1955 "tea kettle" Carburetor feedback

[ShellyB55]

The 'tea kettle' has a bad reputation. Is it justified?? I see an adaptor plate for mounting a newer style carb. I want the most dependable carb on this Tbird. Thoughts?? Thnx

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[REDTOY]

On my 56 it was rebuilt 20 years ago and adjusted once or maybe twice and it hasn't failed me yet, I'm happy I kept the original.

 

[cokefirst]

IMHO most of the problems with the teapot carburetor have to do with improper rebuilding and cleaning. if this carburetor is rebuilt with care it will perform admirably. I have sent my carburetors to rebuilders and have never had one done correctly. I used the manual, and carefully cleaned and reassembled the carburetor and every time they work.

 

[doug7740]

The 'tea kettle' has a bad reputation. Is it justified?? I see an adaptor plate for mounting a newer style carb. I want the most dependable carb on this Tbird. Thoughts?? Thnx

I still have a “Teapot” carburetor on my 1955 Thunderbird and have not considered changing it. I rebuilt the carburetor myself in 2014 and my car can hold its own in both acceleration and the ability to pass at highway speeds. My car is equipped with a Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission and the average fuel economy is around 14 MPG.

If you install a newer style carburetor you will also have to change or modify the distributor. In a conventional distributor, the weights and vacuum advance work together to give the right amount of advance for any engine speed or load situation. A 1955 Thunderbird is equipped with a Load-O-Matic distributor which has no weights and only relies on vacuum from the spark control valve, mounted on the carburetor, to send the right amount of vacuum to the distributor.

The amount of vacuum that the Load-O-Matic works with is very low, compared to a conventional distributor’s vacuum system. Since this signal is used to provide both the load and rpm of the engine, you can see when you swap a regular carburetor on a Load-O-Matic equipped Y Block, the manifold vacuum signal will not provide the right information to the Load-O-Matic distributor.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[thessler]

I put a Holley on my 56, and swapped out the distributor with electronic and mechanical advance.
The performance difference is amazing. And my old t pot worked fine.