MTFCA Forum

I'm starting a new thread to specifically talk about carburetors. The T I've got came with a Zenith-Bendix side draft unit originally installed on a Wisconsin Twin cylinder engine. It ran OK, but had a sloppy throttle shaft, wept fuel when not running, and didn't have any way adjust the mixture, which ran pretty rich. While the ultimate goal is to get an original-ish carb setup on the car, coming up with the parts to do it will take time and/or money. So, in the meantime, I cobbled together a temporary solution.
The carburetor is a $28 knockoff copy of a Marvel-Schelber updraft for a Ford 9N/2N/8N tractor application. A right-angle elbow of 1-1/4 OD stainless tubing gets the mixture into the original Vaporizer manifold. The throttle linkage is supported by a two-piece shaft collar, and a bell-crank gets the crossways throttle rod coming over the head to go up-down to run the butterfly. It manages to use pretty much the whole throttle quadrant between idle and wide open, so the control seems fine enough. Topped it off with a $8 motorcycle filter. So, how does it run? To be honest, it's the best-running Model T I've ever driven, even if it is the only Model T I've ever driven. Pops in about 4 revolutions with the choke on, usually one more crank and it's running. Crisp response once it's warmed up, seems to pull well. In Hi-Hi, it has no trouble hitting 45 depending on grade and wind. Cruise at 35 is only about 1/4 way down on the lever. It seems to pull well up the hills I've driven so far. Judging by the spark plugs, I've got full-load mixture dialed in right.
For $50 in parts and a couple hours of shop time, it works pretty well. I guess my question here is will moving to a rebuilt NH or other period carb actually gain me anything beyond "correctness" ? I'm sure I can refine this setup - a more flow-friendly induction by either brazing a flange onto a standard intake, or installing a Winfield-style intake. I'll need a standard exhaust manifold then, of course. And while it isn't a 110 year old setup, the tractor carburetor is still a 90 year old design and dead simple to tune and repair.

I love the original Holley NH that came with my 1926 coupe. Very simple, easy to work on, adjust and rebuild and my T runs great. The only time it did not run great was when I was experimenting with different timer, but now that I am back to using the original roller timer, it runs great again. If it ain’t broke, leave it be.

I've never seen anything quite like that! And where you live has no hills quite as steep as those in California. So I don't have anything to compare with. I have 2 1926 cars. One a Roadster and the other a Touring. Both have Ruckstell 2 speed rear axles. Both are stock engines. One has a Kingston L4 and the other has a Holley NH. The Kingston has a bit better range of adjustments for mixture at all speeds, but the NH runs best for general use after it warms up a bit. The speed going uphill depends on how many passengers or load I am carrying. Downhill I have no idea how fast it would go because of the brakes and top heaviness of the cars and also wood spokes, I don't like to go too fast especially on curvy roads. One thing I like about the more stock setups is that if I have problems on a tour, most others are able to help me and also have a few spare parts they can loan if necessary. Those who run non stock such as distributor or alternator seem to have more problems. Those who have a lot of speed equipment have more problems with the drive train which was made to handle a stock engine. My favorite timers are the Anderson and the New Day. I run with magneto and coils. Have very few problems. I might also add the original carburetor setup was the Holley Vaporizer.So the NH is the only modification I have That and the Ruckstells
Norm

Looks like you have most of a vaporizer. Why not go back with it?
Parts for it are around. I am fixing to list a bunch of them.
You need to find out which one you have. Dan

I document exact part numbers and places of purchase in an electronic journal per car, especially for modified parts that do not specifically belong. UPC barcodes off paint cans are also documented for an exact match for the next person and for my own forgetfulness. Having that information may help you financially against the next squeamish buyer.

So, I recommend that you, 1) document, 2) drive the car, enjoy it until one year when it fails, then go back with something that looks old.

Hi Edward,
Looks like you are exercising your constitutional right to freedom of carburation expression, good for you & you picked a carb that you can
source parts @ Tractor Supply, good choice! I'm not a purist by any means ( don't get me wrong I admire those that are) I run a L4 on my fire
truck & feel it is a great carb for a heavy T because of the flapper. I run Tillotson X & Marvel/Shcebler carbs on my speedster because 45mph
is boring if you don't have fenders Your set up has some advantages over a correct carb in you can adjust the idle mixture. You can adjust
the main jet but not while driving like a stock carb. This is not for the set it & leave it folks. Because you have a 27 fuel delivery to a carb
sitting that high is not a issue. I admire your ingenuity that is a job well done. I'm not real familiar with that particular carb but if the bowl
vent is external to the inlet then that air filter may cause some issues by lowering the barometric pressure @ the inlet well below that of the
fuel in the bowl. This issue can be solved by adding a tube from the bowl vent to the inlet inside the carb ( air filter) This is something you
see on Model A's running air filters. The other solution is running as large of a air filter as you can to reduce this effect or no filter @ all.
If the carb doesn't have a bowl vent outside of the air inlet this is not a issue. Try running without the air filter & see if it makes a big
difference. If you have issues with purists don't open the hood around them, if they don't rag on the carb they will on the distributor.
Above all have fun. JMHO
Craig.

Just a thought...
That manifold can be inverted and run with an earlier exhaust. Might get the carb low enough where you don't need a fuel pump?

Vaporizer don’t need fuel pumps.

I like Ford's attitude: Keep it simple/Keep it cheap. With that in mind, I've made it a habit to buy a Holley NH cheap at a swap meet ($10-$20) and buy whatever new parts it needs. Ford sold many millions of them, so they're not scarce. In my book Holley G is a close second in the simple/cheap category.

I think it’s neat and different. I like the ingenuity.

Chad is correct this is a pic of Rossie Morris's T racer he ran in the Great American Race.
Craig.