holley 2berrel converson

[vince87ranger]

I have acquired a Holley 2berrel carb adapter on a ported efi lower intake. Planning on using a 500cfm carb, but also have an old 350 cfm I could put on. My question is if anyone has done this conversion before and what they think of it. Any hints on jets or power valves, or install tips?

My motor is a 92 2.3 mustang short block and roller cam
86 ranger single plug head
Removed the egr and all emission "junk" haha
Sortie header
Removed the cat
2 1/2 exhaust with a glass pack
Stock duraspark dizzy with a MSD 6AL box
And for now the stock 1berrel ranger carb

 

[4b316]

A 350 is enough for the 2.3.With a 500,you might have to get a low speed restricter to to in the carb and probably a power port block,you might have to in the 350.Go to 4m.net mini stock tech and talk to those guys, will knock your socks off seeing what some of those guys run

 

[vince87ranger]

thanks 4b316 for the link. good info, but most of it was centered around 2.3 running in classes requiring a 350 carb, and they are running somewhere in the 12.0-1 compression range on race gas, and at 8500rpm. im wondering if anyone has done this converson to a fairly stock 2.3 on 93gas that only saw 5000rpm in a truck that was a dd off road rig

 

[flaminranger]

I ahd a friend who did it to his but he went with the 350 cause that 500 is way to big. also racer walsh sells the restrictor kits and you will need one for the 350. also your mileage will go down cause you are opening both barrels everytime you step down. my friends mileage went from 19 down to 15.
also look into a camshaft for it .
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58074

 

[vince87ranger]

well got the carb on tonight. ended up going with a 350cfm carb. I had problems with it not reving out past 2200rpm at first with 60 main jets.

I am using 53 main jets and a 2.5 power valve right now. Runs hard to 5000 rpm and idles like efi, but when turning or letting off the gas for a while then getting back on the gas it stumbles for 2 or 3 seconds and clears out.

going to mess with the main jets some more in the morning and re check my float level.

 

[Mark_88]

Cool...what carb did you have on before the swap?

 

[vince87ranger]

It was just the stock 1 barrel carter with the stock air filter. I found an old Edelbrock tin top that fit the air filter, and cut the factory base so it was just a plate. making an open element filter.

I didn't have time today at work to mess with the carb, but think i'm going to stop by the O'C Speed and Custom in the morning and see if they have any 50ish size main jets as it was loading up real bad after running 55-60mph and coming to a light. May be wrong with jet guessing as this is my first Holley carb. The only carbs I've had experience tuning was dual 40 IDF Webers on my old bug i had.

Something for others to be aware of if they are planing on doing this swap is that

1. Your throtle cable must be cut and linkage made to work the carb.

2. A small (6-8inch) air cleaner has to be used to clear the wiper motor, and you will have to make an offset base for it to move the center of the air filter to about the center of the fuel bowl on the carb.

Hope this info helps others planing on doing a 2berrel Holley swap on a 4cyl Ranger. I'll post up on performance, final jetting, and mileage when i get things squared around.

 

[Mark_88]

Sounds like what mine was doing when the float level was too high...gas seeped into the secondary and caused flooding...sometimes while driving and letting off the gas...conked out on the highway many times before I figured out what it was...

I have an old offenhauser (Offy type) intake that looks like it will take a 350 almost direct bolt on...but I'd have to see the base of the Holley 350 to know for sure...it would sit just about dead center on the intake...

Post pics of your mods if you can...maybe make a stickie for others to benefit from...

 

[vince87ranger]

I'll try and get a pic of my setup posted in the morning. Good advice on setting the float again, i need to check it again.

Well as a preliminary mpg figure i was getting 15-17 in town, and 19 highway in stock form. Did mostly in town driving and got 16.3mpg. At first i thought no improvement and more power, GREAT! But after thinking of how I've been driving it prob is more than that because, i was doing a lot of full throttle blasts trying to get it tuned in.

 

[Mark_88]

I went through something similar when my primary was plugged...went through plenty of gas before I realized what was happening...mostly because it happened when I was 30 Km from home and had to drive back flooring it to keep it running...not too many places on the side of the road where you can open up the top of the carb without exposing it to tons of road dust from the traffic...

 

[flaminranger]

the restrictor kit helps alot also if you improved your mileage that is cool but you are the only swap I seen gain mileage.
good job enjoy your mod.

 

[John Smith]

I'm curious about the head..

Neat project ur workin on there..
I am curious if you know what type of head you're using ..IE compression ratio?..round port, oval port, or assumably d-port?..I am building one for my B2 and i can use a variety of different heads ..i later plan to build a TC version but for now i will put a 5200 on it since it comes ready with the correct throttle shaft for the linkage etc..

I wonder if the head choice could effect greatly the performance ..i think it would.. I know i have an 86 round port from a 2.0,,,and manifold..but i think i'm going to try and mimic the 74 pinto spec if possible..it had 100HP stock...or so i am told..

 

[vince87ranger]

Sorry no pic yet. been working to much.

My truck is running an 86 ranger single plug d-port head.

As an update i blew a power valve coming out of the gas station yesterday, and only had a 6.5 valve on hand. Put that in and tried the 58 jets i also had. Now the hesitation went away and it pulls even harder at the top end of the gears.

No guess on millage yet as i only have 15 miles on this tank, and most are in the woods. Plus me moving parts around at the old school tractor junkyard that i work at, so it has a good hour or two of idle time on the tank.

Besides the tuning curve with a Holley carb i am very pleased with the end result of the swap.

 

[vince87ranger]

My winter break is over now. Drove back to school yesterday and ran through three tanks of gas at 65-70mph on the highway. I was fairly surprised to see 18mpg, except when i went through Indianapolis, got 16.8 through there. Still running 58 main jets and 6.5 power valve. I'm happy with performance but think i need to go a size smaller on main jets or change my accelerator pump cam because i tend to foul out the plug in either cylinder #2, or 3 after 150 or so miles. Only have class in the morning tomorrow so i will get a pic of my setup loaded

 

[Kenneth S]

I tried the 2bbl carb adapter to a lower efi deal, it's not good for street driving (hence your crappy gas mileage).

Here's why the adapter doesn't work well for street use.
1. With the long runners it's just like a tunnel ram on a V8, by the time the intake pulse gets to the carb in the lower rpm range the pulse is very weak, and it doesn't draw enough fuel.
2. Since the intake is designed for fuel injection there is no provision to heat the air in the intake when it's cold, so when it's cold it really runs crappy.

What I did on my 88 Ranger 2.3
Since my truck has a power brake booster a carburated intake from a 1979, and up D-port 2.3 mustang wouldn't work, so I found an OMC intake manifold from a 2.3 that's used in boat applications (it's cast iron, it's a little heavy, but it works really good, I got it off of ebay for $60.00). I had to make an adapter for the manifold since it is made for a rochester 2bbl so I could use a holley 350 cfm 2bbl, now I get 22 mpg in the city, and 29 mpg on the hwy.