78CobraII
Moderator
They are pretty much all the same internally other than the later computer feedback carbs for CA.
The R number should ID the rebuild kit that you need. If you are not worried about originallity, mix and match parts to get what you want. My '76 carb had both the coolant heater and the electric heater. The electric heater goes up against the choke mechanism so that it brings the choke off quickly while it takes the coolant a while to reach temp. The coolant housing fits over the electric heater with a plate between to seal the water away from the heater.
These are designed by Weber, manufactured by Holley, sold by Motorcraft, and used by Ford. Sheesh...
A tuning book would help select jets, bleeds, cams, etc., especially if you are going for increased performance. I fiddled with mine for years, but probably did more to hurt fuel mileage than to increase performance! There weren't tuning books in the early '80's, so I modified it a bit each time I tore it down for a rebuild...smoothed the choke entry area, drilled the main jets, swapped air bleed screws. But it didn't make much of a diference because I had the wrong cam.
A hot-rodded 2.3L really benefits from more carb like the 350 CFM Holley (non-progressive) 2bbl or the Holley 390 cfm 4 bbl, but you have to have a high lift cam to make use of the extra cfm. The 5200 would be a great carb to use on a multiple carb manifold (if anyone made such a beast).
In 1980, "Hot Rod" magazine build a 2.3L in multiple stages and ended up with over 150 streetable HP (Stage II) and over 200 in race trim (Stage IV). Circle track guys are still building them this way , but have some better parts these days.
You are rebuilding an 1800?
The R number should ID the rebuild kit that you need. If you are not worried about originallity, mix and match parts to get what you want. My '76 carb had both the coolant heater and the electric heater. The electric heater goes up against the choke mechanism so that it brings the choke off quickly while it takes the coolant a while to reach temp. The coolant housing fits over the electric heater with a plate between to seal the water away from the heater.
These are designed by Weber, manufactured by Holley, sold by Motorcraft, and used by Ford. Sheesh...
A tuning book would help select jets, bleeds, cams, etc., especially if you are going for increased performance. I fiddled with mine for years, but probably did more to hurt fuel mileage than to increase performance! There weren't tuning books in the early '80's, so I modified it a bit each time I tore it down for a rebuild...smoothed the choke entry area, drilled the main jets, swapped air bleed screws. But it didn't make much of a diference because I had the wrong cam.
A hot-rodded 2.3L really benefits from more carb like the 350 CFM Holley (non-progressive) 2bbl or the Holley 390 cfm 4 bbl, but you have to have a high lift cam to make use of the extra cfm. The 5200 would be a great carb to use on a multiple carb manifold (if anyone made such a beast).
In 1980, "Hot Rod" magazine build a 2.3L in multiple stages and ended up with over 150 streetable HP (Stage II) and over 200 in race trim (Stage IV). Circle track guys are still building them this way , but have some better parts these days.
You are rebuilding an 1800?
