53 Merc Flatty rebuilt

D

dgmgohl

Member
I'm just looking for some suggestions. I just rebuilt my 53 Merc Flathead. Bored 30 over, with new pistons, rings, valves, springs, guides the whole works. Looking to upgrade my carburator. Currenty has a teapot. What would you suggest? Remembering that the this motor has the automatic choke.
 
By far, the best choice for this would be a small base Rochester 2G. Mount them backwards on the manifold (they don't care; really). Everything falls into place, throttle linkage, fuel line, and even the automatic choke. These Rochesters, like the Merc's, come in both integral and divorced choke varieties. With the right carburetor, it's a no brainer. On the integral choke models, all you have to do is shorten the choke stove tube; for the divorced choke model, you just have to bend the actuating rod slightly. I have one on the '51 Merc in my '51 Ford, and I had another one on the engine on my test stand. I have some pictures, but I think they are on my other computer in Minnesota (I'm "Marooned in Marathon" by the virus). I'll look and see what I can find.

I find they are the best choice for use on a mild street flathead (on a car with a hood). The only problem is finding one; there are a TON of large base 2G's out there but the small base models are getting hard to find.

Oh yeah; one last thing. While the carburetor will bolt directly to the Merc manifold, the throttle bores are about 1/16" bigger in diameter and the manifold bores should be opened up. I have a jig and a devices called a "Rota-Broach" to do the job. Bigger carb, more power.
 
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If you switch to a Rochester 2GC carburetor, the vacuum advance signal to the distributor won't be correct. You would have to go with a centrifugal advance aftermarket distributor with or without a vacuum advance diaphragm. I know "charlie ny" on this forum makes and sells Chevy distributor conversions for 8BA flatheads.

Sal
 
Sal is right, of course. As a matter of fact, just about any carb you use to replace the stock unit will require a distributor change.
 
Since this motor was rebuilt, a few weeks ago, i'm getting a herky jerky motion after shifting gears. I've thought about a carb rebuild with Sal. But now I'm wondering if there could be a distributor problem.
 

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If you are working on a basically stock restoration, I agree with everyone about keeping the Holley. As I understand it, Sal is a good choice, as he is an expert on these.
 
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