where there is any place where a manual choke lever came into the car originally. This person said I should get a Rochester 600 4bbl or lower with a manual choke.
Without the choke grounded it won't work period! The only way it will open is from engine heat which will take a half hour.The choices are simple -take it to a good mechanic(few& far between in Az) and let them repair the open circuit for the choke;additionally please do not wait as you are only doing permanent damage to the engine.The usual problem is that the original installer actually put a gasket in between the choke housing and the carb body not allowing a complet path to ground so if you are handy take the choke cover off-remove the gasket-then reinstall being careful of were to index the cover so it is not set to lean or rich.Good Luck!
I can check. I know I was told that the ground is there, but not hooked up. I'll see if I can tell if there is a gasket between the housing and body.
Ok. I can try. The symptoms are the last two times I drove it it was tough to drive without it stalling. The "lurching" (not really lurching, maybe rocking is a better word) was more like it wanted to accelerate and run smooth and then would fall back. It would have trouble coming out of first (glub, glub, glub) and then getting up to speed it would feel like it wanted to start running smooth, shift and it would stutter again, and then have this rocking motion forward and back as I was driving. This was just local driving.
Just "finding somebody" is easier said than done, but I am working on tracking down people and getting opinions. Yes, it is true I don't know much at all about cars, but I am trying to learn what I can. Even the basics. Heck, we had never even driven a standard before this one. Checking timing and floats is something I would have to have somebody else do. Today I was told that the electric choke was not original to the car, but I don't see where there is any place where a manual choke lever came into the car originally. This person said I should get a Rochester 600 4bbl or lower with a manual choke.
Thanks tgbwc - what you describe might be a rich issue as well, but then you would have fouled plugs and hard starting - so I stick to my original premise of being indicative of a lean condition or wrong timing, and you don't need a new carb to fix either.
I can offer these suggestions. This is what I did. About 6 years or so ago I woke up and said "hey I want an old muscle care to tinker around with". I didn't know anything about cars. So I bought this 80 vette (not a muscle car really, but it became one with modifications)and read, read, read...everything I could about the mechanics of old carburated cars. I joined a dedicated forum, an excellent corvette forum with literally hundreds of thousands of member, and read more. Believe me, if their is a problem, it has been discussed in those forums. And if not there are users that will help you. It's also a good source to find local owners that are willing to meet - for meets, BBQ, beer, etc. And they in turn can help you around the car.
In these 6 years I've replaced the entire suspension, replaced the brakes, rebuilt calipers, taken apart the engine down to the heads and shortblock, rebuilt the entire rear end, replaced carbs, manifolds, distributors, starters, adjusted timing, radiator and cooling line work, fuel lines, adjusted carbs, bleed brakes, adjusted valves, done compression checks, done pressure checks, set top dead center, even had my hands in the transmission for adjustment and modification work....I do know my limitations however, I outsourced a rebuild of the bottom end and the rebuild of a differential (which required some machine work and some delicate precise measurement work).
So consider becoming that "car guy" and make the proper internet and local contacts. Plenty of good mustand sites out there. It will become a hobby, will be rewarding, and will save you money.
Ok. I can try. The symptoms are the last two times I drove it it was tough to drive without it stalling. The "lurching" (not really lurching, maybe rocking is a better word) was more like it wanted to accelerate and run smooth and then would fall back. It would have trouble coming out of first (glub, glub, glub) and then getting up to speed it would feel like it wanted to start running smooth, shift and it would stutter again, and then have this rocking motion forward and back as I was driving. This was just local driving.
Just "finding somebody" is easier said than done, but I am working on tracking down people and getting opinions. Yes, it is true I don't know much at all about cars, but I am trying to learn what I can. Even the basics. Heck, we had never even driven a standard before this one. Checking timing and floats is something I would have to have somebody else do. Today I was told that the electric choke was not original to the car, but I don't see where there is any place where a manual choke lever came into the car originally. This person said I should get a Rochester 600 4bbl or lower with a manual choke.
To maybe save some confusion, is there any way you could post pictures up close of the carb currently on the car, from the front and from the choke side (passenger side)? I believe these people saying the carb is too big do not have a clue. (I have a stock bore and stroke 302 with a custom built carb, 800 main body with an 850 base, modified boosters, and on the dyno and in the 60 Falcon, out of the 5 carbs tried, it ran best with the "too much cause it's too big" 850/800 combo carb) . But with a few pictures of what you have, I could point out the various things to you so you know what is what on it.
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