The CarbuRanger build thread ('94 2.3L Carb Conversion)

[ExploreNW]

Not such a fan of the Chinese knock off carbs. Just about everything I have read about them tells me they are junk. Passages left un-drilled is just the start of problems that come when opening import boxes containing rushed parts.

 

[ExploreNW]

Latest updates...

Too cold. Keep breakin' stuff. I pulled the carb that broke at the flange and discovered the intake manifold was cracked as well. The temps have been in the 20-35 degree range so there's no way I split several inches of aluminum with a 3" little weenie wrench on my own.

Last weekend I went back to the junkyard and got a new manifold, carb, and a carb spacer with PCV since the new 2100 doesn't have a bung for it. This carb is out of a Granada and the spacer is out of a VF100 van. The manifold is a couple years newer, out of an '87 Ranger with a feedback carb I'd never seen before. I did not get the feedback carb because I didn't want to mess with it.

I solved a major fuel pooling issue - drank a ton of beer when I ordered the intake manifold gasket and didn't look twice (duh... the head I took from that '84 Ranger wasn't an '84 Ranger head...) so I bolted a round-port gasket into an oval-port head. Made some big lakes and big smoke signals...

So, long story short, second manifold and carb are on as of tonight. Still have vacuum leaks. The motor pulls maybe 10-15 inches vac in the first few seconds of running, then vac just tanks and she sputters out. I think it has to do with my PCV spacer hack so if I go get the right tool I can get a plug out of the manifold I can route the PCV into instead.

If you want to do this conversion, this is for you. The 2100/2150 really aren't designed for the 2.3 even though the ubiquitous "Scheffield" manifolds have the same flange. It doesn't fit. You do need spacers and you will need to pull the choke housing & run a manual choke conversion kit, else you're hitting the lifter cover with the choke and it won't bolt up. Also, don't do this in below freezing temps like me, you'll break the extra brittle pot metal used in these parts and you'll be mad as hell that you have to do it all over again. MAKE SURE your carb has all the vacuum ports that you need or you have a vac breakout or else you'll be stuck trying to hack things together.

 

[ExploreNW]

I spent a lot more time out there today. It no longer leaks out of the gap between the spacers and the manifold, it leaks out of the throttle plate itself. If your kids ever had those wood carved train whistles, that's the sound it makes when it puffs and quits. It seems to blow its fine misty carbed fuel-y goodness right out of the hole where the main throttle shaft extends on both sides of the shaft indicating a major leak. Seems this carb may also be shot... Even the carb with the broken flange ran better than this one. They're rare enough as-is in the yards here. I'm debating whether to hit the busted flange unit with JB Weld or to get another carb & kit from the yard.

Perhaps I'll make a wood/RTV mount plate for the Carter 1bbl tomorrow if it's not too snowy...

 

[Josh B]

I've got some old carbs in a shed out back, been there a long time and likely rather oxidized by now.
Here's what they used to look like

Fuel Pumps

Two Barrels

Four Barrels

Bottom side

One Barrels

And an oddball lookin one<two barrel


They probly all came off of Fords because the guy who's sheds I was cleaning out for his wife was a lifelong Ford mechanic at the local dealership

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Hey man i just seen you asked me about the 2.9.

No i did not carb it. As bad as i wanted to at one point.

It is *possible* to carb a 2.9, tom morana makes an intake, but im not sure what you would do about the TFI stuff because 2.8 parts dont exactly bolt on a 2.9.

HEI conversion. Like 40-50 bucks iirc

 

[ExploreNW]

HEI conversion. Like 40-50 bucks iirc

PJ is right, HEI. I stumbled across some VW/Solex 1bbls at the junkyard and had another crazy idea. Remove the upper EFI log style manifold on that 2.9 and fab some adapter plates and/or spacers for the lower intake runners. 3 groups of 2 runners each sticking straight up just asking for triple 1bbl carbs... Wouldn't take too much work (not as much work as getting other dual carb setups to work that is.. *cough* EDELBROCK) to get all 3 in sync. Most guys used to run dual 1bbl carbs on those air cooled VWs and they are purportedly easy to match.

've got some old carbs in a shed out back, been there a long time and likely rather oxidized by now.
Here's what they used to look like

Yep, you've got some carbs there for sure. I haven't seen real-deal sight glasses on fuel-related things in a while. Thought about adding one to the fuel port on my carb for the hell of it but I don't own a gasket factory or trust RTV immersed in gas.

Come to think of it, somewhere I have a 2-4bbl Motorcraft adapter plate and a 650CFM Edelbrock sitting around somewhere.....

 

[ExploreNW]

Building on my last post: I went out and got a kit for this carb. I checked for play around the shaft and found so little that its negligible so I decided to rebuild this one. Now it runs, but only around 1500RPM or so, and still sounds like a big leak, even with all new gaskets & a freshly re-cleaned carb.

Reaching behind the carb, I was able to find a leak in between the spacers. I removed one spacer and it cut the leak down considerably but I still can't get the thing to seal.

Timing: 6* BTDC
Jets: 49F
Venturi: 1.08

I am stumped. My O2 gauge reads rich, about 11.5-12.5 on startup, then I watch it lean out as vac drops (expected effects of a vac leak) then it stumbles out. Next thing I'll try is hitting the gaskets with RTV.

It also once again smokes considerably. No oil in the coolant & haven't dumped the oil yet so I can't be sure of head gasket or valve seals yet.

 

[ExploreNW]

I found the leak! She runs!
This was totally my doing too. I put the air horn for a 2150A on a 2150 because it was handy on the bench. The air horn gasket on the 2150 provides a vacuum seal on a passage at the rear left corner of the carb. The 2150A does not have that passage or it is relocated to the rear center where the altitude aneroid/solenoid goes. My cockeyed homebrew spacers and gaskets had nothing to do with it.

With the timing and mixture dialed in, she runs nice and smooth. Just a little tick at mid throttle that I'll work out soon enough, likely jetted too big. Haven't driven it far though because it soots up the block.

That one is also my dumb fault... I can still hear "DON'T FORGET TO DO THE DAMN STEMS" in my sleep. I broke with proper process on this head for two reasons - first, my valve spring compressors are both good as garbage with smaller springs, and second, the guy told me it was a good head. So today I've been doing valve stem seals with the head still on the engine. This is my first time doing the job with the head still on and let me tell ya it's not worth it in any way. Take the head off & buy a good spring compressor and you can get the whole head done in 30 mins. Do it on the block and you'll get one cylinder done in 30 mins with a ton of swearing at it.

Thank God for warm fronts and the tech library. If this were "real winter" I wouldn't get to where I'm at on this truck for another three months.

 

[dasophoto]

I’m doing the same thing you are.
85 ranger 2.3, kept the lower intake and adapted to a motor craft 2100. I did some calculations on what the appropriate cfm for a carb on that motor and it was something to the tube of 190cfm. Found a chart on 2100 Venturi sizes and the .98 was the right one. It’s somewhat of a unicorn but you can find them. Mine came off an early 60s falcon I think. Whatever it was it had a tiny v8. Distributor came off a early 70s mustang with duraspark and vacuum advance. I went with Chevy hei for the ignition. After I got the timing ballparked I got it cranked up yesterday. I also have a roller head off a 94. Are you saying I can just switch the guts from it into the 85 head? Seems too good to be true. Here’s some photos of mine. Still needs a ton of work. It’s going in a 49 Willys cj3.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

PJ is right, HEI. I stumbled across some VW/Solex 1bbls at the junkyard and had another crazy idea. Remove the upper EFI log style manifold on that 2.9 and fab some adapter plates and/or spacers for the lower intake runners. 3 groups of 2 runners each sticking straight up just asking for triple 1bbl carbs... Wouldn't take too much work (not as much work as getting other dual carb setups to work that is.. *cough* EDELBROCK) to get all 3 in sync. Most guys used to run dual 1bbl carbs on those air cooled VWs and they are purportedly easy to match.


Yep, you've got some carbs there for sure. I haven't seen real-deal sight glasses on fuel-related things in a while. Thought about adding one to the fuel port on my carb for the hell of it but I don't own a gasket factory or trust RTV immersed in gas.

Come to think of it, somewhere I have a 2-4bbl Motorcraft adapter plate and a 650CFM Edelbrock sitting around somewhere.....

Would love to see three 1 bbls on a cologne.

Get after it!

 

[ExploreNW]

I’m doing the same thing you are.
85 ranger 2.3, kept the lower intake and adapted to a motor craft 2100. I did some calculations on what the appropriate cfm for a carb on that motor and it was something to the tube of 190cfm. Found a chart on 2100 Venturi sizes and the .98 was the right one. It’s somewhat of a unicorn but you can find them. Mine came off an early 60s falcon I think. Whatever it was it had a tiny v8. Distributor came off a early 70s mustang with duraspark and vacuum advance. I went with Chevy hei for the ignition. After I got the timing ballparked I got it cranked up yesterday. I also have a roller head off a 94. Are you saying I can just switch the guts from it into the 85 head? Seems too good to be true. Here’s some photos of mine. Still needs a ton of work. It’s going in a 49 Willys cj3.

Looks really good so far! Your D-port head/intake combo should flow much better than the oval port & Scheffield intake I'm running currently. I nearly went HEI but I wanted to keep as much Ford as possible. HEI conversions are really good setups however and it'll treat you well.
I have that same intake on the shelf in my shop. Someday I'll build a big power D-port head with a high lift roller cam. What venturi size is your 2100? As far as I know you'll be fine with a 1.08.

As for the cam conversion - yes, everything swapped over from my '94 head to my oval port head. If you have a California '95 or 50-state '96 you're out of luck, the '94 is the last head to use the same size cam. I kept the old springs, I really don't like the sheaths on the '94 springs. While you're in there, don't do what I did and neglect the seals! I ended up pulling my head again and lapped the valves too while I had the chance. Real easy trick, use a hose & drill bit instead of the junk lappers from the parts store.

On another topic, found the ticking. Reason #1 I ended up pulling the head is it was making this chuff-chuff-chuff sound from one cylinder. Sounded like a burnt valve but smelled like a pretty bad exhaust leak and it was messing with my o2 gauge. I didn't notice this until the head was already back on...

There were holes drilled up at approximately 45 degrees into each of the 4 exhaust ports. Probably some sort of emissions thing. Three of the four ports had JB Weld packed in by the PO of the head, while the 4th had burned out its JB weld while I was driving. If your head has these and you want to run the shorty header, use a 5/16 drill bit to clear the holes out & tap them with 3/8 standard. All thread from Home Depot patches it, just grind it down with a peanut wheel and that's it. The manifold will hold them in place.

The carb is still rich. The Holley 350 guys run a PRCV reduction kit to get this carb lean enough but I haven't found one for the 2100/50 yet. I'll keep you posted.

 

[dasophoto]

What venturi size is your 2100? As far as I know you'll be fine with a 1.08.

I was able to find a .98 Venturi 2100 for cheap. Paid $125 rebuilt to my door. I'm excited about the build. I'm working in CA this week and can't wait to get back home to TX and get my hands on the motor again. I realize there are a few things I did wrong and I'll get them straightened out. As for the 85 head, I had already put new seals on the valves and lapped all of them. I used the same trick you do with the drill and a small piece of hose. Thanks for your input, I'll be swapping the 93 cam and rollers over to the 85 head at some point soon.

 

[ExploreNW]

You'll be very happy with the .98 venturi! The Ranger roller cam seems to carry some interesting idle characteristics when running it in properly set up carb motors. It has a mild lopey idle that makes the truck sound a lot nuttier than it is. You'll make power from 1500 right up until about 5k RPM. You'll make more torque in that range than a stock fuelie truck but you're not going anywhere any faster over 5k and it doesn't quite open up off the line like a carb cam with different duration.

Further tuning on mine finally got done last weekend despite some below freezing temps and another foot of snow. I did a bunch of digging & found the power valve restrictor kit only works on the Holley 350s where their power valve is mounted in a metering block that isn't present on the 2100/50 MC carbs. I changed from a 6.5 Ford power valve to a 4.5 Holley power valve in my 1.08 carb (NAPA P/N 735-5637 -- yes Holley PVs fit our carbs but the jets do not) and moved from #50F Jets to 56F. This jet increase and power valve decrease eliminated a flat spot off-idle and sputtery rich feeling from the richer power valve. It has plenty of cruising power, tons more low end torque than the EFI motors, and it feels like it does alright with the trailer. I think it would be happiest with 55 jets or a 56/54 jet combo. It seems a bit rich still, accelerating at 12.5 AFR and cruising at 11-13 AFR depending on gear & vac. Timing is still 12.5 degrees due to my altitude of 2400 feet.

Unrelated things happened to the truck this week:
New rear shocks
New brake drums
Goodyear Wranglers @235/75-15 installed
2 new sets of plug wires....

And things for this spring when all the clumpy white b/s melts off:
Pull the tranny & warm it over
Have more dirty thoughts about a 32/36 carb
Forced induction??? 2.8 swap if/when this trans lets out its magic smoke?