1982 CHP #0327

[Steve]

Recently I decided to rebuild the 2-barrel stock Autolite carb. It worked ok; but i knew the accelerator pump was worn out because on acceleration the engine started to stumble. Very bad while warming up, and only on the hottest days was it a minor issue. I took it to an old timer who had a shop, retired and closed the shop, but was still working out of his garage.
The problem is upon install, nothing is set up. Idle mixture, choke settings, etc. What before had been a smooth-idling 302 was now rough and hard to keep idling. Strange; you'd think there would be standard settings an old timer would know to get started then fine-tune after complete warmup. There was a shop in town run by two older guys, one a Navy vet. They were the ones who set it up before; figuri8ng out what vacuum lines were needed and where to route them They had it purring like a cat. But they have both retired now and a son took the shop over. Maybe 30 yo. I took the car back to the shop, figuring it would take about a half hour, but they told me sorry, they don't know how to work on carburetors.
So I'm going to have to motivate and discipline myself to figure out this Autolite carb. It is a pita to get to the idle mixture screws. I've never worked on any carbs other than GM (Rochester and Quadrajet), and that was back in the 1970s. Oh well...

[Cobra Jet]

The 79-82 Ford Mustang 5.0 used the Autolite 2150 2-barrel carb. So if you’re searching online zero in on the “2150” and not just general Autolite 2-barrels because the amount of info can be confusing.

This link contains the pdf for that carb with detailed info/adjustment details that should help you get back to running smoothly again:
https://www.carburetor-parts.com/ass...JLiw1hsDgbI99x

This is another very detailed 2150 pdf link that has actual images to help/aid in adjusting the carb:
https://www.therangerstation.com/tec..._2150_carb.pdf

This link has the data breakout by year/make/model for carb specs:
https://www.chicagocarburetor.com/pd...2150_2150A.pdf

I would download and save those PDF’s because ya never know when a site will go away and the data/history goes with it…

[Steve]

Thanks for that great info, Cobra Jet! Especially that second doc, the rebuild article with the photos. Very explicit instructions on how the set up the choke, and the idle mixture adjustment. I feel much better about tackling that now.
funny how much things have changed. It's been about 40 yrs now since carbs went away; I bet many mechanics now, the ones under 40, may have never seen a carb let alone worked on one. A carburetor is to automotive now like a typewriter is to word processing.
A little aside; your handle, Cobra Jet reminds me of the Cobrajet 428 engine. When I was 19 I had a 72 Ford Torino 2 dr and it had a Cobrajet 428. It was root beer brown with black accents and a black hood scoop with the "Cobrajet" lettering on the sides. I liked that car and it was a lot of fun; I wish I had it now. But I enlisted in the Army National Guard and had to go off to boot camp and Infantry AIT and had nowhere to store anything so I literally sold off everything of substance that I owned, including the Torino. Had my 20th birthday in boot camp; what a delight...but I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to get any "attention".