85 351 4door Vic **DUW**

[marquisman]

if your patient when cold starting your car with a VV and giving it time to warm up, i would disable the choke completly, since the choke can give you trouble. when my old man bought the merc 2door back in '81 when the VV came out, one of the ford guys disabled the choke and that carb went on for 23 years un touched till replacing it with a 2150 motocraft 2bbl.

[Jason_GMQ91]

My '80 Lincoln have 2150 motocraft 2bbl, its still works great.

[johnunit]

I may try cutting out the choke. I'm assuming it'd be as simple as disconnecting any wiring to it?

I know that a lot of people converted to the 2150, and that there was a kit for it, but I'd rather stick with the VV for originality and all that, at least until I have enough money and other performance mods that it's seriously cutting down on my power. At that point though, I'd probably be looking at a 4 barrel, since the 2150 isn't that much better flowing.

[1987cp]

The VV doesn't really have a choke in the conventional sense, does it?

I think the whole point of the 2150 is simplicity compared to the little-understood variable venturi design. I've got a couple of 2150 cores I could send you for dirt cheap if you want to try it.

Good thinking about a 2V not being a significant performance hindrance below a certain power level. The main thing with the similarly-sized 4V is the superior response in the primaries, but I think went through that already. BTW: with the right parts, you'll have enough torque you won't even want to dip into the secondaries except every once in a while! It can be done cheap, too!

[johnunit]

I like the cheap part.

Right now I'm thinking that mid-length or shorty headers, along with new cats and muffler delete will probably be my first performance hardware. There's a leak somewhere there anyway, and the exhaust from the mufflers back is all brand new stuff.

Then I might look into an RV cam, or maybe 3.27 or 3.55 gears. My 2.73s have me shifting into second (at full throttle) at 80ish (50-55MPH), and that's just sad.

[johnunit]

Now that I think of it, would Mustang stock headers work on the 351 or does the deck height difference make it difficult?

[1987cp]

The BBK 1511 "351 swap" header is the more typical choice for a 351, as it works with some (but apparently not all) direct-replacement Mustang crossover pipes. However, if you add 2.25" or larger female ball flanges (Walker PN 41725, or 41726 for 2.5"), the stock Mustang headers (or any '86-'93 5.0 performance header) will work great with your existing exhaust. Nathan in MI actually used Mustang headers without modifying his pipes, just massaged the flange bolt holes into slots, but that setup leaked a bit.

[P72Ford]

The VV doesn't really have a choke in the conventional sense, does it?

Not a conventional style choke. I can't remember exactly what it looked like, but there was a stepper motor, and some linkage that runs into the carb on the passenger's side. I used to spray that down with carb cleaner because it used to get sticky.

I have BBK 15110 headers on mine (coated 1511s). Nice quality and fit.

[1987cp]

That's true, the huge 3/8" thick flanges on the 1511/15110 are great. Oddly, a lot of very mild engines seem to get away fine with the biggish 5/8" primary size.

[johnunit]

fit with stock-replacement mustang stuff eh? I'll have to check that out, I was assuming I'd have to get something custom bent.

I do have a choke on the carb, and it is un-conventional. But it's recognizably a choke in looks and operation.

[1987cp]

Yep, you can assemble your own dual exhaust from headers to tailpipes using 99% off-the-shelf parts (Thain and I, and presumably Scott and some others, added stock-looking extensions and turndowns to keep it looking clean), or else get those ball flange adapters at NAPA and keep your stock exhaust.

Here's a quick recipe that has been verified to fit with a 351 and the BBK 1511 headers.

PaceSetter 82-1140
Maremont 339221 (x2) or any 2.5" Mustang intermediate pipes plus extensions
Your favorite 2.5" in/out, offset/offset muffler (x2)
Dynomax 54016
Dynomax 54017

Oddly, I'm told that at least some emissions-compliant H pipes do NOT fit without modification.

[johnunit]

That's a piss-off about the emissions. I'd want cats on my setup, for backpressure, sound, and smell reasons. I guess I could just have them put in after the fact, though.

Nice to know that I won't have to have it all jury-rigged.

[1987cp]

Unfortunately, this particular crossover pipe doesn't really leave much clearance for cats, it's just the only one I've actually tried with a 351 and the BBK-1511 headers. I wish I had the opportunity to test-fit several catted pipes and see for sure what does and doesn't fit and why. If it were my car, and still stock underhood, I'd consider looking up the 2.25" Catco catted H pipe (it's cheaper than other catted pipes) and get 2.25" midpipes (Walker 43281) and stock tailpipes.

[johnunit]

Thanks, I'll look that up.

[johnunit]

So, I think I may have found the root of my idling problems.

while taking my vacuum reservoir off to re-paint, I discovered that the line to it is severed. It's hard to tell whether some solvent got on it, or it was chewed. Either way, it's severed in a really jagged way. I'll re-tape that line or something I guess. I also found a line that went into the passenger side dash from a weird connector that was chewed/corroded off in the same way. Strange, because I've never seen any rodent damage or rodents, and the rest of those lines are in good shape. So that's a bitch, but it's driveable and I'll get to it in time.


Also unloaded some carb cleaner down it's throat and all over it. I got most of the varnish off, and it still has some off-idle hesitation, but the mid-range response feels significantly better. Maybe it's a placebo, but it sure felt peppier at surface-street speed.


I'm in the process of sanding down and re-painting some of the most rusted stuff in the engine bay, just for shits and giggles. Air cleaner top, master cylinder lid, vacuum reservoir, etc. Hopefully that all turns out well and I'll have pics.



Taking off the air intake tubing doesn't seem to have done much other than make the engine louder while accelerating, so it'll stay in the basement for now.


I've also been having an intermittent problem with the low-fuel light coming on, with a quarter tank of gas in it. That's obnoxious, and I have a feeling that it'll be a bitch to fix if it becomes permanent (dropping the tank?).