Confirmation on new carburetor for durasparked '85

[andyh13]

Hello,

Let me preface this all by saying I am not a smart man, and I know even less about trucks. I got a durasparked (by the previous owner) 5-speed 4x4 '85 Ranger with little rust and low miles off craigslist, and have been reading this forum for a while now.

The truck never ran that great, but the engine seems fine it has always just seemed to need a tune. I had it running a lot better once after replacing some vacuum plugs, but there always seemed to be something incredibly messed up with the idle speed and the choke. As I said I am certainly not an expert. I've blown cigar smoke up the vacuum hoses (not recently) and even when I didn't see an obvious leak these issues continued. The soon-to-be-retired guy who sits next to me at work is something of an expert in old Porsches, I brought it by one day and he said the engine is fine but he had no idea what's going on with the carb and suggested replacing it.

I spent 6 months hiking the Appalachian Trail, got back a couple months ago, and was playing with the choke trying to set it as described in https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/764150-will-not-idle-2.html#post6422219 before moving on to the idle adjustments. I think I finally just straight up broke whatever causes the choke plate to return, because the choke plate doesn't return any more. I think I did this subconsciously to force myself into buying a new carb, so that's what I plan on doing.

Can someone help verify that I have good parts selected for an attempt to finally sort this mess out? I am thinking I'll get a new-to-me 2150 from a '79 Pinto. This should have a choke on it, correct? Should I upgrade to the 350 cfm Holly listed on the duraspark conversion page?

I am also suspicious about the choke's vacuum pull off and would like to replace that. Should I order the part for a '79 pinto as well? Is there a good brand to order from? I'm not opposed to spending a bit more for quality parts if I can be confident they'll help me get this truck running better (or if they have a return policy where I'm not SOL if the problem isn't solved).

Is there anything else you guys think I should look into replacing to get this thing running much better (assuming the issue isn't much deeper, but please tell me if you think it is)?

On a similar note, does anyone have detailed procedures on how to set the choke and vacuum pull off? As well as the idle settings and fuel mixtures? Or can anyone provide feedback whether the link above seems to be any good? I know this is a lot to ask for, I wish I knew more about this stuff! I live in Michigan, so the winter weather can be pretty unforgiving to carb-newbies like me.

I apologize if these questions get asked often. I've tried to look through the forums for information but I'm too dumb to know what I can generalize to my situation and I'd rather not spend money on stuff that's unlikely to work. Please let me know if any pictures would be helpful.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Very few Carburetor questions come up any more, lol

Your 2.8l came with a 2150A which was a Feedback carb, 2150(no A) will be fine to use, they were good carbs
I would disassemble yours and have a look before spending money on the new one

Have a read here: http://grantorinosport.org/bubbaf250/carb/carb01.html

Glance thru Carb theory first, then go to Carb rebuild, its not all that complicated


The Holley P/N 0-7448 carb will bolt on and is a good carb, might get a bit more power, you do need throttle cable adapter, if memory serves

An electric only Choke is fine to use, choke may or may not be included with new carb you need to ask
Or..................you can setup a Manual Choke cable in the cab, these were used for YEARS, lol


Google: duraspark to HEI conversion

Chevy didn't make many great things, lol, but they DID when they made the HEI system
And you already have every thing to do the conversion except for the $15-$30 HEI module

 

[8thTon]

Welcome to TRS

Very few Carburetor questions come up any more, lol

Your 2.8l came with a 2150A which was a Feedback carb, 2150(no A) will be fine to use, they were good carbs
I would disassemble yours and have a look before spending money on the new one

Have a read here: http://grantorinosport.org/bubbaf250/carb/carb01.html

Glance thru Carb theory first, then go to Carb rebuild, its not all that complicated


The Holley P/N 0-7448 carb will bolt on and is a good carb, might get a bit more power, you do need throttle cable adapter, if memory serves

An electric only Choke is fine to use, choke may or may not be included with new carb you need to ask
Or..................you can setup a Manual Choke cable in the cab, these were used for YEARS, lol


Google: duraspark to HEI conversion

Chevy didn't make many great things, lol, but they DID when they made the HEI system
And you already have every thing to do the conversion except for the $15-$30 HEI module

2150 really was one of the best street carbs ever made, even if not as easily rejetted as others.

HEI though was no improvement over Duraspark. It was designed for cheaper assembly costs as a self contained unit, packing the coil and control module onto the distributor - not a good idea from an electronics point of view as the acring in the cap is a huge noise source. And there wasn’t enough room for a good coil either. Ford eventually followed that error with TFI, though at least the coil was not there.

If you just use the HEI module it’s OK, but no better than the Duraspark.

 

[RonD]

Yes, GM's Coil on Cap had its issues, but HEI module wasn't that
It was same remote module style as durspark, but way more reliable with better spark than duraspark

 

[8thTon]

The weak spark on some Duraspark units is the coil. Swap in a TFI coil.

 

[4x4prepper]

> Should I upgrade to the 350 cfm Holly

no, too big, i had one, unless you want to rejet it.

This coil works fine with duraspark
Accel 8140
from AdvanceAuto