Tillotson Carburetors

[Ron in Quincy]

I just acquired a milk crate full of Tillotson carburetors; they have been stored a long time; most were complete. Among these carbs were 5 of the very early Tillotson ie, single bolt to hold both halves together, regular Zenith float and valve, filter screen at front like the Zenith, choke driver-housing- needle and choke lever just like the Zenith. Of course they also have the power valve when throttle opened fully.

I have rebuilt the regular later Tillotsons, but have never tried one of the early ones.

Has onyone rebuilt and tried using one of the early Tillotson ?

Are they reliable ?

What kind of mileage can one expect ?

Note: one of these early Tillotson is marked tottally different than all others I've seen. It only has the single word "Tillotson" on the front of the lower housing ( all the others have "Tillotson" and below "Made in USA"; also the idle plug on the front of the upper housing is marked " H inside a diamond", also the throttle plate is marked " 10 1/2 T ". Is this one possible a for runner to the ones marked with "Made in USA " ?

Thanks for any feed back,

Ron

 

[steve s]

There was an extensive thread on those carbs a few months ago. Maybe you can turn it up using Search. The Zenith-like Tillotson was the F1B. It was reputed to be very efficient, giving good mileage. Details about a Skinned Knuckles article describing it about 15-20 years ago are in earlier thread. I believe that repair parts must be scavenged.

Hopefully, someone with a better memory will chime in.

Steve

aha, found it, sort of:

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10513

 

[Richard Lorenz]

Ron: Your odd early one might be an F1A. I have two of that type. The throttle shaft might be shorter on the F1A if my memory is any good.

These are very good carburetors (F1A and B) but difficult to clean. You might have trouble if you have a rusty gas tank because of the numerous small passages in this carburetor. I have used a couple with success, and 2 of our club members have them on cars now. Russel Baetke gave a talk at Tacoma years ago and said that he got about 10% more mileage with the F1B compared with the regular Zenith.

 

[barnstuf]

I have run one with Tillotson on the bowl, and with the power valve, for years. My Coupe does not have rust in the tank so I do not have to clean the carburetor. The last time I checked my miles per gallon I let the car run out of gas, added exactly one gallon, drove at 35 to 40 mph and got exactly 26 miles before running out again. The engine is stock and the test was done with the 3.78 rear end. My carburetor does not idle as well as a Zenith but is otherwise equal or better. I have Zeniths on my other Model A's.

 

[Ron in Quincy]

Thanks everyone,

The odd one I'm going to rebuild; will have to make my own gasket. It is a F-1B. It has screws on the bottom into passageways, which can be removed for better cleaning; these are factory installed screws.

One of the other F-1Bs had two gaskets as the upper housing was slightly warped.

This could be the problem with your idle; the same thing happens on the later Tillotsons, the top warps and you loose control of the idle air adjustment screw. It normally effects the idle only.

Bare the carburetor, put a large hose clamp around the top and bottom and draw up very tight; ( when the wife is gone) put the carb in the oven, at 350 degrees, for 1/2 hour, remove and let cool with clamp in place. This works on the later Tillotson will probable work on the F-1A or B.

Will post the results of my use of this F-1B.

Ron