'56 Meteor manual choke?

F

Fortunateson

Well-known member
My '56 Meteor Rideau Victoria has a factory manual choke. All the Meteors and Fords that I've seen all had automatic chokes. So was a manual choke rather rare or have I not seen enough cars?j
 
Here is a picture of the 1956 Meteor Rideau Victoria from the Factory Sales Brochure. Also attached is the Specifications Page, but unfortunately, it is written in French. At least you get to see what the brochure looks like.
 

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is this a 4 barrel manual choke? that is indeed rare as I have never seen one for a 56 FoMoCo carb. If it is the 3 bolt 2 barrel (Holley 94), then yes... there were quite a few.

I just sold a 4 barrel "teapot" manifold - the "A" manifold - that had no provision for an exhaust tube for the choke... so I reckon they must be out there somewhere!

any photos?
 
I believe the 6 cyl. engine in '56 might have had a manual choke. Not sure. But a Meteor Rideau Victoria might not have even been available with a 6 cyl. Not sure.

I know Canadian cars sometimes were a model year behind in features, like the '54 Canadian Fords still using flathead V8's and non-ball joint suspension, but don't know about the manual chokes in '56.

Hot Rod Reverend, if you saw an ECZ-A 4 barrel 1956 manifold with out a choke heat tube provision in it, I would love the see that. Not doubting you at all, just hard to believe. Maybe the holes were filled in and smoothed out.

Sal
 
Speaking strictly of USA made Fords; the 1955 V8 engines with 2bbl carb commonly had manual choke, but 4bbl carbs had automatic choke. You could always tell if a 55 Fairlane had a 4bbl carb without opening the hood. There was a factory black blanking plate in the dash bezel where the choke knob would have been in the dashboard.
To my knowledge there were no USA made '56 Fords with V8 engine and manual choke.
The 1956 Ford 2bbl carb can always be distinguished from the '55 Ford 2bbl carb by the automatic choke. None of the '55 2bbl carbs had automatic choke, and all '56 2bbl carbs did have automatic choke. Even though these two otherwise appeared to be nearly identical (except for linkage), the 55 & 56 2bbl carbs were completely different animals. The '56 carb is higher CFM and intake manifold has larger intake holes.

How can you tell a '55 2bbl intake manifold from a '56 2bbl intake manifold with the naked eye? The '56 is the one that has the heat riser tube. None of the '55 2bbl manifolds have it.
 
scicala said:
Hot Rod Reverend, if you saw an ECZ-A 4 barrel 1956 manifold with out a choke heat tube provision in it, I would love the see that. Not doubting you at all, just hard to believe. Maybe the holes were filled in and smoothed out.

Sal
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That was what I thought too... until I blasted the entire thing. Unfortunately that intake is on its way to Brazil at the present time. Let me see if I can find some photos of it. The casting "bumps" or at least the rough surface of those cast manifolds never changed on either side when I looked at it closely. Nor was there any tube inside. There was still the "boss" for the tube in the middle of the intake underneath if you know the area of which I speak.
 
Hot Rod Reverend said:
That was what I thought too... until I blasted the entire thing. Unfortunately that intake is on its way to Brazil at the present time. Let me see if I can find some photos of it. The casting "bumps" or at least the rough surface of those cast manifolds never changed on either side when I looked at it closely. Nor was there any tube inside. There was still the "boss" for the tube in the middle of the intake underneath if you know the area of which I speak.
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Yes, I know what you mean about the surface of the cast iron and the boss for the heat tube. I guess, just when we thought we knew it all.
Maybe that one escaped the plant somehow without being drilled for the tube, or it's an application we never saw.

Sal
 
Thanks for the pictures. You made a good point about the heavy trucks I didn't think of. Attached is a link to a 1956 Ford truck listing showing they used a 272 in the F600 and F700 big trucks with a Holley 4000G (Governor). They used manual chokes, so no need to drill the intakes for choke heat. I think you just hit the nail on the head and solved the mystery.

Sal

http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/TruckkitsF.htm#TkitFord
 
I have only ever seen an "aftermarket" (and I say that loosely - because it was pretty crappy) manual choke kit that could be put on a 56 Holley 4000 by drilling through the choke cap and manipulating the choke lever that way.

I have never seen anything from the factory for a Holley 4000 that had a manual choke. Have you? do you have any photos? I would be interested to see the setup (if it even exists)

Point noted on the truck. It was only a guess... maybe just one year or so. The Holley 4000's are such orphans.
 
Hot Rod Reverend said:
I have only ever seen an "aftermarket" (and I say that loosely - because it was pretty crappy) manual choke kit that could be put on a 56 Holley 4000 by drilling through the choke cap and manipulating the choke lever that way.

I have never seen anything from the factory for a Holley 4000 that had a manual choke. Have you? do you have any photos? I would be interested to see the setup (if it even exists)

Point noted on the truck. It was only a guess... maybe just one year or so. The Holley 4000's are such orphans.
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Yes, I agree, there was not a Holley 4000 or 2140 made for a Ford, Mercury or Lincoln passenger car that had a manual choke from the factory.
The only manual choke on a car in 1956 was the Holley 1960 model 1 bbl. on the 223 six cyl.

Canadian or Australian cars may be a different story in some cases. Not an expert in that area.
 
My '59 came with a manual choke (223 6-banger). I plan to use it when I complete the engine swap, but will replace it with a new Dorman unit.
 
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