just a few things i need to think about and try to improve this stock 400...

a guy i know has a 460 and he removed the spacer between the carb and intake where the EGR goes, he said it helped him improve throttle responce (kinda figured this would) so i was thinking of doing this aswell because i dont need the EGR where im from, but will this affect my mileage at all or anything? also this is a new carb (new to me) i had a friend rebuild it last year for me and we put it on, worked fine but now it seems that the gasket on the top os leaking and its shooting fuel out of the top where theres a opening, my other carb didnt have this and dunno why this one would, its still a stock motocraft carb just off a different truck.


also i got a set of heads im working on, porting and polishing, what would be a good idea for the intake while im in there replacing the heads

Removing the spacer is a good idea if you don't need it, milage will not drop, might even be a little better...
Sounds like your float is sticking and causing the carb to flood out since it can't stop the fuel as it's coming in so it will shoot out the hole or "vent tube".
Might need another rebuild or just take the top off and look for some dirt that might be caught between the needle and seat. also look at the float, if it's metal shake it and see if there is any liquid in it. If so get another one. If it's a plastic one make sure it is not saturated with fuel causing it to not float..
hope this helps.

lol, i gave up on this thread, but yes it does help, i figured it might be a float but never had a carb apart other then for my dirt bikes and didnt really wanna mess with it till i got some info, ill rip off that spacer tomorrow and see about the float

I assume it's a ford. Motorcraft 2bbl carb??? I have a 400 out of a 79'. Edelbrock performer intake and edelbrock offroad carb. It's like a different engine. Excellent throttle response and it doesn't stall on steep obstacles.
This combo has worked well for me and wasn't too expensive.