I'm 65 yrs old, & been a mechanic all my life. You don't know how much I enjoy learning from someone such as yourself. THANK YOU

I simply love the fact you always say what exactly you're driving or where the parts came from and what year and model they are. It's like you know exactly what I'm thinking! Great video btw!!!.

Old truck, a couple of good dogs, and farm dirt road... don't get much better than that. Really good carb info...thanks Luke. Look forward to Galaxie tearing up the pavement.

Great info, our drag car was basically un-tuneable all last year, changed dist, carb and manifold several times with no luck. After watching this I went out and checked all the fuel lines and bam, the return line is plugged. Going to run all new lines and see if that was our main problem, thanks for your wisdom and great vids.

I love the way you actually demonstrate the problems or benefits with gauges and rig stuff up to show us how and why things do what they do. I’ve learnt so much from these videos after many years of doing it wrong or not properly understanding. Thx Luke for taking the time to explain and demo this stuff.

Thanks for refreshing my memory. Literally saved my carbureted Mercruiser from the trash heap. Always leaving us stranded, constant battle to get it to run reliably. Now, with a BPR and a return line, it’s a reliable beast!

Thank you very much! I'm rebuilding a 1964 Galaxie, it has a 302 in it. So all these how to's have really helped me since I'm relatively new to fixing up old cars.

Good stuff here! This is something I never really gave much thought about let alone doing with my 65 Impala. Good job.

Never could figure out why my deadhead system was so inconsistent no matter what I changed or how I tuned it. Now I know why thanks. Steel drivers and carbed vehicles forever!

I had to do something very similar on my Camaro. In South Florida with the hood down, vapor lock in no time. I had to make a return like like yours but I could not find a suitable regulator with a return so I used a nitrous nozzle to cause a restriction in the return line. Glad I'm not the only one "hacking" a carburetor!

Yo dog....! 😁👍 I'm an old and I mean old master auto mechanic, a licensed aircraft mechanic and a self taught engineer, (no I'm not bragging!) I think a fuel return line on a carbureted engine is a fantastic idea. One I "should" have thought of myself, damnit, great job man!

Ford England in 1972 and Ford Australia in 1982 with it Carter fuel pump and Jeep and in about 1972 AMC and Chrysler Corp and Mistubishi added bleedback carb filtration. Fords TripMinder Crown Vics had it constantly from 1982, a copy of the 2.8 Bosch Injection European Capri and Granada and South African P100 Truck. In 1963, Ford, Carter and Rochester in the USA had a Hot Idle Compensator to sort this out for very hot underhood conditions...like you get with Air Conditioning or in Vans . Over the last 19 years Ive frequented Fords US Websites, 99% of people have ben totally sceptical of hit fuel handling problems and similarly, the need for vapor return or carb fuel bleed back. Uncle Tonys Garage and your video really help open up the problems. A car wont happily idle at stoichometery.

I just bought an '88 Buick Electra Estate Wagon that's carbureted! It's so nice!

Hadn't even thought about this mod...well it's on my list now. Thank ya sir! Great video as well.

I enjoyed the video and i dig the steel drivers tune. I battled vapor lock issues on my 460, it's in 75 f250 supercab 4x4. I ended up blocking the heat riser and adding a coolcarb plate to fix the issue. I already had a Carter mechanical pump and a regulator set to 5 psi with a 3/8 feed. This set up has been very reliable and smooth. I'm sure the af is a bit unstable during long idle periods but this truck usually is moving and not sitting idle for more than a few minutes at a traffic light. When I first started brainstorming the vapor lock issue, I wanted to do an electric pump with regulator and return, but I'm picky and wanted an in tank unit that would run a future efi system. This was more $$$ than I was willing to invest at the time. So for now I enjoy the simplicity of the mechanical pump but will upgrade to electric in the future. By the way I have made close to 13 mpgs with this set up on a 140 mile road trip, no od and a small slide in camper in the bed. Q jet carb.

I missed my '76 Ford F100. I have an '86 Ford F150 4x4 with 302 and 6" lift and size 33 tires. Right now my carburetor works great with no issues.

Hey Luke it's Eric with the green Mopar from the Power Tour, I really enjoyed chatting with you at Martinsville! Thanks for being so polite and talkative and thanks for all the great vids like this. Luckily with my massive hood scoop, aluminum radiator, 160 degree T stat and air gap intake I never seem to have vapor lock issues. However I will be installing a fuel/air ratio gauge soon now that you've helped me understand how easy they are to install.

Luke, you're one of my favorite car/truck guys. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Take care, my friend

Love the truck, I've got a 73 F100/390fe/C6 and I drove mine in H.S too back in the late 80's. Sniper efi Installed on mine though.

Thank you for giving a realistic solution to the downfall of most carburetors👍 I have a 67 Mustang convertible with a 302, 289 heads edelbrock 600 carb, Heddman headers and a pertronix pro billet aluminum distributor. It runs decent but at times I do get the lag and rough idle that drives me nuts. This gives me a great option to smooth it out, THANK YOU for the great suggestion!!!

Another fun video Luke, love how you break it down and make it easy to understand!

Parts links are in description above 👆👆👆 join us at facebook - (thunderhead289 carb & engine: tech/tune forum) parts links above as I always try to do

I have a 1986 Ford Full Size Bronco. 300 Inline 6, 4 Speed and the last year of the Carburetor! Although mine Had a Feedback Carb that was a pain in the A$$. I swapped it out with a 1980 one barrel Carter carb without that feedback crap to the computer. Runs like a Dream!!!

Love seeing the ole Blue 74'! Can't wait on you getting the Galaxie500 going... I bet my 71' Galaxie500 will be on the road first :) Great Videos and always a Thumbs Up!

nice to see videos that are not BS . Very good...always . Carbs forever .

That's great information I have had trouble with my carb doing that I'm going to set mine up with the return line setup

We did this back....let me think ....early eighties in Australia. Nice to see you have done the same. Good work Mate!

Great content here! You have convinced me to add a return line to my carbureted setup. Thanks!

I had to do the same thing to my SBC in my S10. Would run crappy and vapor lock and start hard. Fuel bowls were reading around 155° F and after installing a return line they are down to 100° F and the motor starts right up easily no matter how hot it is out. Great video! Keeping the fuel moving keeps everything cooler and running better for sure.

Excellent demo and explaination. Unfortunately I now feel compelled to fit a return to my spitfire.

I just picked up a 68 F100, 352 3 on the tree, and I've been watching your videos far before getting it. It's got a stumble and loads up when i let off the gas then get back on it, so I'm guessing timing. But your vids always help me diagnose that sorta stuff!

Awesome love this just found your channel from a freind here in the Uk. I have a 74 long bed custom.

Thats right , I replaced my cam driven mechanical fuel pump with a holley red electronic fuel pump, custom fuel rail and I never run out of fuel ;) makes for easier starting too.

You should absolutely start an Amazon store with a put together kit for this and make a video explaining how to to do it! I have a 1978 Ford Ltd and I would love to learn how to install this to mine!

Nice bro I like when someone stays loyal to a truck

Did the same thing with my Dodge. A 318 LA block with a 4-barrel and 3-speed torque flite. An electric fuel pump that can be switched as a backup for a mechanical pump works good with this problem.

Well I'll be dipped....great video

Cool videos man! I'm getting ready to revud my 78 f100s 302. Great tips I'll he tuning back in often lol

Love your videos you do such a great job of explaining and demonstrating things!

"'74 F100, had this thing for 12 years since back in high school..." -- you don't know how lucky you are bro :-). Great video, info and tips. So many people trash on carbs because they just don't know how to work them, or live with some imperfections. Carbs 4 life!

I got a 65 Econoline. 170. Love it. I might have to look into this.

Dim really glad I found this video. I have an ‘89 Ford with a351-w that I’m fixing to convert to carb. It’s obviously a FI system so it should already have a return line. I’m waiting for the coil to arrive and I’m going to order an rv style cam. I had not thought about utilizing the return line until I watched this video. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for posting these videos. I am a newb when it comes to this stuff and I am learning a lot. I will definitely be running an electric pump/return line on my project car. It seems like a no brainer. It was neat how you turned the valve to simulate the older mechanical pump system and show how crappy the AF ratio got. One question though, have you ever put a heat shield plate under any of your carbs? If so, did it provide additional consistency to the tune or was there not much benefit?

Dude, your an automotive genious! I have a '62 F100 with a 302. I'm going to see if I can do this. Thanks!

Sweet truck, informative video and thank you for sharing. Send it!!!

Great Tip!!! I have been fighting my 77 f250 carb tune for a while now (460, midrange cam, Holley 750 vacuum secondary, mechanical pump, dead head system) and I think this will solve my detonation issue. Awesome. Love your channel!

sir you are a very smart individual,thank you for sharing.

Great video Luke. Gives me an idea for my f150

Glad I found your vid. I'm collecting pieces for a 350 to power my 28 Ford... I like the idea of engineering a return feature from the start. I've got a Eldebrock 1406 waiting for me to saddle it up. Thanks!!

thanks for the video in your service love the dogs

Hey, I should have thought about this earlier..wood like to buy my 62 f100.. 302 85 mustang...no accidents..needs -door trim, bushings, paint job, idler arm, some other minor cosmetic stuff..it's actually a handsome truck.. .why I do this¿? ..u have MUCH more experience than I...u woOd dO gOod with it ...that's all ... If I had the money I do the same as you with that my truck . Excellent information.. sincerely D.T.M.

Glad I have a return system on mine!

I know you are a fan of the summit carbs. Sounds like its running great for you. Have you noticed any issues with the mixture screws and the internal threads for them on the carb body at all? Thanks for posting more pratical and very easy to understand tech info.

Great video, very well explained. Thanks for sharing.

Good job Thunder, most people don't have a clue, they will look at a throttle body and call it a carb. Nope, nada no way prince. But fuel can make or break most rigs performance. Trying to make fuel squeezers out of a say 750 holley or afb carter just doesn't happen but it can be made to run good and that will save money

The carb wizzerd teaching us how to keep a truck alive! Love your vids!

Good information to know! My ‘69 Jeep Wagoneer w/ the factory optional Buick 350 V8 has a return type fuel system, but oddly enough Buick cars with that engine did not have one until around ‘75-76. Looks like your one dog is part cattle dog?

Looks like I’m sitting in your classroom today brother!

Great video as usual! I'm sure I'll use a lot of your advice when I get around to building a motor. I saw the Venom energy drink can on the floorboard... I drink that up in Northern Michigan

I am not well versed on the carburetor gospel, you said return regulator. How do you adjust the fuel pressure going in to the carburetor? Did I misunderstand something? It happens all the time. Great video.

Even fuel injection has issues like this as well. Very well explained luke

Gotta do this to my F350. Cool system!

Agree that the percolation/vapor issue hurts carbureted AFR because carbs are static (vs. EFI adjusting fuel mix dynamically). I'd like to see Air/Fuel after you re-opened the return line, but your vids are great & have been a help for me designing my fix. Fuel sits in carb's bowls at atmospheric pressure, so E10-ish fuel still boils in there at 110-115F. So my solution was to reduce carb temp since it usually sits in an underhood environment of 190F or more (radiator exhaust, headers, engine heat...) So keeping fuel cool in the lines UP to the bowls helps, but keeping the *bowls* cooler (via an enclosed cold air box from manifold/phenolic-spacer junction up to hood) plus ensuring fuel in the lines is as cool as possible. This airbox is similar to Cobras' "Turkey Pan" solution under their scoops, so I built something similar under the hood of our Z, and fed it with two 4" ducts from the nose of the car, and lined it with Reflectix insulation. Result is carb bowls stay at ambient air temp vs. under-hood being 190F plus. I've seen some vids showing electric fuel pump and return system is heating the fuel similar to a mechanical pump. EFI's advantage here is that it keeps the fuel at 40-50 PSI all the way to the injector which then sprays it into the intake tract, whereas carbs have the fuel at atmospheric pressure in the bowls (and before that, either 7-ish PSI in the line after a mech pump or 40-50 PSI in the line after an electric pump). Thanks again for great vids and intelligent analytical commentary.

A cool day in Arizona is about 100degrees...lol I really should upgrade the 2100 to a 4100 in the 71' F100 @ 302cid. Well, one day maybe.

When I was a kid my father had a Ford with a 351 in it that would diesel. I remember once we went to pick up some relatives at the airport and we came back 45+ minutes later the car was still sputterin' away and just as we got about 10 feet from it the thing died. Hilarious!

runnin a 950 on my 281 02 saleen speedlab mustang, run a return line from my FPR back to the tank so i don’t get vapor lock and the fuel wont stay that compressed so it won’t get hot

Quick question for you because I'm looking on getting an air-fuel ration gauge to set up carburetors on dirt bikes where there are a few different circuits to tune. In the beginning of the video your air-fuel ratio was sitting between 12 and 13 which seemed a little rich based on the ideal ratio of 14.7. When you dead headed your fuel line your air-fuel ratio went up to the high 14's and low 15's which seemed ideal, but you mentioned it was getting pretty lean. Granted this was a cold day, your hood was up, etc., but I just wasn't sure if I was missing something. Is it better to be a little rich or am I missing something?

I have a 460 big block with a 750 Harley carb I have no return on my carb and my fuel pressure keeps on jumping from 6:00 to 9 1/2 when I put it in drive and hit the gas it shuts off do you think of return line will help that

I have a 1968 Mercury cougar with it's original 302 block and mechanical pump. I love the reliability of a mechanical unit & I've never set up a return line on anything else I had previously. What will happen if you install a return line system but retain and mechanical pump? How does it decide when to return fuel if I did?

i have a question , i am lost ! i have a 1941 Chevy 3100 with a 454. i wanted to run a rear fuel cell along with the stock gas tank ( behind the seat). i have a electric fuel pump (holley) i went to a return fuel regulator and returned it to the fuel cell in the rear of the truck. i was having issues with my fuel regulator gauge saying 6lbs of fuel pressure but the gauge on the carburetor would read 3lbs then after driving would not register at all. i then took the rear tank out went to a dead head fuel regulator and i still have the problem. the truck still runs with the fuel pressure at the carb being 3 and sometimes goes to 0. the regulator and the gauge on the carb never match and the regulator is on the firewall . i even placed a one way fuel valve thinking the fuel was feeding back to the pump and the line was being drained of fuel. i was having issues when it was hot with the bypass regulator. sometimes the bypass regulator would actually send so much fuel to the fuel cell return line that it would over flow the rear gas tank . i have taken the carb out , checked all lines, replaced all lines and i cant figure it out . at this point deadhead fuel regulator only the in the cab tank running and it s running good .

Great content brother.

Great info. Thank you.

Is this the same effect as putting in a fuel filter that has a vapor return line to the tank?

I've had for over 38 yrs. a 69 swb f-100. It's a great looking truck. I'm keeping it. It originally had a 302 V8, l replaced it with a low mileage 300 6cyl , but l can't get it to idle, replaced gaskets. The engine came out of an 83 van . l just can't get it to idle, after a while it vapor locks and l'm stuck until it cool down, which could be hours. I just can't get it to run right, afraid to go any where in it and be stranded. Could you help me out? Thanks.

had a gas leak soaking throught the base connector gasket and i ended up buying a new 3236 dgev carb and did not replace the base plate for the manifold. The new carb worked fine with no vacuum/gas leaks for about a month then it all of a sudden srarted leaking gas through the new gasket in the same place it did before. What can i do to permanently fix this issue? When the gas leaks obviously its idling poorly and basically breaks down until it starts again. I need to correct this asap. Thanks for your help. Any suggestions would be great. Truck is sitting there in my garage waiting on me until i can fix this issue and all i want to do is drive it. Nobody in my area knows anything about weber carbs or wants to work on them so i feel like im on my own. Thanks

Very interesting and informative video. I have the same yr F100. Curious on how you mounted the barb fitting to the valve at the tank that vents to the charcoal canister? Keep up the great work!

Do you think the heat effect would be even more with a big block? does a phonelic carb spacer help at all?

Hey Luke,. that Fuel Ratio Gauge set up you running, Will it work ok with Todays 10% ethanol Pump fuel?.

Your a GENIUS from another 🌎

I have a 73 F100 390 with Edelbrock manifold and 4bbl carb. Would this set up work? Now that I put long tube exhaust it is touching return fuel line and I think I need to relocate that line or something . Any advise?

Ok excellent but couple of questions; do you have a regulator from the pump side? I have a Holley blue set to 6psi. What’s the return pressure you have set? Do I open full pressure from the pump side reg an only regulate from the return reg? Thanks

Would this work for a FE 360 2bbl stock? Also what kind of hedders are you running? I live in tucson AZ and it gets just as hot in phx az

thanks LUKE ,great video .i learned today and im 60 lol.

Gonna have to look into this. Might be just the thing for my ramcharger it's always hard to start when it gets warmed up

Like your Chantal. Have a 1974 Ford F100 my Papaw bought new. When he died he gave pro my dad. When my dad died he gave it time. While dad had it he took the 390 out and put in a Jasper rebuild 302. Ran good however this past year it has given me nothing but trike. I’ve put new plugs new hei Jegs distributor and wires. New voltage regulator and ignition control module, timing chain and after new distributor retime motor. Ran good for a day since then runs one day not the next. Time after time I’ve complete timed engine many times believe it’s right. Still runs when it wants then won’t start appears to have fire and then not. Can you help.

is a return line better than using a suplementary electric fuel pump to run with the mechanical pump ..reason im asking is because my sending unit doesnt have a return nipple so its wat easier for me to just add a inline small electric pump ...will i be ok with that , cause lately with ethenol enriched fuels vapor lock has gotton real bad

So just to be clear the set-up you've got on your truck is called what? An air/fuel return/regulator system?

So could I just use vapor canister line for a return line on my 78F100?

Thanks Luke

Great video!! I watched your others and this really motivated me to go return less. Though one question/concern...I have an in cab fuel tank in my c-10, any problems with the return line having to travel to the top of the tank?..seems like a lot of work for the pump (Carter 4600)

Very informative video, I learned a little as well. Nice Ford, should call it OL' BLUE. Question, why does the temperature go up when the fuel gets heavy or thick. I know a lot of Hot Rodders have that problem and I've always wondered why.

Think this carter pump will keep up with a 480hp quick fuel 750?

Very nice idea. I have used this before. Hey, that huge antenna looks familiar. Are you in Homestead FL?...

Great info, this has convinced me to go to an electric pump and return system on my 461 olds

I would have liked to see you turn the valve back on and watch the AFR stabilize once it started getting cooler fuel. I have heard of some guys having issues on fuel injection vehicles where the big high flow high pressure pump heats up the fuel and returns to the tank enough that all of the fuel gets hot in the fuel tank.

Good video and ideas👍

Very nice mod.

EXCELLENT JOB .. If I missed anything did you have a parts list for the regulator & fuel pump ?

I wish I could bring my 69 F 100 to you. I'm struggling with this issue. I've tried different mechanics and even sent them videos and none of them are taking this fix seriously it seems or they dont know how to do it, even with the videos. Hey do you still have those thicker carb gaskets?

Middle of nowhere Iowa howdy! I ran an aftermarket oil cooler as a fuel cooler in my 76 gmc sprint with a mildly built 350. On a 95 degree day I could drive around town for an hour or so and the carb would be cold to the touch. This was running the stock fuel system.