I knew Ford put a Mercury engine in the 55 TBird, well, all three years.  I didn't know they shared the same numbers on the intake manifolds.  But I guess it would be difficult to put a new code on an intake manifold just for the 55 T'bird.  Easier to do that with a carburetor.  My 292 has performed well.  It is too bad Ford didn't make the 55 Tbird with a 12 volt system.  One bridge too far at the time.  Robert McNamara, yes, that Robert McNamara, moved in over the TBirds after the 1955 was in production and ordered the entire class scuttled.  When the engineers explained that the designs were already in on the 56's, McNamara said kill the 57s.  But Ford had no alternative for the 57 either.  Matter of fact, the 57 was made through December 31, 1957.  A longer run than normal.  Those last Tbirds were supercharged.  Could do 6.7 in 0-60 and a top end of 140 according to the best info I found.  But, we're lucky we have the 56 and 57 birds.  The 58, 59 and 60 Birds outsold the two seaters.  Still, one has to wonder where Ford and Thunderbird would be if Ford had kept a two seater.  Would have been an interesting competition between the Corvette and the Thunderbirds as the 1960s wore on

I'm reading about the improvement in the 4150 carb from the 57 engines along with the 57 intake manifold.  Makes me wonder if I want to replace the original intake manifold and carb.  Of course, I have no way to operate the choke on the 57 Carb.  I can always bring in a manual line, I guess.     

Back in the 1960s someone put a 1955 intake and carb on my 56 312 Tbird and matching dist. It ran well with no issues actually impressive. I bought the car in 1984 rebuilt the carb because it was parked in 1966 and yes I replaced other rubber parts and belts be cause of dry rot. After a few years of driving as it was I decided to upgrade to a 1957 intake and later 4V carb and distributor and was impressed with the better performance and gas mileage. The 370 cfm holley 4000 is too small for performance on a 312 in my opinion as well as the intake for breath ability. The later distributor performed mush better than the loadomatic. That's why ford went into that direction of upgrades to keep up with the competition and it worked.


-Gary Burnette-

What dist did you use with the 57carb and manifold,interested to know .  my last 55bird had original style carb and dist,it worked fine,just hard to start after siting 2 weeks. never had hot start isue,had reg adjusted to 9volts charge,carbes wer not hard to work on geting some parts a bit of a strugle as throttle shafts  usualy worn.siting 2 week isue adresed with elc fuel pump maualy activated.

Good info on the t bird carbs,i will file that for future reference,thanks for posting it.Also a good story about getting stuck on rr tracks  Carl

The original carbs for the 1955 TBird:
ECJ-9510-L List 1077-1 (3 speed)
ECJ-9510-M List 1078-1 (Auto)
And I show an ECJ-910-T List 1078-2A (unknown)

Replacement Carbs:
ECJ-9501-L List 997-1 (3 speed)
ECJ-9510-G List 1077 (3 speed)
ECJ-9510-D List 998-1 (Auto)
ECJ-9510-H List 1078 (Auto)

My 1955 TBird has the 57 intake manifold and the 4150 57 Tbird 4 barrel carb as well.  I finally found the original 4 barrel carb and intake manifolds.  I am assuming that people went to the 57 carb and intakes under the theory they would get more power.  I haven't seen any confirmation on that. I bought mine in early 1963.  So the change over happened in my car fairly quickly.   My research indicates the original carb and intake are actually good pieces of equipment.  But a carb overhaul is $350 to $450 and the guys that know these cars recommend using somebody who knows them to rebuild them.  I'm going to have to decide if I want to make the change back to original so the air cleaner fits.  The rest of the car is original.  That means it can be hard to start with the 6 volt if the engine is too hot.  Since I have a 3 speed with OD, I used to push it, hop in, throw it into 2nd, and pop the clutch.  Those were the days.


One night when driving across country, the car died on a railroad track inside a small town.  A restaurant was open, and I noticed a police car.  I went in and saw the policeman.  I approached him and asked if he would mind giving me a push off the tracks.  "Can't do it.  Against regulations." I was a little surprised  "You know it's sitting on the tracks, right?"  "Mister, it is still against regulations."  "In that case," I told him.  "I'm going to sit down and order up some food and wait for the next train.  When it comes, I'll ask your superior if he would have pushed my car off the tracks."  The officer mumbled under his breath, and said wait until I finish and I'll come push you off."  Fortunately no train came while he was eating. In his defense, I'm sure somebody above him laid down the law about giving pushes.

Allan 

The ECB 9425 B manifold was also used on the 55 Mercs,so really not that hard to find.  Carl

The spacer picture i posted is the tapered model from speedway. I wouldn't go that route unless you want to open the intake ports to match it.

1955 tbird 

Hi , I have the later model y block ECZ9425B manifold complete with a Holly 600 4bbl carb and chrome air cleaner . I will take $250.00 plus s-h. It has fresh paint and also includes a good water outlet  housing and  fresh gasket. email karimu@frontiernet.net or call 928 855 7340 in AZ.

There are several ways to make a good match - I used a phenolic spacer I could modify to adapt (tapered to smaller size below). You need a heat break in there anyway - it is very effective in stopping percolation of fuel.

Slotting the manifold is a proven concept and many manifolds have been reconfigured with a grinder.

Ted - in particular - has run a lot of tests with spacers and adapters - and I would suggest using an "educated" shape of spacer between the carb and the manifold even if slotted.







 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

There are tapered adapters available, I think from Speedway.  You can also scribe the manifold and open it up to match the spacer.


Lawrenceville, GA