Sears Marvel 2405

legacy

legacy

Junior Member
I have a 1928 Ford Model A Tudor with a Tillotson carburetor.
The car stalls when I come to a stop, causing some very stressful situations, like blocking a lane of traffic while I try to get the car started.
I have spent a lot of time and money trying to fix this problem. I tried all the suggestions on this forum and even got an exchange rebuild carburetor from a reliable source. The problem continues and I stopped using the car.
I understand that Sears sold a carburetor, called the Sears Marvel 2405. It’s also called Allstate 2405.
Does anyone have any experience with these carburetors.
 
legacy said:
I have a 1928 Ford Model A Tudor with a Tillotson carburetor.
The car stalls when I come to a stop, causing some very stressful situations, like blocking a lane of traffic while I try to get the car started.
I have spent a lot of time and money trying to fix this problem. I tried all the suggestions on this forum and even got an exchange rebuild carburetor from a reliable source. The problem continues and I stopped using the car.
I understand that Sears sold a carburetor, called the Sears Marvel 2405. It’s also called Allstate 2405.
Does anyone have any experience with these carburetors.
Click to expand...

There are many threads on the Ford Barn about the Marvel Schebler/Allstate 2405/Johnson JFA carburetors, both pro and con.
 
i know nothing of the sears carb. sorry

that problem happens on the zenith as well. Tom endy has an article on it for the zenith re this issue but i don't know about the tillotson. maybe check his site it may be a similar fix.

i have a car with a zenith with that same problem. i have and still am fighting it. on mine it may be a throttle plate issue but am unsure as of this moment.
to compensate for that i adjust the gav open a little extra when driving in a stop and go situation.
 
My '31 Coupe has a Marvel as well. I know it has been on the car since at least 1954. There has never been a problem with it.
 
I doubt yoiur trouble is carb maker specific. any carb if set-up poorly can cause stalls. stalls on stopping could also be (Loose/worn) electrical in cause.
 
Does sound strange that the problem continues even after changing carburetor. I seen problems like this in the ignition lock if the wire shorts out inside the armor cable or loose contacts . Maybe run a continuity check on electrical.
 
I have run thousands of miles using a Marvel. I prefer it to a Zenith. have in the way back past switched to a B carb to eliminate the stalling issue, as the float is oriented differently and does not have the same issues.
 
The Marvel is great - There is one on my 31 CCPU. In my humble opinion, it is the best carb out there. Mine runs beautifully, more pep, idles fine and never stalls at a stop. I like it so much I got another one as a spare, and sent it to Gary Johnston for rebuild. I got it back a few weeks ago. It looks great.
 

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I have one on my B engined 29 Fordor. It keeps up with the B engine without a problem. It's been a great carburetor. It came from Gary Johnston also, he's Jim Bullock's son in law.
 
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I have friends that run Marvels from Jim Bullock/Gary Johnson and they run great. The problem I have with Marvels from Jim/Gary is they bead blast them and IMO ruin the finish. And why the allen screws?
 
The Marvel is a later design than Zenith. It uses an emulsion tube istead of multiple jets. The emulsion tube design was used on Stromberg 97’s as well, a much simpler design than the Zenith.

All three carburetors mention flow about half of the CFM of the A engine. Matching carb air flow to engine air flow yields peak performance.
 
If the float level is adjusted properly, none of the carbs should die after hard braking. As others have said, if it has this tendency you can open the GAV a bit to help, but I would pull the carb off and adjust it properly. Another thing that people do to compensate for this is increase the idle speed with the hand throttle. This also has adverse affects on the shifting ease. Low idle speeds makes a much smoother shift.
 
legacy said:
I have a 1928 Ford Model A Tudor with a Tillotson carburetor.
The car stalls when I come to a stop, causing some very stressful situations, like blocking a lane of traffic while I try to get the car started.
I have spent a lot of time and money trying to fix this problem. I tried all the suggestions on this forum and even got an exchange rebuild carburetor from a reliable source. The problem continues and I stopped using the car.
I understand that Sears sold a carburetor, called the Sears Marvel 2405. It’s also called Allstate 2405.
Does anyone have any experience with these carburetors.
Click to expand...

Only a suggestion..... it is important to determine if the car has a intermittent electrical issue or a fuel issue. If a reliable source carb has been installed and the problem remains the same, I would start looking elsewhere. A simple check would be to squirt starting fluid in the intake and then try and start, if it starts right away and then stops, that moves the problem possibly back to the fuel tank and a possible gas flow issue out of the fuel tank. A good way to see if there is a fuel blockage is remove the gas line to the carb and blow air back into the gas tank, reconnect and if the car starts and runs fine for a while again, there may be rust or sediment in the tank blocking gas flow. If the engine does not start, I would suggest moving on to electrical issues. ignition coils can fail once they get warmed up, by the way! Please let us know what you find out.
 
I run a Marvel and prefer it to the Zenith. I carry my Zenith under the seat for a spare. The folks below are excellent rebuilders of Model A Carbs. I bought my Marvel from them.

Contact the folks below to purchase a perfectly rebuilt Marvel:

MARVEL SHEMBLER CARBERATOR 903-490-3725
976 COUNTRY ROAD 2310 —karman10131@gmail.com
Gary Johnspon
TEXARKANA, TX 75503 CARBS/EXCELLENT WORK
 
Has anyone compared how an "A" with a Marvel carb runs compared to the Weber downdraft kits?

I know they are totally dissimilar, and the Marvel looks more appropriate.

Does the Marvel offer any improvements in running though over a Weber?
 
I have run a Marvel in the past and probably would again if I could find the fitting mine required at the carb inlet in order to adapt it to a standard Model A fuel line. I haven't seen this mentioned. Was (is) mine just weird? The inlet on my Marvel is not the same size as on any of the half dozen Tillotsons or Zeniths that I have.
 
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