Carb and Exhaust Setup

[Aubrey3]

Wondering if anyone has run this setup and how it performs.

I have a '66 with the 352 with stock manifolds and dual exhaust. It has a 2 barrel that is almost stock.

I'm thinking of maybe running a 2 barrel from a '69 Torino or a '67 Galaxie 500 for the larger bore size, going to shorty headers and sticking with a dual exhaust. Would this open up any potential in the engine or is it all hot air and pipe dreams?

[Aubrey3]

Sorry - can an Admin move this to the proper section?

[1972hiboy]

I'll take a stab at this. It kinda depends on what your intended use for the truck is. You looking for speed and performance? or just looking for some marginal upgrades? If your sticking with the 2bbl you may want to consider the Holley 2bbl. they make a 500cfm option and a lot of guys over the years have really liked them. Dual exhaust is great but your going to get a lot of different feedback on the headers. Me personally, based on my experience and what I use my truck for i'll say this. My 4x4 truck came with long tube headers and after I saw how it affected my ability to service the starter motor made me change back to stock manifolds. After getting my manifolds decked and new gaskets and good quality hardware i've been happy to sacrifice any power loss ( which for me was not even note worthy) to make the truck easier to service and work on. But you will have the same old story of headers leak, cook starters, limit access etc etc, and the header guys will say the stock manifolds are worthless, leak, take power away, are radio active etc etc. It will be a decision you will have to make based on research / opinions you get here on the forum. Headers do have their place in the world but the stock manifolds are very usable too. If its just a truck you like driving around not doing any serious towing or stop light to stop light racing then I would think any good 2bbl carb you choose with dual exhaust with the stock manifold would do you just fine. Pocket the money you would spend on headers for something else or put headers on if you ever decide to go 4bbl or any other significant performance upgrade.

[Aubrey3]

Thanks
I know I don't want long tubes. I don't know that there's that much performance to be got from short tubes especially on a stock motor. So I'll likely save the money as you suggest and stick with my stock manifolds.

I don't do any towing and it's more of an around town truck. I'd just like to eek out some performance if there is any. I'm going to stick to a 2BBL for now, but saw that the larger bore 2BBL can be had and is a direct bolt on. Not sure how much or what difference it would make though.

[1972hiboy]

Yeah they did have a few flavors of Autolite 2100's as far as venturi sizes go. I would think though that the Ford restoration purist would drive the market prices up on those to have correct number carbs on their cars. As far as performance improvements? I think on a X mileage 352 you prob wont notice much if any. I would weigh the cost difference between a larger than your current Autolite 2100 vs the Holley 500cfm. But really the foundation of seeking your goal of just making a happy runner with a little bit more than what you have now would be in starting with a good tune up to the ignition system, rebuild your current carb with a fresh ethanol friendly gasket kit and measure up the internals and check for throttle shaft play to make sure its not excessive. Make sure your current exhaust manifolds are not leaking at the head or joint with the exhaust pipe. A exhaust leak at the manifolds will rob low end power and fuel economy. Checking your ignition timing to see where your at and making sure the advance is working properly. All these things in combination can vastly improve your drive-ability if these things haven't been checked up on in awhile. I don't know what you have done to your truck up until this point however but I figured it was all worth mentioning.

[Aubrey3]

Thanks again

I have a Pertronix II, their coil, new cap, rotor, plugs, wires. Tuned up the current carb and routed/capped properly vacuum ports. She runs good and really good when it is hottest out. There's a slight exhaust leak at start up I think which is partly why I ask the question regarding headers. The exhaust manifolds seem to be fine, but the exhaust pipes all the way back are rust covered so bad it's amazing they are still on the truck. But the insides seem pretty solid. So at some point here I'll have the exhaust run and new mufflers.

For the 2100 in that little bigger venture size the price isn't too bad. My current one had been rebuilt in the past to unknown quality based on how things are on the outside. I figured if I replace it then I know everything is tight and right. (supposedly) And I could pick up a larger mouth in the process without going to a 500 or 600 cfm carb. Air is lean here so there's not much to suck in anyway.

Basically, I'm just looking to give her a lift and tuck. Not looking to take her from a C cup to DDs.