Advice on Carb + Intake Swap for 300 Straight Six

[tommyg]

The 4.9L/300 engine is a work horse, not a quarter horse... there are those who [me, for one!] love its unassuming work ethic. It does what it does without complaining, as long as you don't mind a leisurely pace.

Agreed. I really just didn't know what my options were. I've clearly found the right place. I have no qualms about keeping the stock setup if I can get it functioning properly. I have found very affordable rebuild kits for the YFA carb and even just buying another one isn't bad. I may need another header still, I had it off in the Fall and I tried every trick in the book to get that EGR tube out of it, couldn't get it. New ones are only about $175 and it looks like they come pre-plugged, so that could be a decent option. I really don't want to spend that much on this one portion of the truck, so I'll be trying these other suggestions first for sure.

My vision for this truck is quitting my day job, getting a trusty old hound, and just driving around the neighborhood with my dog doing handy-man work for my neighbors. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but it sounds pretty sweet to me! Not sure the Mrs. would agree....

-Tom

[1986F150Six]

The 4.9L/300 engine is a work horse, not a quarter horse... there are those who [me, for one!] love its unassuming work ethic. It does what it does without complaining, as long as you don't mind a leisurely pace.

Agreed. I really just didn't know what my options were. I've clearly found the right place. I have no qualms about keeping the stock setup if I can get it functioning properly. I have found very affordable rebuild kits for the YFA carb and even just buying another one isn't bad. I may need another header still, I had it off in the Fall and I tried every trick in the book to get that EGR tube out of it, couldn't get it. New ones are only about $175 and it looks like they come pre-plugged, so that could be a decent option. I really don't want to spend that much on this one portion of the truck, so I'll be trying these other suggestions first for sure.

My vision for this truck is quitting my day job, getting a trusty old hound, and just driving around the neighborhood with my dog doing handy-man work for my neighbors. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but it sounds pretty sweet to me! Not sure the Mrs. would agree....

-Tom

May I offer some reading material of a long journey with a similar [engine] truck...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1325963-gas-mileage-recipe-4-9l-300-a.html

[Gary Lewis]

The 4.9L/300 engine is a work horse, not a quarter horse... there are those who [me, for one!] love its unassuming work ethic. It does what it does without complaining, as long as you don't mind a leisurely pace.

Agreed. I really just didn't know what my options were. I've clearly found the right place. I have no qualms about keeping the stock setup if I can get it functioning properly. I have found very affordable rebuild kits for the YFA carb and even just buying another one isn't bad. I may need another header still, I had it off in the Fall and I tried every trick in the book to get that EGR tube out of it, couldn't get it. New ones are only about $175 and it looks like they come pre-plugged, so that could be a decent option. I really don't want to spend that much on this one portion of the truck, so I'll be trying these other suggestions first for sure.

My vision for this truck is quitting my day job, getting a trusty old hound, and just driving around the neighborhood with my dog doing handy-man work for my neighbors. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but it sounds pretty sweet to me! Not sure the Mrs. would agree....

-Tom

No prob, Tom. But thanks.

On the exhaust, if you can't get the tube out I've bent them over and crimped them tightly and it has worked. Not the best, but it worked.

[FuzzFace2]

The 4.9L/300 engine is a work horse, not a quarter horse... there are those who [me, for one!] love its unassuming work ethic. It does what it does without complaining, as long as you don't mind a leisurely pace.

Agreed. I really just didn't know what my options were. I've clearly found the right place. I have no qualms about keeping the stock setup if I can get it functioning properly. I have found very affordable rebuild kits for the YFA carb and even just buying another one isn't bad. I may need another header still, I had it off in the Fall and I tried every trick in the book to get that EGR tube out of it, couldn't get it. New ones are only about $175 and it looks like they come pre-plugged, so that could be a decent option. I really don't want to spend that much on this one portion of the truck, so I'll be trying these other suggestions first for sure.

My vision for this truck is quitting my day job, getting a trusty old hound, and just driving around the neighborhood with my dog doing handy-man work for my neighbors. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but it sounds pretty sweet to me! Not sure the Mrs. would agree....

-Tom

What we posted is guessing you don't have smog check in your area.

I would not put any time or money into that YFA carb as it is some what controlled by a computer(feed back system) and if any part of the system is bad the computer freaks out and goes into 'limp home mode".

Same goes for the dist., it is (timing) controlled by the computer and locks down if in limp mode.

Again the dist. has to be changed out if you keep the factory YF carb (non-computer) and the cheap Ebay carb you would be good there.

On the EGR tube, is there enough to cut the tube, flatten the ends and bend them over to seal it?

Then you would not need to deal with it. If you have a torch you can also heat the part the threads go into red hot the it should un-thread if the bending does not work. Heat would help on the flat / bending also.

Now if you wanted a little more power, cant say how much?, you can go with EFI exh. manifolds.

They flow a little better than the log manifold on the motor now.

But that brings some issues. The set up you have now the 2 manifold are bolted together, the exh. heats the intake up when cold. If you go with the kit is also does not have a way to heat the intake manifold.

I think someone posted the Clifford kit came with a plate to pipe hot water to heat the intake.

You can find this plate on Ebay also, that is where I got mine and I use EFI exh. manifolds.

Heating the intake floor helps keep the air / fuel mixed. If to cool the fuel drops out of the air and pools on the intake floor and drips into the cyl.

What may be more important than heating the intake floor is running hot air to the factory air filter assy.

This hot air helps keep the carb from icing when it is cool and damp out.

With the EFI manifolds this is hard to do because there is no tins that the factory had on them to hook the hose to for the heat to get from them to the filter.

I do run the factory air filter but no hose so it gets what ever heat it can.

I live in NC and drive my truck all year round, not everyday, so it can be 20*f when I take the truck to work in the morning and 60*'s on the way home. I have only had it stumble 2 times in the 5+K miles I have on the truck that might have been icing of the carb, other wise it been good.

AC not hooked up yet in this picture but you can see it looks factory stock other than no smog stuff.

This is what it looked like when I bought the truck.

Dave ----

[tommyg]

This is what it looked like when I bought the truck.

That's exactly what mine looked like. Where does one get lucky enough to find a factory style filter housing like that? I feel like I've looked everywhere and haven't had any luck. I can't stand that stupid little bolt-on that seems to be the only alternative for the 1bbl carbs. The most common answer is 'junkyards' but there really aren't any within striking distance of RI. It's all suburbia here, not enough space for junkyards.

What we posted is guessing you don't have smog check in your area.

I would not put any time or money into that YFA carb as it is some what controlled by a computer(feed back system) and if any part of the system is bad the computer freaks out and goes into 'limp home mode".

Same goes for the dist., it is (timing) controlled by the computer and locks down if in limp mode.

Again the dist. has to be changed out if you keep the factory YF carb (non-computer) and the cheap Ebay carb you would be good there.

So If I drop in an HEI distributor as suggested, then I can continue to use the YF carb that I have?

I'm not worried about smog here. You don't need an inspection to ride with antique plates here if it's only used for "leisure activities" according to the DMV. My neighbor has a 60s Impala with antiques on it and he said there's no enforcement on how much you drive with that type of registration.

 

[FuzzFace2]

This is what it looked like when I bought the truck.

That's exactly what mine looked like. Where does one get lucky enough to find a factory style filter housing like that? I feel like I've looked everywhere and haven't had any luck. I can't stand that stupid little bolt-on that seems to be the only alternative for the 1bbl carbs. The most common answer is 'junkyards' but there really aren't any within striking distance of RI. It's all suburbia here, not enough space for junkyards.

What we posted is guessing you don't have smog check in your area.

I would not put any time or money into that YFA carb as it is some what controlled by a computer(feed back system) and if any part of the system is bad the computer freaks out and goes into 'limp home mode".

Same goes for the dist., it is (timing) controlled by the computer and locks down if in limp mode.

Again the dist. has to be changed out if you keep the factory YF carb (non-computer) and the cheap Ebay carb you would be good there.

So If I drop in an HEI distributor as suggested, then I can continue to use the YF carb that I have?

I'm not worried about smog here. You don't need an inspection to ride with antique plates here if it's only used for "leisure activities" according to the DMV. My neighbor has a 60s Impala with antiques on it and he said there's no enforcement on how much you drive with that type of registration.

On the air filter I am a member on another truck forum that has a "for sale" area and someone was parting out 70's trucks and IIRC they use the same filter housings, that where I got mine from.

Now note the later 80's 300 six motors used a "normal looking" filter housing that would work also.

I think we have a WTB (want to buy) area can ask in there.

The other is Ebay and Craig's list.

On the list you may get lucky and find someone parting out a truck.

Oh I hear you on the junk yards as I lived in CT, 10 miles from the NY line on I95, up to 6 years ago and the yards scrapped anything older than 10 years.

Dave ----

[tommyg]

This is what it looked like when I bought the truck.

That's exactly what mine looked like. Where does one get lucky enough to find a factory style filter housing like that? I feel like I've looked everywhere and haven't had any luck. I can't stand that stupid little bolt-on that seems to be the only alternative for the 1bbl carbs. The most common answer is 'junkyards' but there really aren't any within striking distance of RI. It's all suburbia here, not enough space for junkyards.

What we posted is guessing you don't have smog check in your area.

I would not put any time or money into that YFA carb as it is some what controlled by a computer(feed back system) and if any part of the system is bad the computer freaks out and goes into 'limp home mode".

Same goes for the dist., it is (timing) controlled by the computer and locks down if in limp mode.

Again the dist. has to be changed out if you keep the factory YF carb (non-computer) and the cheap Ebay carb you would be good there.

So If I drop in an HEI distributor as suggested, then I can continue to use the YF carb that I have?

I'm not worried about smog here. You don't need an inspection to ride with antique plates here if it's only used for "leisure activities" according to the DMV. My neighbor has a 60s Impala with antiques on it and he said there's no enforcement on how much you drive with that type of registration.

On the air filter I am a member on another truck forum that has a "for sale" area and someone was parting out 70's trucks and IIRC they use the same filter housings, that where I got mine from.

Now note the later 80's 300 six motors used a "normal looking" filter housing that would work also.

I think we have a WTB (want to buy) area can ask in there.

The other is Ebay and Craig's list.

On the list you may get lucky and find someone parting out a truck.

Oh I hear you on the junk yards as I lived in CT, 10 miles from the NY line on I95, up to 6 years ago and the yards scrapped anything older than 10 years.

Dave ----

Bringing this back to the top as I work through things. I bought an HEI distributor and YF carb to attempt the more frugal route laid out by a few of you. Distributor seated in pretty well after some wiggling and profanity. I think I've gathered enough from other user posts to sort out the wiring for it, a Bosch style relay is on the way. The carb is next, but I had a few questions:

1) The plate that the carb mounts onto with the ports for the EGR and the vacuum pump...is there an older alternative for that which doesn't have those connections, or should I just plug them all somehow?

2) I can get rid of this coil now right? The HEI takes care of that?

3) I can also remove this mess of vacuum lines and electrical connectors? Anything need to be saved here?

Thanks again, this forum has been a wealth of info so far.

~Tom

[FuzzFace2]

Bringing this back to the top as I work through things. I bought an HEI distributor and YF carb to attempt the more frugal route laid out by a few of you. Distributor seated in pretty well after some wiggling and profanity. I think I've gathered enough from other user posts to sort out the wiring for it, a Bosch style relay is on the way. The carb is next, but I had a few questions:

1) The plate that the carb mounts onto with the ports for the EGR and the vacuum pump...is there an older alternative for that which doesn't have those connections, or should I just plug them all somehow?

2) I can get rid of this coil now right? The HEI takes care of that?

3) I can also remove this mess of vacuum lines and electrical connectors? Anything need to be saved here?

Thanks again, this forum has been a wealth of info so far.

~Tom

1) On the EGR I find it is easier to just plug the openings.

Unless the EGR leaks you can just remove and plug the vacuum line.

If the metal tube is in place and not leaking just leave it.

If it is leaking if you can get the adaptors out pipe plugs should screw in.

2) Yes you can remove the old coil.

As for the rest of the wiring I would wait till the motor is running and can drive it to know all is ok.

If you want to run the motor before you get the relay run a jumper wire from the battery + to the HEI and if all is good when you crank the motor it should start & run.

To stop just remove the wire.

Again once running then you can take your time, trace the wires and remove them.

Yes even all them relays on the back of the valve cover you have marked.

Dave ----

[Brock]

tommyg- how did this carb/dist/relay project of yours work out? I am trying to decide on a good carb for my 83 Bronco so I appreciate any insights.