What kind of carburator is stock on a 58 Merc Monterey 383? I finally picked up my E-Bay winnings and the car has a Holley 600 with a tag from a 70 Ford product. There was an Autolite carb in the trunk, which I took the time to rebuild the other day, but haven't yet installed it on the car. Before I install it, I am wondering if it is actually correct for the car---there is no tag on it.
That Holly has a bad accelorator pump---what a time trying to get the car on the trailer---lol.

I also have a 58 Park Lane with the 360 hp 430. The engine is out of the car. The intake manifold and carb are both missing, what kind of carb would that take?


thanks,
Mark Piechowski

There were two 4100's used on the 1958 383 MERC

EDG A (Stamped on the left side of the main body near the accelerator pump)(1.12 600CFM) used with LOW TORQUE ENGINE and A/T.

EDG B (1.19 650CFM) used with HIGH TORQUE ENGINE and A/T.


There were four (CFM rating not given) 4150 HOLLEYS used;

EDG C (Stamped on the outside of the carburetor air horn just below the choke plate) used with 383 CI with S/T or O/D.

EDG E Used with 383 CI (LOW TORQUE) and A/T.

EDG D Used with 383 CI (HIGH TORQUE) and A/T.

EDJ A Used with 430 CI and A/T.

Last night after work I got the carb installed. Just like the Holley thatr came off, the accelorator pump was not working. What I ended up finding was I had installed teh booster assemblies on the wrong sides. The rear booster assembly doesn't have the ports for the pump shot. I did however have the hollow bolts in the front which is the correct position. After making the corrections the carb worked pretty good. THe only question I have is with teh idle screws on this Autolite 4100, do they control the amount of fuel volume or air volume? I can close them completely and the car still idles. If I open them up much more than a half turn each, the car starts to run rough. I am not sure since I haven't refered to any service litereature about it, but I am guessing there may be a balance to be obtained between the throttle blade opening and the idle screw adjustment. Can anyone offer advice on this idle setting?

thanks,
Mark Piechowski

"The only question I have is with teh idle screws on this Autolite 4100, do they control the amount of fuel volume or air volume? I can close them completely and the car still idles. If I open them up much more than a half turn each, the car starts to run rough."

They control both on the idle circuit only. By screwing them in, it leans the idle mixture, by screwing them out, it richens the mixture.

If you can close one (or both) completely and the engine still runs, the idle circuit is not operating properly or some other adjustment (such as curb idle or secondary opening) is over-riding the circuit.

Do you have an ID from the carburetor?

The I.D. was really hard to read, but the venturi size was the small 1.08. I thought this size wasn't availible in 58? Only the 1.12 and the 1.19? I personally don't need a bigger carb, low end torque is all that really matters.

Mark Piechowski

I am no expert, but I don't think the 1.08 was introduced until the appearance of the 260/289. The 1.08 is rated at 480 CFM.

Most early 4100's were 1.12 (early and big engines)(I believe). The 1.19 was a unique carburetor and only used on the 1958 MERC 383 HI-TORQUE.

You can usually tell an early AUTOLITE from a later by the size of the accelerator pump housing (longer). There was also a style (1957) that used a somewhat divorced choke housing. It is hard to say what you have without the ID NOS.

But the fact remains, the 4100 is one of the best carburetor designs ever...

I took a closer look and determined that he actual number listed for the venturi size is 1.06. I had called Pony Carbuetors and they had verified that is the correct carb for the 58 Merc low torque 383. Also, I figured out why I could close the idle circuit and the car still ran. What had happened was 2 of the tiny air bleeds on the secondary side were clogged. Without the air bleeds there was a constant siphoning of the rear float bowl through the transfer slots. It would continue to siphon after I shut the engine off, draining the bowl all the way down to the jets. Ofcourse that would also explain the hard restarting. A cup of fuel inthe intake usually doesn't help with a hot restart. I had to use a piece of wire to unclog the air bleeds, then blew it out with air and some carb cleaner. After reassembling the carb, it works pretty good.

Mark Piechowski

NFM