These carburetors are actually easy to rebuild!! I keep on hand very good quality kits from Daytona for both my Holley 885-FFC in my 50 Mercury, the first 2 barrel version of this series and of course for my 4000 series in my Mark II. I find them easy due to being a certified mechanic for 40 years but in reality look on eBay and you will find OEM Holley complete service manuals for these and all other models. I purchased one of these books for all the models of Holley I have on hand since they are a thin separate book for each model. They give more detail than even the OEM Lincoln, Mercury, or Ford service manual as well!
This 885-FFC looks much more unusual because of the airhorn used to position the air cleaner behind the carburetor and in 52 they removed the airhorn and changed the aluminum housing so the air filter sits ontop. Yes it works very well and shares the same needle and seat as some of the 4 barrel and also the float so I keep these on hand.
If your carburetor is quite dirty and varnished from sitting, invest in a bucket of gunk carburetor cleaner with a basket and carefully disassemble placing only metal parts in the basket otherwise they will get disolved in the cleaner!
I ignore using hot water to rinse in the gunk instructions after cleaning because I have found using a spray can of carburetor cleaner to rinse the parts in the basket works better. Besides I also rinse with the basket over the bucket and this revitalizes the gunk as it gets used a number of times and the lighter parts of it evaporate.
Are they complicated? Not at all! If you have never rebuilt one before, first call Daytona and give them the numbers stamped on the base because these are needed for the correct kit!
Not only do you need this kit, if you decide to take it to somebody who is PROPERLY QUALIFIED, most likely they will not have one on hand anyway.
If you decide to take this task on:
First clean most or all of the grime off the exterior with aerosol carburetor cleaner first.
Follow the parts breakdown and instructions within the kit or preferred Holley manual for proper disassembly and if in doubt take plenty of detailed pictures and yes measure the float height using a straight edge and caliper to compare with the specs in the instructions. Oh and for ease of assembly count the number of turns until they bottom out, the idle mixture screws so you can put them back in the same position during assembly. Also your choke thermostat which has index marks for adjustment otherwise you will have to experiment for the best choke setting.
Follow the instructions carefully and pay close attention to small balls and plungers!! They are used in the accelerator pump and nozzles for accelerator pump circuit.
Better yet get a CLEAN shallow baking pan with walls on each side and tip the carburetor upside down over this pan to catch ANYTHING that falls out so it doesn't get lost!
Whatever is in your pan that is metal, place in your gunk basket and soak for an hour or two, remove and then rinse and use compressed air to blow through passages and the housing to remove any dirt or grime left behind. When dry and clean follow the steps in your manual or kit instructions.
What is the most common mistake made?
NOT HAVING ENOUGH PATIENTS during disassembly or assembly and being rammy forcing and bending linkages. Overtorquing screws and fittings including the fuel inlet brass fitting.
The idle mixture adjustment screws ARE DELICATE!! Bottom them out GENTLY because they are brass otherwise you will damage the tips of them and their seats! They are valves not retaining screws!
Cleanliness is also very important and a tiny grain of sand or particle of dirt can plug your idle jets.
Your gunk is quite smelly so you want to do the dipping and draining of the basket outside but once the lid is put back on you can bring the bucket back into your shop for the several hours of soaking.
There is one little quirk that sometimes happens with these so called "teapots" and it can be a very very slight flat spot off of idle to acceleration with the accelerator pump properly set and I have found setting the idle at the slightly rich side eliminates this. Years later I have seen others doing this as well and mentioning it on forums. Just some tricks of the trade to make things run properly with what you got.
You don't want a rough gallopy idle with black smoke but where you turn in to make it lean until it stumbles, and then turn out until it stumbles and then put in the middle for the smoothest idle, but back it out slightly rich but still smooth idle if you get the idea of what I mean.
Another word of advice is do not phone Daytona during lunch hour and even a bit past lunch because they wont answer the phone LMAO
When they return they will be more than helpful and I asked them if they have hardware kits available and YES THEY DO! If your screws are beaten from worn tools or many attempts of assembly and disassembly you can replace them! Your choke or throttle shaft screws that are rivited after tightening and get damaged? Yes they supply them as well. My 885-FFC has a gasket that the choke shaft must be removed for replacement. I was forced to leave it be until I got these replacement screws
Daytona mentioned use a drill bit slightly larger than the screw to drill the peaned or rivited end of the screw to remove without twisting it off and use red loctite on the threads of the new screws.
so you want to do the dipping and draining of the basket outside but once the lid is put back on you can bring the bucket back into your shop for the several hours of soaking.
! If your screws are beaten from worn tools or many attempts of assembly and disassembly you can replace them! Your choke or throttle shaft screws that are rivited after tightening and get damaged? Yes they supply them as well. My 885-FFC has a gasket that the choke shaft must be removed for replacement. I was forced to leave it be until I got these replacement screws
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