Hi there, I am running a Holley Economaster on my 170. It runs really well except the acceleration, as in it barely has any. But it holds speed uphill once it gets there really well. I've been trouble shooting it for quite some time to no avail. Timing, distributor curve, valve lash, new timing chain degreed, hei and 2 1/2 exhaust. I have decent compression. The situation has left me a bit frustrated. With 3.73 gears my 4 speed Lancer is in danger of being passed by a glacier... Hmmm?

Then earlier this week I was lurking through some old posts and read that the economaster rebuild kit gaskets don't quite match or don't have correct passages for the acceleration circuit. Is that correct? Do I finally have a smoking gun? what do I do in order to correct this?

Much grateful!
Barnaby

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Which Holley economaster is it? I had the Holley 5200 variant progressive two barrel Economaster on my wife's old 2.3L Mustang II many moons ago and it accelerated normally. Is yours a one barrel, two barrel,,,,?

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It's a one barrel 1920 economaster 7584 and it appears to be manufactured for early rod style throttle.
Cheers!

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I suppose it could be a gasket mis-match. You can look down the inlet of the carburetor and work the throttle by hand and observe the operation of the accelerator pump (engine off). You should see a shot of gas when you twist the throttle,

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“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
― Hunter S. Thompson

Yes I see the shot and that's why I previously didn't think it was an issue. But maybe it's not enough?

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I don't think you're going to find the problem is caused by a gasket mismatch (though I'd like to see a pointer to what you read).

What does "slow acceleration" mean here? Does it mean the engine stumbles/stutters when you step on the gas? Or does it run fine, just without much giddyup? If it stumbles, check the accelerator pump shot and enlarge it as necessary by moving the accelerator pump lever link to an outermore hole on the throttle lever and/or by bending the link to pull back further (as the throttle closes) on the plastic accelerator pump lever. Carburetor operation and repair manuals and links to training movies and carb repair/modification threads are posted here for free download. Also check to make sure your vacuum advance is working correctly. And keep in mind the Economaster carburetors were designed and calibrated for maximum fuel economy, not maximum performance. You might be happier with a different carburetor (or a different jet in your present carb), but first let's see if we can figure out what's going on with your present setup; its performance shouldn't be anywhere near so slow as you describe.

(What kind of rear axle are you running? 3.73 doesn't sound like a Chrysler ratio)

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks Dan,The car runs beautifully without much giddy-up. It takes at least 50% throttle to take off in 1st gear and it is super challenging on hills, taking even more throttle and a bit of massaging of the clutch in order not to stall the engine. And in general it is very slow to get to desired speed. However when I get to 70 on the freeway it holds like glue. When I drove from Portland to LA I never had to down shift on the passes of I-5. I also got 20.5 mpg average. This was calculated from GPS.

The car was originally equipped with 3.23 gears and the Carter, but the throttle shaft bushing were shot and I found the Economaster replacement. With the taller gears and previous carb the car was much spunkier.

DI curved the distributor for me and I have measured the advance, but don't have numbers handy. Can re do.
The 3.73 is a Ford 8.8 from an Explorer.

Of course I can't find the thread but I believe it was comment by DI?

And yes I would love to have a super six set up, but since the economy has stopped we are trying not to spend much until we figure how to pay our bills and rehire our staff.

Cheers,
Barnaby

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Then something's definitely out of whack somewhere in the car. This sounds larger than a carburetion issue to me; even with the economy-minded Economaster the car should be a great deal peppier than this.
Which 4-speed are you running? Regular or overdrive? What size tires are you running? And how sure are you about your rear axle ratio? I ask because this what you describe—car's a slug off the line, but it'll happily fly all day long at highway speeds—sounds a lot like an undergeared car (effective final drive ratio too tall).

Is your vacuum advance system intact, hooked up correctly, receiving vacuum when it should, and working correctly? Do you get any pinging? What's the basic ignition timing set at? I ask because this also sounds like a case of insufficient spark advance until you're in high-speed cruise mode.
I'm more focused on the rear gears than I am on the carb. I'm not near the car, but it seems to me if the carburetor were faulty enough to take this big a bite out of performance, there would be other symptoms: misfiring/stuttering/stumbling/bright white spark plugs if it were running lean enough to cause it, misfiring/black smoke/fouled spark plugs if it were running rich enough to cause it. Nevertheless: is the carb's entire choke system in good order? Opening promptly and completely? Are there any other driveability faults—is the car hard to start when cold, does it have idling issues, anything like that?
The car ran well with a 1bbl before, so we know the problem isn't "car has 1bbl instead of 2bbl".

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.