Zanzer's 1986 B2000

Think I could sell them on Ebay using that disclaimer??

Hey, between the pics and the instructions, you should be covered. I've seen much, much worse being sold on there and craigslist.

Not much going on with The B the last few days other than some tweaking and tuning. I ran some "redneck Seafoam" through it the other night using a little metering apparatus I built. It's a 50/50 mixture of ATF and Berryman Chemtool. The truck (but not the neighbors) seemed to really like it after the smoke cleared

Other than that I installed a cheap little 6 1/2" air cleaner I bought for an engine driven welder I had about a decade ago but never installed before I sold it, and I installed a McParts store PCV breather. I used the air cleaner so I could easily access the carb for adjustments. I guess the looks are just and added bonus LOL

I was a little worried at first, but it looks like the new mods are "Arrow Approved"




I think today I'm going to install the NGK AFX AFR so I can monitor the air/fuel ratio better. I'm trying to maximized with what I have before I install the new ignition system to see if it alone yields any improvements on an old tired engine.

~12:1 AFR while cruising. I guess I shouldn't worry about burning any valves anytime soon

I got to thinking about it last night and I figure the AFR is so fat because the PO stripped all the emissions equipment off the truck because he said "they run better without it"....uhmm, ya...not really.

I figure since none of that stuff is working anymore (EGR, slow fuel cut solenoid, 02 sensor, mixture control valve, etc) it's running like a feedback system in Limp Mode and reverts to pig rich. Now I know why the truck got such great fuel mileage with 8 vacuum leaks and dropped like a rock when I fixed them. I may need to pull a few vacuum plugs and idle it down LOL


But I think I may have scored on Ebay!! I've been wanting to dump the darling Nikki in favor of a Weber due to the PO's previous "emissions delete" and while cruising on the Bay last night I came across a Holley 5200 the seller had listed as a "Motorcraft 2150". I've built a few 2150's and 2100's and it definitely is not one of those. He had it listed for $40, so obviously I clicked "buy it now"

I picked up a 2.5" air cleaner assembly for it too so we'll see what I get in a few days when the stuff arrives. I know I'll have to fab an adapter plate and mod the linkage.

Mini update:

Here's a pic of the "Motorcraft 2150" carburetor I scored on Ebay for 40 bucks




And just for reference, this is a Motorcraft 2150

is it better than a Weber and does it bolt on?

Better than a Weber? Depends on who you ask and I think it would be one of those "Ford vs Chevy" type conversations that boils down to personal preference. The 5200 is basically a mirror image of a Weber 32/36 DGAV other than the 5200 having a little smaller fuel bowl and slightly different idle jets. The 5200 was produced by Holley under a licensing agreement with Weber and the 5200 actually has "Holley licensed by Weber" cast into the bottom of the fuel bowl.

I personally prefer a Holley but I have a soft spot for them from modifying and tuning 2300's, 4150's, 4160's, and 4500's "back in the day". I've worked with about every carb out there and it seems I always come back to the Holley due to reliability and ease of tuning. I will say that the fit and finish on the old 5200's are better than a lot of Redline's I've seen lately. I actually had to go through a friends new Redline 32/36 DGEV the other night and straighten out a bunch of stuff, they even had one of the floats bent lower than the other

Also, the 5200 was as reliable as a hammer on the Pinto and Mustang II. Carb issues were one of the problems you didn't hear about LOL

The 5200 should bolt up using the Weber adapter plate, but I'm not sure about the accelerator linkage since it's different. I'll have a definite answer for you in a couple of weeks after I install this one.


Here's a link with some more info about installing the 5200 on a B series.

So I finished up the first tank running the "tricked Nikki" last night and my MPG's seem to be moving in the right direction now. I got almost 23mpg which is a 3mpg increase since fooling the Nikki carb and a 6mpg increase since discovering the issue. This isn't far off from the truck's personal best of 27mpg (on Summer gas) if you allow for a 10% drop in mileage due to running Winter mix fuel now (which would make the target 24mpg based on Winter blend fuel). It may have actually hit that target but the choke flap hung up in the carb on the way home the other night after working on a friend's Weber and the truck would rev to almost 3k when in neutral and the AFR was pig rich. But it was late and cold so I let it ride and fixed it the next day


Here's the graph so far:



You see the sharp drop off where I discovered the the Nikki had massive vacuum leaks and fixed them. At the trough was were where I assumed the carb was running in limp mode and the leaks were actually helping it. The ups and downs on the graph were the process to alleviate this (without AFR data to rely on). Then the upward climb is after I installed the AFR gauge and started tuning it out. At least it's tracking upward now

My plan is to continue to run the Nikki for 2 more tanks since it's takes at least 3 data points to form an average. I prefer at least 5-6 for better resolution, but in the interest of time I'm going with 3 so I can move ahead with future modifications.

After the Nikki I'm going to install the Holley 5200 and track it for 3 tanks (after tuning for proper AFR) and see if there is further improvement. Also, at some point I want to decrease the rear gear ratio. I noticed last night that my AFR's were dead on (14.2 - 14.5) until I got over 65mph, at which point they would drop like a stone down to 11's to 12's. The engine was turning almost 3k above 65 and the truck was screaming for another gear. I'm hoping to pick up a set of 3.63's and 3.30's this weekend for testing in the truck.

After that it's on to installing DIS on the wore out engine and see if that yields any gains before doing the 2.2 12V swap

I know this will take a while, but I'm a "1 variable at a time" kinda guy since it allows me to collect more accurate data for mods vs. gains/losses.

Mini update:

2nd tank with the Nikki = 23.5mpg (0.8 increase over previous tank). One more tank and it's on to the 5200


Also, there may be a set of .712 OD gears in the trucks future