Lincoln Y-Block 318 Problems

[Dobie Gillis]

The Loadomatic distributor timing advance was vacuum only, there were no flyweights. The vacuum supplied to the distributor was through a special passage in the carburetor and was varied by throttle opening. Effectively they were a matched pair. The advance specs varied between brands (Ford, Mercury, Lincoln) and likely by engine displacement. Any other type of carburetor will not supply the proper vacuum signal to the distributor. The engine will run with the wrong type of carb, but not very well except within a vary narrow range of RPMs and load. Performance and gas mileage will be the pits. It wasn't one of Ford's better ideas.

 

[scicala]

I am currently having a similar issue. The carb on the 53 lincoln capri is siezed and doesnt appear to be in any hurry to free up. Bit lost about the earlier part of this thread when saying the distributor would not work with any other carb as it is vacuum advance? Is it ported or manifold vac? and why would it not work with any other carb ? Thanks in advance

Hello,

I have a restored Holley 2140 carburetor for a '53 Lincoln 317 if you are interested. It's a one year only carburetor. There is an add for it in the swap meet section of Ford Barn. It won't let me load pictures, but if you give me your email address I can send pictures.

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

 

[Lost and Profound]

Thanks for the replies all. Makes sense now. I dont like it... but it makes sense.

 

[KULTULZ]

It seems to me the first question to ask yourself is if the car will be a driver, performance and/or a dedicated restoration.

There is nothing wrong (IMO) with LOAD-O-MATIC for an everyday street car if tuned properly with matched components. If you want to bypass the LOM and perhaps gain a little more performance, you would then consider the 1957/ DUAL ADVANCE DIST and an appropriate carb.

I used to exchange with person(s) in EUROPE some time ago, and each country seemed to have their own car club, thereby being able to help one another. There was one guy (GERMANY?) that setup a method where he would have filled a container with orders in N. JERSEY and it came in @ Antwerp to hold import costs down.

 

[packrat5]

Guys, the y-block and Lincoln distributors interchange. All you need to do is switch the gears. Plus, if you do that you will have to upgrade to a later hex-drive oil pump as well.

 

[TomO]

The 53 Lincoln distributor had a mechanical advance that was connected to the throttle on the carburetor. To change to a later carb and distributor, you will probably have to change the linkage and make sure that it works with the hydramatic.


IMHO your best bet is to buy the 1953 carburetor from Sal and use that. I am running one of his rebuilt carbs on my 53 Lincoln and it worked fine until someone "fixed" it before it was broken.

 

[KULTULZ]

The 53 Lincoln distributor had a mechanical advance that was connected to the throttle on the carburetor. To change to a later carb and distributor, you will probably have to change the linkage and make sure that it works with the hydramatic.

Another little interesting caveat -

Learn something everyday here ...