Carburetor or Jets or ?

[JimCno]

Chris, there's not a lot of difference in the distributors over the years so I wouldn't run out and get a new one of those. I think you just need to go through and do a complete tune up. Make sure your plugs and wires and coil are good.  Check the timing, adjust the valves. Rebuild the carb if needed. Make sure all the easy stuff is working properly before you start buying new carbs and distributors.

Like I said, I have bits and pieces of engine parts that span a 22 years and everything is working just fine.

[Chris in Jax]

thanks for the reassurance, enough projects ongoing without creating more!
we will tweak the present carb as possible and keep an eye out for any available induction & distributor upgrades....
zoom-zoom!
-C in J

[David Pollock]

Nothing to panic about, Chris, the previous letter writer says that it can be made to work, and I believe him, so start by making sure your float level is set at the high end of specs and that the carb is in good shape. Your problem is nothing new. Even a rebore which increases displacement will upset the carb specs if they are on the lean side. A slightly rich mixture will hide a lot of sins.

  My P4 came with , I think, a stromberg carb which I could not get right. After using a Chev carb,  I finally settled on a Zenith such as found on International Green Diamond engines ( 1946-8). It worked so well, it is still in place after 30 years. I sold that car eight years ago and it still runs just fine.    On my PJ,  I have a  51 engine fitted with a 55 two barrel intake.  Performance is startling compared to the 37.  Improvement in the induction will gain you more HP than anything else except perhaps a significant raise in compression.  You do not really need an electronic ignition, just the IAT series distributor which was used from 51 to 59. It can be identified by a non counterweighted rotor and smaller cap.

In any case, your P4 exhaust manifold will fit the newer intake, so you can keep your present exhaust even if you do choose to update the intake.  dp

[JimCno]

I have a 230 from a '55 in my '35. The carburetor and manifolds are from '35 era. They have the 1 1/4" Venture and the 1 7/16" Throttle bore. I realize that I am missing some of the power from my 230 with the restricted intake and exhaust, but I have no problems running. If I can get my 230 to run just fine with the my equipment, that should not be your problem either.

[Chris in Jax]

YIPES!

wish I had asked this question before I rebuilt the heat riser and replaced the entire exhaust system.....

looks like I will be shopping for 230 manifolds & carb.  what do I look for to make sure I get the right parts?

the thing that will hurt most is having another new exhaust system installed. I know I can sell manifolds and carb on eBay but will likely have to eat the pipes & muffler.....

the solid state distributor was already on my to-do list.

is the P4 radiator sufficient for this engine?

[David Pollock]

I wish you had mentioned that you have a 53 engine before I sent you a carb gasket for a 37.  If you are trying to run a 230 with the manifolds from a 201, it is going to be way too lean. Pulling the choke might help but performance will be way off.  Try to get the manifolding from a p15 or later Plymouth or Dodge or even a Dodge truck.

A stop gap fix would be to use the carb found on a typical early 50's Chev, it has a barrel shaped float chamber and straight air cleaner collar and will actually fit on the 37 manifold. Make sure the power valve port on the base lines up with the slot in the gasket.

If you could get both intake and exhaust from  a later 50s truck, plus the carb and air cleaner, and use a 2 inch exhaust pipe as well as the  IAT ignition distributor, you will be very pleased with performance.

[Chris in Jax]

before we purchased our P4, it had an engine transplant and enjoys the extra juice of a '53 Dodge truck engine.
the carburetor on the car is a Carter C6F5. it runs OK but will not idle with the choke completely opened. does the additional displacement of this engine require larger jets in the same carb or a different carb or am I barking up the wrong tree altogether?