Carb trouble 51 Flathead

WABOOM

WABOOM

Senior Member
Today didn't go as planned. I was on my way to the tire shop to get an alignment and have my Coker classics installed. The car started and drove normally as it usually does and I was cruising on the highway until I came to an intersection and the car stopped running. I popped the hood and gas was flowing out of the carburetor. I could not restart the car at all. I had a good strong spark. Curiously it would also not start with nose candy (ether starting spray). I ran the battery down and had it towed home. This is my 1951 Mercury with 8CM engine and the teapot Stromberg. It must need a rebuild. I can't decide if I should have the Stromberg rebuilt or if I should put another compatible carburetor on it. (Carter, Weber, Autolite) I have heard that the stromberg's are prone to flooding, and I want it to be more reliable.. Any suggestions?
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Have you determined if it is flooding or starving?
All the Merc. carbs I have seen are Holley 885's (not stromberg) and are not the "teapots" that are on '52-'53.
Rebuilding the carb won't hurt.
 
I also would consider rebuilding it, because if they are right, they run well and have the necessary vacuum source for the original distributor.
 
If gas was flowing out of the carb thenI would think the float or float needle was stuck. Lucky for you there was no fire. I agree with rebuilding the original. If I owned a car that pretty, I would keep it as original as possible. A bunch of expert carb guys on this forum... Mark
 
Oh man. You're right about Holley 885! I wrongly thought it was a Strom. I had no idea.
34PKUP said:
Have you determined if it is flooding or starving?
All the Merc. carbs I have seen are Holley 885's (not stromberg) and are not the "teapots" that are on '52-'53.
Rebuilding the carb won't hurt.
Click to expand...
 
While I totally agree with those that say stick with the Holley and keep it original, a Rochester 2GV fits these cars like they were made for it. Mount it backwards and everything falls into place, including the automatic choke. As mentioned earlier, the main bugaboo with a carb change on these cars is that it requires the distributor to be changed as well as the source for the vacuum to operate the Loadamatic distributor is not present. Then there's the problem that the original air cleaner won't work. On second thought, keep it original.
 
The Holley 885 is an oddball with the shroud cover and all but they do work well when right. If it just started puking fuel out of the blue, it's likely that it is a stuck float valve as was already mentioned. When working on these, be careful to get the float bowl back on the base and sealed well. Don't over tighten fasteners or the aluminum parts can get warped. Make sure the power valve piston is working correctly and insure that the vacuum circuit for it is also sealed well at reassembly. Some rebuild kits are better than others. You may want to contact Charlie ny for a good kit. He could rebuild it for you if you want.
 
Looking at your pictures leads me to believe that at some point in time the carburetor has been replaced with one not intended for Merc-O-matic use or they eliminated it on later models.
The ones for the automatic came equipped with a dashpot that supposedly kept the throttle from being closed too quickly.
I have run mine without the dashpot and have not seen any issues so I would not worry about the lack of it.
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Lovely '51 you have. Owned a '51 coupe in the mid-50's and loved it. Still think its one of the best looking in those times. Liked the stock carb. When I had that car fine tuned it ran like a camp.
 
I was looking at this carb for sale and it has a funky throttle lever... It looks like this is set up for the linkage to *push* for clockwise movement as opposed to "PULL for clockwise movement". But the listing says '51 Mercury. It is a fully restored unit. Any input on this?
Second picture is mine that pulls for clockwise acceleration.
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WABOOM said:
I was looking at this carb for sale and it has a funky throttle lever... It looks like this is set up for the linkage to *push* for clockwise movement as opposed to "PULL for clockwise movement". But the listing says '51 Mercury. It is a fully restored unit. Any input on this?
Second picture is mine that pulls for clockwise acceleration.
Click to expand...
That rebuilt carb. has the integral choke that was used in '49 and possibly some early 50's.
Yous has a divorced choke.
Also the '49 carb used a push motion to operate throttle.
 
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Keep in mind that there were early 51 cars that had the choke on the side of the air inlet and there were later types that had the divorced choke on the intake manifold. Then there is the dash pot for the Merc-O-matic cars. There were a lot of changes in 1951. There is a little code on the top of the pumper recess right up on top of the carb shroud. That code gives the build code information for the different applications and a rough date (year) of manufacture. There are big truck 885 carbs and Lincoln 337 carbs as well so use all the identifying info you can if you are looking for replacements. Some might be made to work easily and some may not.

Some sellers don't really know what they have. They see an 885 carb and they think Mercury but its a lot more complicated than that.
 
I just searched his name to send him a message, I couldn't find him. Can you message him for me?
 
Hello WABOOM,


My Ford Barn ID is scicala. My name is Sal Cicala. Yes, the restored carb picture you posted will not work with your throttle linkage, as it has to rotate in the opposite direction with the lever on top like that.
I can help you through a repair of your carb, or can rebuild it for you if you send it to me.
I believe kits for these run approx. $60 to $70 and even higher, depending on who is selling them.


Sal Cicala (586) 612-1650 email sal_cicala@yahoo.com
 
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