Re: 1955 caribbean dual carb

Posted by Leeedy On 2017/11/2 19:07:53
Quote:

29tons wrote:
I was wondering if a 55 caribbean with single carb could be changed to dual carbs or is the motor built different and what are the differences.


All 1955 and 1956 Caribbeans came from the factory with dual quads. If your 1955 Caribbean has a single quad... somebody along the way removed the duals. Seen this done a lot over the years when people thought it would save money or they didn't want to have two carbs rebuilt when they could get by with one.

As for modifications to the engine... actually there was indeed a modification to the engine to accept dual quads and this is apparently forgotten today. The breather pipe on the galley cover under the rear of the intake manifold for dual-carb engines was flattened on top. The reason was to clear the extra bulk of the rear underside of the dual quad manifold.

Many have been the times when I have heard from someone attempting to install dual quads on an engine that had a single quad. "The manifold won't fit down to bolt it on the engine!!!" is the usual complaint! People think there is something horribly wrong when in fact it is simply the wrong breather tube hitting the underside of the intake and preventing it from seating properly.

I have seen people try to king-kong the dual quad manifold into place by tightening the daylights out of the manifold bolts with the wrong breather pipe under it. In one case, the poor fellow could never get his intake manifold gasket to seal and had huge leaks all around the gaskets. So these things can...and have happened.

Now IF your engine was the original, chances are the correct flattened breather tube on the galley will still be in place. However, if your engine has been swapped out, the breather tube on the galley cover is likely going to be round with no indentation. No cigar.

In THIS case, you will need to remove the galley cover and either replace it with a correct one... OR carefully flatten the top of the breather tube far enough to clear the dual-quad intake manifold. Otherwise it won't bolt in.

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