i bought a new 850dp in 1984 and i used it on 2 different 390s and my new 433.it ran great all those years till i decided to replace it last summer.so i went out and bought a new 850dp,manual secondaries and manual choke.the problem is it is not as crisp as the old one.the old one even sounded better idling.is there anything i can do with this new 850 to get it to perform better,or should i get rid of it and go with something else,if so what would i want.the car has 4.11 gears and weighs less than 3000.i will buy something else if i need to,but i would also mod the new one too.the old dp is long gone so its not an option.

Do you still have the old 850? If you do have that one rebuilt and use it. Older Holleys have more precise fuel metering which is why I prefer building and using the older Holleys rather than newer ones. Just make sure you address the warpage issues normally associated with these old cores.

I'll add my .02 cents here...I say the 2nd port is for a oil temperature sender. Was offered on some FEs sold in hot climates. When activated it will cause the dashboard oil light to blink [think turn signal here]. I've seen some references to this in some shop manuals.

To add: The 1966 Ford/ Mercury shop manual has a reference to the oil temp warning light used on both Ford and Mercurys set to activate at 315 deg.F [Sec. 15 pg. 14] With Mercurys that used a oil press. gauge the temp warning light was added to the dash with the gauge. 

Same problem with the 390 in my F-250. It was bad enough to really make a mess of my cooling system. I was prepared to pull the engine and have the sleeves [SBC push rods] put in the oil galleries to the heads. After doing a lot of reading on this problem such as factory and trade magazine service bulletins I thought I would try someone's recommendation of removing the head bolt closest to the oil hole in the block. 1st one I did was the passenger side and found traces of coolant on the head bolt. Used spray carb cleaner in the bolt hole and compressed air to clean and dry. Loaded the bolt threads with Permatex liquid thread sealer and reinstalled the bolt and let it sit for about 24 hours to cure. End of problem. Not all oil-in-coolant problem is a crack in the gallery but a small crack on the block's deck between the oil hole and the bolt hole. I got lucky as it worked for me, it may not work for you but at least it would be worth a try.

Hi-po 60 and 61 Fords from the factory have 3" front brakes, 15" wheels, 3/8" fuel line, Front brake line is re-routed to the front X-member only on the 61, my 60 360/352 Starliner has the std. routed brake line attached to the round cross member under the engine. I doubt the factory re-routed as a running change as my 60 'Liner was late production, built April 1960 in L.A.  [same as all other 60 Fords regardless of engine] HD springs, short branch exhaust manifolds, 4 pinion rear end and all Hi-pos were standard transmission only, with or without O/D. Rear end ratio was usually 3.56 or 4.11. Look for the "broadcast sheet" tucked inside the pass. door panel, that is where I found both of mine for the 60 and the 61 [both L.A. built cars]. 3" front brakes were also used on station wagons, police packages and I believe Taxi cabs. 61 390/401 hp came as a single 4 bbl and the 3 x 2 setup was wrapped in a plastic bag and put in the trunk for dealer installation as was the B/W 4 sp. when it was released mid year IIRC. Shop manuals do not have any info on hi-po cars other than info and specs on 4 bbl Holley carbs. Nothing on 6bbl. as usually shop manuals were in print before the actual release date of that model year. No actual hi-po info is found in both my 60 and 61 shop manuals. Disclaimer: Both my hi-po Starliners were L.A. built and I have seen minor differences in other cars built in another assembly plants so there is no hard-fast rules regarding production.

Not just FE...Hot rods, muscle cars, race cars and hot boats in general. The younger generation is not following in their fathers or grand fathers foot steps. Seems they are more interested in I-phones, drones, computers and whatever the latest electronic gadget that comes out. Every year that I go to the drag races it seems it is more "greybeards" and fewer young people than the previous year. With the cost involved in owning a car, any car, most can only afford one. That one car has to be basic transportation, commuter car, insurable and get as good of fuel mileage as possible. Add the fact that most have nowhere to work on a car eliminates those few that would like to have a second "hobby" car.  Most, if not all high schools no longer has any type of shop class so the average kid doesn't know a 9/16" box wrench from a dead blow hammer and doesn't care. Lord forbid they should get their hands dirty. Old cars [80s and earlier] are no longer affordable, parts are getting hard to find and with the "Barret/Jackson" buy & flip mentality everyone who has one of these old cars thinks it is a world class classic and is priced accordingly. Lets not forget that in most states the car has to pass smog and/or safety inspection, another road block. As I see it we are a dying breed.

Great pics....Next best thing to being there. Thanks.

I would check fuel pressure. Carters [aka Edelbrock, Weber, etc] do not tolerate alot of fuel pressure. Unlike a Holley that can handle 6.5-7lbs. the AFB type only needs 4-4.5 lbs.

To the best of my knowledge Holley has never used drilled primary throttle plates as shown in your picture. In fact, earlier Holley publications have in so many words condemn the practice. It is usually done to crutch an idle problem on an engine that has a huge cam that won't allow it to idle without opening the throttle blades beyond the idle transfer slot.  To add: If you have idle mixture screws in the base plate you have the wrong base plate. Only 4180 Holleys had idle adjustment screws in the base plate and usually had "limiters" on them to prevent them from being turned beyond a very small amount, it was an emission thing.