Carburetor Road Test, Visit to the Nethercutt Museum, and Ultrasonic Cleaner Testing

Daniel Jessup
1 day ago
4 min read

Updated: 19 hours ago

The collection at the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, California was quite surprising!

Hidden Gem in LA County

Very few parts of the United States are known for automobilia like LA County, California. Hot rods, racing, luxury cars, the history of the drag strip at Pomona, and all the rest really make this part of California quite the place to showcase automobiles. About an hour away from me is Jay Leno in Burbank where episodes of Jay Leno's Garage are filmed. Add another thirty minutes and the famous Peterson museum is located close to downtown Los Angeles, hosting annual events and thousands of visitors throughout the year.

Last month, while considering a visit to Peterson's museum, I fell across a small advertisement for the Nethercutt Collection, a little-known cadre of very historic automobiles (and quite a bit of early industrial Americana) in Sylmar, California.

It just so happens that in the early 1970's, the owner of Merle Norman cosmetics, a real car guy, built a six story building for one purpose - housing a collection of beautiful automobiles. The trip and tour went so well I decided to record a video of many of the very valuable cars. Deusenbergs, Bugattis, Packards, Lincolns, and several vehicles that were known to cruise the streets of the 1920's and 30's of Hollywood were all on display. As you can see from the photos and video, many of the cars have no ropes or stancheons surrounding them. One of the docents even opened up the door of a 40 million dollar Deusenberg to show me the interior. In addition to the high dollar sedans were a 1955 Thunderbird and a 1956 Packard Carribean convertible. There were not many engines on display, but I did enjoy the early Lincoln block. The crankcase certainly resembled the lines of a deep-skirted Y Block Ford!

More on the Ultrasonic Cleaner

Long time subscribers to the website blog and the YouTube channel are keenly aware that one of the most used tools I have in the shop is my small, 10 liter ultrasonic cleaner. With current EPA laws and the woeful emasculation of once potent elixirs like Berryman's Carburetor Cleaner, alternatives such as an ultrasonic cleaner have really made a terrific difference in getting the desired results of "clean" from the process. Ultrasonic cleaners certainly do a great job but need some type of cleaning agent to really get the job done. My latest foray in testing different types of solutions included Pine Sol. It was good for steel and cast iron, but not so much for aluminum and pot metal. So, I decided to try a household favorite for getting things spic and span - Dawn dish detergent. You can watch the video to see how things turned out.

Road Testing the Holley 4000 Carburetor

In the last blog post I introduced the "Holley in the Hospital" and began the work on a Holley 4000 from a 1955 Ford Thunderbird. After thoroughly cleaning, inspecting, and re-assembling all the parts on hand, I installed the carburetor on my own 1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan to put the thing through its paces, test for leaks, and give it an initial tune before giving it back.

The Holley 4000 ended up both looking very nice and performing quite well!

While the 1955 and 1956 versions of the four barrel carburetor known as the Holley 4000 seem quite similar, there are a few differences. The main variance is that the 1955 version has no provision for the choke cap/assembly on its throttle body but places the choke cap on the intake manifold. The 1956 ECZ carbs have their choke cap and assembly mounted on the throttle body. I do currently have a 1956 intake manifold on my 292 Y Block. The carburetor mounting surface is the same, but obviously there is no provision for the choke to be mounted on the intake. The weather is not too cold yet here in the high desert this was not much of a problem any way. I did have to use a different insulator plate between the carburetor and the intake manifold since the 1955 version has no provison for a vacuum port on its throttle body. This again was not too much of an issue. I broke out one of my PCV phenolic spacers and plumbed the cranckase vent hose accordingly. After dealing with a high fuel pressure problem and resolving that with a float valve setup from Daytona Parts Company the whole works was ready for a road test. The video below speaks for itself, and now we have one happy customer!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Once again, my favorite holiday of the year has arrived! While I do enjoy the seasonal scenery, the wonderful smells and taste of dinner and desserts, and the time with family, the most memorable time of all will be the time spent in giving thanks for the blessings God has given. I encourage you to do the same this week. Hopefully, you will be able to take your ride out for a spin and enjoy that car or truck with which the Lord has blessed you.