Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

No chump stumping here.

I know you saw it too.

We're it me I probably would have made a kerf with a whizz wheel in the forward flange and folded it closed.

Check for angle and done it again if need be.

MIG up the slot and Robert's your mom's sibling.

Thanks, Dane.

Jim - I think Robert's a distant friend, and certainly not an uncle. Anyway, thought about welding it up and cutting a new slot, but decided I didn't want to go that way. There were some other things I wanted to correct as well, so started over. This way I have what I wanted and a spare if someone else needs it.

I really wish I could weld aluminum. I have some good aluminum stock and could have made a much nicer piece. But this one will suffice, and if I draw it up with dimensions someone else could duplicate it fairly easily. However, I do need to check that it works with other carbs as well. I know it'll fit the back of my Street Demon, but I didn't check how it fits the Street Demon's linkage. And I need to check a Holley as well.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thanks, Dane.

Jim - I think Robert's a distant friend, and certainly not an uncle. Anyway, thought about welding it up and cutting a new slot, but decided I didn't want to go that way. There were some other things I wanted to correct as well, so started over. This way I have what I wanted and a spare if someone else needs it.

I really wish I could weld aluminum. I have some good aluminum stock and could have made a much nicer piece. But this one will suffice, and if I draw it up with dimensions someone else could duplicate it fairly easily. However, I do need to check that it works with other carbs as well. I know it'll fit the back of my Street Demon, but I didn't check how it fits the Street Demon's linkage. And I need to check a Holley as well.

Server's overloaded again! 😖

No, I meant to kick the cable in towards the ball on the throttle arm, not to move the cable over.

So instead of having offset planes (and side force on the attachment)

The cable would pull more or less straight.

[Gary Lewis]

Server's overloaded again! 😖

No, I meant to kick the cable in towards the ball on the throttle arm, not to move the cable over.

So instead of having offset planes (and side force on the attachment)

The cable would pull more or less straight.

I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification.

Yes, I wanted the pulls to be in the right plane. That linkage snaps over that ball stud pretty well, but I once had one come off on my '72 390 w/a Q-Jet due to the angle, and it did it at a very precarious point on the road. So I'm really careful anymore about throttle linkages.

I may get to work on it a bit tomorrow afternoon, after church. But I do need to mow, so.....

The angle I used has a galvanized coating on it so most of the tack welds were sooty. Given that I'll media blast all the coating off and then do the welding. And then I'll need to round up some other things that need to be powder coated and blast them as well. Maybe I can get the PC'ing done Monday and finally get the bracket installed.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification.

Yes, I wanted the pulls to be in the right plane. That linkage snaps over that ball stud pretty well, but I once had one come off on my '72 390 w/a Q-Jet due to the angle, and it did it at a very precarious point on the road. So I'm really careful anymore about throttle linkages.

I may get to work on it a bit tomorrow afternoon, after church. But I do need to mow, so.....

The angle I used has a galvanized coating on it so most of the tack welds were sooty. Given that I'll media blast all the coating off and then do the welding. And then I'll need to round up some other things that need to be powder coated and blast them as well. Maybe I can get the PC'ing done Monday and finally get the bracket installed.

I find brushing a little pool acid on the galvanizing burns it right off.

What else is an acid brush for?? 🤔

I guess if I had good air and a blast cabinet i'd use it.

"If all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail"

[Gary Lewis]

I find brushing a little pool acid on the galvanizing burns it right off.

What else is an acid brush for?? 🤔

I guess if I had good air and a blast cabinet i'd use it.

"If all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail"

And I don't have a pool, although Janey wants one, so no pool acid. And the folks across the street have a salt water pool.

Anyway, the coating came off with the wire brush on the grinder pretty easily, so the blast cabinet will probably make short work of it.

The angle is left over from the garage door installation on the shop and is very mild steel. It wasn't square so I fixed that with a small hammer and the vice. Didn't take much, but it is now square. However the bracket appears to be easily strong enough as it doesn't flex when I operate the throttle.

And speaking of (typing of?) throttle, there's a delicate balance between getting the slack out of the cable and getting full throttle. Right now I have the bracket slid back so the throttle hits the idle stop just before the slack runs out of the cable. And when I pull the cable the whole way the throttle opens fully just before the coils of the concentric spring bind on the cable. But if I give the cable more slack at idle I'll probably get coil bind before the throttle comes open fully.

I wonder if there's a different hole to put the stud in? I'll look tomorrow, but where I have it appears to work.

[85lebaront2]

And I don't have a pool, although Janey wants one, so no pool acid. And the folks across the street have a salt water pool.

Anyway, the coating came off with the wire brush on the grinder pretty easily, so the blast cabinet will probably make short work of it.

The angle is left over from the garage door installation on the shop and is very mild steel. It wasn't square so I fixed that with a small hammer and the vice. Didn't take much, but it is now square. However the bracket appears to be easily strong enough as it doesn't flex when I operate the throttle.

And speaking of (typing of?) throttle, there's a delicate balance between getting the slack out of the cable and getting full throttle. Right now I have the bracket slid back so the throttle hits the idle stop just before the slack runs out of the cable. And when I pull the cable the whole way the throttle opens fully just before the coils of the concentric spring bind on the cable. But if I give the cable more slack at idle I'll probably get coil bind before the throttle comes open fully.

I wonder if there's a different hole to put the stud in? I'll look tomorrow, but where I have it appears to work.

Measure the radial distance on the Holley and compare it to the Chevy throttle arm on the Carter, also Ford throttle sits only a little forward of vertical, a bit more than a Mopar, but no where near as far as a Chevy.

I learned a long time ago that "universal" throttle arms = Chevy.

[Gary Lewis]

Measure the radial distance on the Holley and compare it to the Chevy throttle arm on the Carter, also Ford throttle sits only a little forward of vertical, a bit more than a Mopar, but no where near as far as a Chevy.

I learned a long time ago that "universal" throttle arms = Chevy.

That's probably the difference, Bill. I'll bet the Holley has the stud closer to the shaft so less movement is required.

I need to check that as well as on the Street Demon to see that I can swap to the Street Demon after I get the engine broken in and a few MPG tests done. I want to give the carb back to Branden, and I want to try the Street Demon.

[Gary Lewis]

That's probably the difference, Bill. I'll bet the Holley has the stud closer to the shaft so less movement is required.

I need to check that as well as on the Street Demon to see that I can swap to the Street Demon after I get the engine broken in and a few MPG tests done. I want to give the carb back to Branden, and I want to try the Street Demon.

Bill is right about the placement of the ball stud on the different carbs. Here's the best that I could measure on how far from the center of the throttle shaft the stud is. The farther the stud is from the shaft the more travel required to go from idle to full throttle. The Holley is a factory carb for a 351HO, so that travel is apparently what the factory linkage is set up for.

Street Demon: 1.060"

Holley 4180C: 1.210"

Edelbrock 1406: 1.300"

There's also the position "on the clock" where the stud is at idle. And each of those carbs has the stud in very different positions. So it turns out that one bracket like I made won't work for all those different carbs. In fact, my bracket won't even fit on the Holley 'cause it hits the back of the rear float, as shown here:

Anyway, I did get the bracket blasted and then welded. Hopefully I can get it powder coated tomorrow and move on.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bill is right about the placement of the ball stud on the different carbs. Here's the best that I could measure on how far from the center of the throttle shaft the stud is. The farther the stud is from the shaft the more travel required to go from idle to full throttle. The Holley is a factory carb for a 351HO, so that travel is apparently what the factory linkage is set up for.

Street Demon: 1.060"

Holley 4180C: 1.210"

Edelbrock 1406: 1.300"

There's also the position "on the clock" where the stud is at idle. And each of those carbs has the stud in very different positions. So it turns out that one bracket like I made won't work for all those different carbs. In fact, my bracket won't even fit on the Holley 'cause it hits the back of the rear float, as shown here:

Anyway, I did get the bracket blasted and then welded. Hopefully I can get it powder coated tomorrow and move on.

But it would work fine if it had a wider flange?

Or would that put it into that boss you were talking about?

[Gary Lewis]

But it would work fine if it had a wider flange?

Or would that put it into that boss you were talking about?

Yes, and no. A wider flange would work, except with the Holley the cable needs to be moved outboard a bit - closer to where I first had it and maybe farther outboard. And I didn't check the Street Demon as there's no stud on it.

However a wider flange won't work on the Eddy 'cause the linkage won't reach the stud since the flange will run into the back of the carb. So it doesn't look like this approach is good for a "universal" bracket.

But the boss isn't a problem. The top of the carb's base is ~1/2" above the boss, so as long as you stay above that it'll be fine.