Fuel System: carb problems

[Polle]

Hi everyone,

I recently put a carter WCD two barrel carb on the v8 commander that I built into my 55 truck.
From the first start up, the engine seemed to run fine on it.But now I'm experiencing problems
The engine uses fuel like I've never seen before. For some reason the mixture is far to rich and I can't seem to change it using the mixture / idle screws.

I've allready taken the carb apart twice and there seems to be nothing wrong. Floats and acc. pump seem te be ok.Gaskets seem to be fine.

I did some searching on the web and found out these carbs were also used on cadillac engines. Could it be that these carbs are just too big for the engine?
The carb has fixed squirters (I'm not sure if that's the right english word, sorry) that can't be replaced with smaller ones.

I hope you guys can advise on what to do? Maybe try a different carb. Which type should I go for?

Thanks a lot for all your help in advance guys!
Cheers John-Paul (Polle), The Netherlands, Europe!

[Mrs K Corbin]

check to see if some "junk" hasn't got into the needle seat area..... It will allow serious flooding.....
if you do find something, clean it out, then put in a brand new filter prior to the carb.....

[Polle]

thanks for the respons. we have checked if there's any junk in the carb but all seems clean. Do you know what carb is normally used on a v8 Commander 259? Since I'm from europe, is there any (land)rover carbs that fit this engine maybe? Thanks again!

[Polle]

Im reading some stuff on how an edelbrock 500 works well on a 259. Will that fit the stock manifold? Any other options? Cheers!

[PackardV8]

FWIW, the Carter WCD was used on 1950-54 Buick and Jeep as well as '41-55 Buick, Cadillac, Kaiser and Pontiac.

It's a fairly simple design and there's no reason it won't work on your Studebaker V8. I'd think there are auto repair facilities in your country which have exhaust gas analyzers. You need to know the air/fuel ratio at idle and cruise. At idle, it should be 14 to 16:1 and at cruise around 14:1. If it is too rich, you'll need smaller main jets. Here's a good source. http://www.carbkitsource.com/carbs/t...-2V-index.html
One possiblilty is your fuel pump may be putting out too much pressure. The older carbs don't like to run more than about three pounds of pressure. If trhe pressure is too high, it will force the needle off the seat and spill fuel into the main jets. You may need a pressure regulator installed at the carburetor. They aren't expensive.

jack vines

[Polle]

thanks Jack, I installed a Carter carb that used to be on a 318 small block (chrysler) that a friend of mine had lying around. My pick up now purrs like a kitten

Thanks for the help!