Old Cars Never Cease To Amaze Me...

[RollercamDART]

So I have been having a hell of a time trying to tune a nasty flat spot out of my 74' with a /6. It would run fine down the road, accelerate great when already moving, basically everything you would want it to do, unless you were leaving from a stop. Leaving from a stop the car would fall flat on its face, nearly die unless you feather the throttle etc etc..

So I dug around the trunk of the car and found the box this Holley 1945 came in, and it was a reman out of a company in Canada and was ordered around 3 years ago. Also in this box was a Holley 1920 which also had a reman sticker on it, but was obviously an older job. I cracked open the float on the 1920 and it looked brand new, so at least the previous owner drained it well before tossing it in the box.

After a couple of hours of jacking around with the 1945, a vacuum gauge, a tach, and all the other fun stuff, I had had it. I pulled the 1945 and decided to give the ol' 1920 a go. I put it on with 1 bolt (the other bolt was too long) and no gasket (my local shops don't carry the older gaskets...) and after a few seconds of cranking to fill the bowl, it fired up and idled smoother and runs better than it has ever since I have owned the car. I ran to the store and grabbed a shorter bolt, hooked up everything, and took her for a spin. Plenty of power, great throttle response, and at stop lights I have to turn the radio off to hear if its still running!

Absolutely amazed that this little carb has sat in a box, in the trunk of a dormant Dart, in the good ol' Washington rain, for 3+ years and doing nothing but slapping it on the intake in frustration has made my car 100% more enjoyable to drive. Only adjustment that it needed was to idle it down a little and the kick-down linkage..

I am curious if any of you guys have any stories like my own, I love to hear them

 

[Dana67Dart]

Dad pulled the OE dist on the 67 dart 30 years ago and put it in the box the reman came in and on a shelf. last year the reman dist failed, too much end play. I pulled the OE out of the box, put it in, old points and all, ran like a champ.

 

[Tooljunkie]

The canadian company i will guess at is Autoline. Based out of winnipeg.
I had a similar experience with a 2bbl for my power wagon/318.
I was fortunate enough to be able to return it.
I then spent many hours rebuilding mine, scrounging the plastic part that burned when the carb caught fire. Also dialing in the power valve and getting choke to work flawlessly. I needed it to work perfect as i was installing a command start and it had to be spot on.
Was maybe 16/17 years ago and suprisingly it still works.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Dad pulled the OE dist on the 67 dart 30 years ago and put it in the box the reman came in and on a shelf. last year the reman dist failed, too much end play. I pulled the OE out of the box, put it in, old points and all, ran like a champ.

Ahhh, the infamous healing shelf. Everybody needs one.

 

[dibbons]

Bought a '72 project car with original 318 that had a plaque welded to the block from a machine shop documenting that it was rebuilt in '79 (still standard pistons). The 318 was not installed when I brought the car home. A friend pressure-washed it for me and it sat for a few months.

Went to install the 318, and it was frozen (thanks to the pressure wash). Various attempts with squirting oil, ATF (etc) finally got it free. I changed all the gaskets (heads, intake, oil pan) and it fired right up. Idles very smoothly and I have put 8,000 miles on the ol' engine so far. Just a little puff of smoke when it fires over after sitting for awhile.

 

[moparmat2000]

So I have been having a hell of a time trying to tune a nasty flat spot out of my 74' with a /6. It would run fine down the road, accelerate great when already moving, basically everything you would want it to do, unless you were leaving from a stop. Leaving from a stop the car would fall flat on its face, nearly die unless you feather the throttle etc etc..

So I dug around the trunk of the car and found the box this Holley 1945 came in, and it was a reman out of a company in Canada and was ordered around 3 years ago. Also in this box was a Holley 1920 which also had a reman sticker on it, but was obviously an older job. I cracked open the float on the 1920 and it looked brand new, so at least the previous owner drained it well before tossing it in the box.

After a couple of hours of jacking around with the 1945, a vacuum gauge, a tach, and all the other fun stuff, I had had it. I pulled the 1945 and decided to give the ol' 1920 a go. I put it on with 1 bolt (the other bolt was too long) and no gasket (my local shops don't carry the older gaskets...) and after a few seconds of cranking to fill the bowl, it fired up and idled smoother and runs better than it has ever since I have owned the car. I ran to the store and grabbed a shorter bolt, hooked up everything, and took her for a spin. Plenty of power, great throttle response, and at stop lights I have to turn the radio off to hear if its still running!

Absolutely amazed that this little carb has sat in a box, in the trunk of a dormant Dart, in the good ol' Washington rain, for 3+ years and doing nothing but slapping it on the intake in frustration has made my car 100% more enjoyable to drive. Only adjustment that it needed was to idle it down a little and the kick-down linkage..

I am curious if any of you guys have any stories like my own, I love to hear them

Yep the ol holley model 1920 i have rebuilt a couple. Good carb. Very simple. Easy one to teach a newbie how carbs work. I had no doubts it would work.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Put another accelerator pump in the other carburetor and it will be fixed.

 

[pishta]

I started my unknown condition 68 slant with an unknown condition 1920, a little gas down the hatch, set the choke and it kicked over in under half a revolution without any pedal. Smooth.....watch out for the pooched accelerator pump weep hole that sends a stream of fuel right onto the exhaust manifold.