MTFCA Forum

This is the first time the carb has been off in 30+ years.

It’s an NH

What ‘magic’ was it supposed to do ? ( the coil spring)

Thanks in advance….

Increase turbulence for supposedly better air/fuel mixing. My help, probably doesn't.

Not an NH . Simmons or Wizard. That is a heater.

+1 on Dan,
Sure looks like a rudimentary pre-heat unit to me

Thanks,

Son checked closer, found nameplate—-is a Wizard —-lol

Must have been a good carby…never an issue in my 29 years of stewardship! He just thought to rebuild it ‘just ‘cause’ as part of his stewardship.

George Mills wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 11, 2026 6:20 pm

Thanks,

Son checked closer, found nameplate—-is a Wizard —-lol

Must have been a good carby…never an issue in my 29 years of stewardship! He just thought to rebuild it ‘just ‘cause’ as part of his stewardship.

My personal experience is, "just because" rebuilds are never worthwhile.

My personal experience is, "just because" rebuilds are never worthwhile.

especially when the only part you can buy for that carb is the bowl gasket and a float valve (and you'll never find them by looking for "Wizard" parts) and neither were apparently faulty...but hey, his heart is in the right place and who doesn't want to help out his dad?

That is a heating coil to vaporize fuel. Battery power gets connected below that long knurled nut. Close to the carb bottom. There are insulators to route power thru the long screw, grounding the other end of the spring to the carb.
I have not seen any direction as to weather the power is on constantly while running or not. I suppose the power connection would be taken
from the ignition for starting on BAT then be off when the ignition switch diverted to run on MAG. Then the spring acts a turbulence device.

The springy thing is most likely an electric "fuelizer" or pre heater for cold weather starting. It appears to have a terminal on the bottom of the air horn. The driver would push a button or flip a switch to apply battery power to the resistive heating element. I don't think it is original to the carburetor. It may be in the 1927 Western Auto catalogue on the Cimorelli site.

I'd think you'd want it off once the engine started, and having it on for more than a second or two without cranking the engine might allow it to get hot enough to ignite any gasoline in the carb throat. Neat item, and useful if handled properly.

That heater is original on all the variations of that carb I have & have seen. Many have had the heating element removed & the hole plugged, but the hole remains. Wizzard, Simons super power, Duplex, Western auto?, maybe one or 2 other names for the same carb.

I am curious as to the carb's performance.
How do you or any other users feel it performs compared to a NH swayback or NH straight thru?

Definitely better than swayback NH and better than straight-through in that it takes very little choke or cranking to start. Like an L-4 (but without the L-4 poor fuel mileage) it uses a flapper to divert air through an idle bypass circuit until some speed/air volume overwhelms the flapper and negates the richness of the idle circuit at higher speeds.

Definitely worth the effort to locate one and use it if it's complete.

The NH float valve fits it, the NH float fits it, and a couple NH gaskets fit it, and that's it...all other parts are unique and though they look similar to NH parts they are not the same so you have to be very careful to be sure you're not buying something that is cobbled together with mis-matched parts.

Finally: DON'T LOSE THE THROTTLE AND CHOKE FLAP SCREWS. They are 4-36 (uncommon thread) round head machine screws and not an easy item to find or replicate

Can’t the Carb be taken apart if necessary to repair? From the picture it looks like the heater spring could be removed and be put back together. Is there an insulator gasket of some sort where the flapper shaft goes through the bottom? Others more knowledgable than me would know. If nothing was broken on it or leaking replace the gaskets and that’s it. Consider it a learning experience. Maybe clean out the small passages if any?

Thanks Scott for the performance review. Worth a try.

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 11, 2026 8:21 pm

Can’t the Carb be taken apart if necessary to repair? From the picture it looks like the heater spring could be removed and be put back together. Is there an insulator gasket of some sort where the flapper shaft goes through the bottom? Others more knowledgable than me would know. If nothing was broken on it or leaking replace the gaskets and that’s it. Consider it a learning experience. Maybe clean out the small passages if any?

The flapper shaft is horizontal & parallel in front of the choke shaft. No gasket or insulator involved.

How does it perform? As I said, in the almost 30 years that I drove the car there was ZERO issue with the carb. It however had a sweet spot for start, another sweet spot for run. That car is a stem winder and does start on mag. Set the sticks to cruise and in a roadster and the chase shadow car modern iron would say ya’ rounded out at 50…

The 1927 Western Auto Catalog describes a "Duplex" carburetor with an air valve and an electric heating element for cold starting. (Cimorelli Website)

"....... Duplex Improved Carburetor for Fords
The New, Simplified, Super-Power Carburetor, with built-in
heating unit, for Ford cars and Ford Trucks.........."

I ran one, a Simmons, for about ten years. Car ran good.I replaced it with an OF and it runs a little better. I never hooked up the electric coil.

My Carburetor has no markings as to whether it is a Simmons or wizard, but it definitely outperforms the sway back Holley NH.
It idles slower and runs smoother at all speeds. Mine doesn't have the preheat element. I think I would be leery of putting power to the heating element!