this is a good time for people to learn from my mishap. the carb in the big red truck was leaking enough gas that i really started to worry about a fire issue. i knew it wasnt a stock carb as it is a 4 brl. got the holley list number and called holley to see about a rebuild kit. they had one and told me the carb came off a 58 merc 383. thats when i should have asked a few more questions. got the kit number from them and ordered the kit locally. a guy at our truck shop that races 410 outlaw sprints said piece of cake, he would do it for $50. sounded good to me. he ended up soaking it for 2 days to get all the crud off and said the needle and seat in the kit are wrong. called holley again and they said there needle and seat are right and someone had installed the wrong kit before. again, the light didnt go off. should have asked more questions. put the new stuff in and got a different float as the wrong old parts had bent the float to bad to reuse. got the carb back and put it on, fired it up and it sat there and purred like a kitten. leaked gas out of the acc. pump to. took it back off to inspect and found 4 heli-coils in the primary bowl that holds the acc. pump on. one had pulled out. called holley to get a new bowl and thats when i discovered that the 58 merc holley was a one year only carb and there are no bowls. a trip to the bone yard and i couldnt believe my luck, i found a match! so im showing randy the carb guy and we notice it doesnt have the hole for the transfer tube to the rear bowl. its for a 2 brl. he drilled the hole to feed the rear bowl and hopefully i will have it today. starting to think i should have gotten that brand new carb for $250 and free shipping.

OK, im done crying now.

 

Which of your vehicle's had this 4 barrel on it? On what engine? Just wondering.

 

Don't ya just love the learning curve? I had one of those, for a 57 IIRC, found out it was worth a lot more on ebay than it was to me.

 

the 1960 f250 4x4. it has a 292 with a four barrel square bore intake. i have no idea what the intake came off of. i do not believe the 292 ever came from the factory with a 4 brl. maybe the HD did but i dont know. its a direct bolt on. and now i know that merc made a 383. never knew that before either. on a brighter note, now the secondaries will work and the choke is free again. i have had this truck for almost 16 years and the secondaries have never opened due to it missing some parts. wonder how it will drive now.

 

There were probably 292 cars with a 4 barrel, for sure 312s

 

i always assumed it had a 312 intake, but havent researched it enough to figure it out. carb is done today so we will see how the test drive goes. hopefully no more leaks. now the test will be to see if it boogs out when and if the secondaries open. maybe those parts were missing on purpose so it acted like a 2brl.

 

got the carb on and went for a ride with the kids. this was the first time i have drove the big red truck with the secondaries working, and holy crap, i wish i would have done this 15 years ago. learned a few good lessons along the way and the truck is alot more fun now. no more down shifting on the long hills, if there is such a thing in SD. got the exhaust leak fixed to. wish i could afford the gas to drive it every day.

 

That intake & carb combo sounds like a good upgrade - do you know where I might start looking for them?

 

Evilbay is your friend, This is just one of several manifolds.
55 56 Ford Thunderbird Fairlane Y Block 4 Barrel Intake Manifold 292 312 | eBay

Good luck in your quest.

 

[quote=and now i know that merc made a 383[/quote]
That was the baby of the MELs (Mercury Edsel Lincolns also 410, 430, 462), I know where I can get my hands on a nice running example of one and always thought it would be a nice contemporary hot rod motor for my 56, but with my gearing (F-350) not sure feeding the extra cubic inches would be worth it as long as my 292 is running fine (if it aint broke...).
Miss the frigs over on 49-56, glad you have your own home but sometimes forget you are here.

 

well there a 3 more engines i have never heard of. the 383 is a baby? i think of my 292 as a baby. at least that little sweetie is breathing better with 4 barrels instead of the 2.

 

Looked at some manifold/carb combos - saw a tri-power setup that looked sweet, but I don't have $1000 to spend on it. Anyone have any suggestions on a 4bbl carb for the 292 4bbl manifold? I'm leaning towards Holley, but have no idea on model, cfm, etc.

 

if it were me i would get a brand new edelbrock 600 cfm street carb. they are based off the old carter carbs and crazy stupid to adjust. manual choke and vacuum secondaries. i think they are throwing in the aircleaner for free right now.