Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance Fish Carburetor

Anyone have any experience with the Fish carburetor- M1,M2, or M3? I see them for sale occasionally, and wondered if they really work as legend claims they do (30% more power, or 30% better mileage). Chrysler used the concept of flowing a thin film of fuel over the throttle plate, and shearing it off the edge in their central fuel injection system during the late 80's, so it obviously worked to some degree.

Saw a lot of them in central Florida, back in the '50s. I had one briefly, back in late '58. It actually belonged to a friend and I mounted it on my '51 Ford flathead six for about a month. I did notice a fuel mileage increase and it was a little faster in a 1/4 mile. If I remember correctly, I ran a 19 second 1/4 mile with the stock Ford carburetor and about 3/4s of a second faster with the Fish. I always wanted a set of them...like 3 for a six cylinder engine, but never did get 'em. Someone in england made then for a while after Fish went under, but I assume they're gone now, too. If I had a chance to buy one, I would.

Are these "Fish" carburetors you speak of the same as these Tec Fish?

That looks like the originals, martin! Sure would like to run up on a set like that!

The carbs, set up on a side-draft intake, in back of the Fishes, are zenith 8810-Bs. I had a set of three on a home-made intake, bolted to a 235 Chevy and that sucker screamed! They were easily tuneable and, set up with progressive linkage, delivered great mileage.

I recently gave them to a friend to mount on his 240 Ford. They had sat in a shed for over 35 years. Being unable to find a repair kit for them, he gave them away.

some friend

There seem to be at least three Fish variants- a Tyce/Fish, the one shown in the photo, and the M3
type manufactured by Mike Brown from the late 80's to 1996. The Tyce Fish had a choke mechanism and a balance tube, the M1& M2 didn't have balance tubes, and none of the original Fish carbs had a choke.

http://www.fireballroberts.com/Fish_Story.htm

http://www.fireballroberts.com/Fish_Pictures.htm

Looking for a pair sice quite a while. Hard to get. They appear from time to time on Ebay.
They would be a great carb on our inlines.

The original company logo says "Zip and Milage"

Exactly what we all looking for, don`t we?

Frank

I remember the scandal and people saying they were no good. I wish I'd bought a bunch of those 'no good' carburetors back then. I was making aobut $50 an week in '57, but still could have bought a few and stored them. I knew they worked and my friends did, too. Funny, how you never think something will be valuable when they're so common...or at least I never did.

A guy tried to give me a rust-free'37 Chevy coupe one time, just to get it out of his yard. It would run, too, but it had two .45 caliber bullet holes in the right door...I didn't want to mess with that!

Annyone interested in a Fish M1 Instalation and tunig manual?

I got it as an Acrobat PDF File and would be glad to mail it to everybody who needs it.

Frank

There is an guy on Ebay selling 12 NOS Fish carbs.

WOW

I wonder what the reserve price will be?

Here is what the auction includes:

8 - NEW IN THE FACTORY SEALED PLASTIC, M-2 FISH CARBURETORS.
4 - NEW OUT OF THE SEALED PLASTIC, M-2 FISH CARBURETORS.
2 - ORIGINAL FISH CARBURETOR "ZIP PLUS MILEAGE" BOXES.
1 - ORIGINAL PAPERWORK DOCUMENTATION.
5 - ORIGINAL CARBURETOR ADJUSTER TOOLS.
ALL OTHER RELATED FISH CARBURETOR ITEMS ARE ALSO INCLUDED.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-ORIGI...sspagenameZWDVW

It ended at $2000.

I just won the auction for the other two Fish carbs- one is an original M-2, the other appears to be the Brit version that was manufactured after the Fish company folded. Curiously enough, it seems identical to the "Tec Fish" shown in Strummin67's photo! Strummin- do you have any other views of those carbs? Frank- I'd love to get the tuning instructions- I have the setup info for the Brown version, but the original may differ. I'm thinking it would be interesting to compare them to modern single bbl carbs in a dyno test on a large single-cylinder engine- maybe a motorcycle on a rear wheel dyno?

You got mail David.

What is the difference between the M1, M2, M3?

How much cfm do they flow? Will one be enough for a waremed up 261 or do I really need a dual setup?

Thanks, Frank

maineSS.
I think I have another pic but it's about the same angle. I'll check tonight.

Frank- thanks for the file- it's WAY more comprehensive than the Brown booklet. I'm supposed to be getting some instructions/promo literature with the M-2 carb, so I should be set for the US version. The Brit version looks like it may differ in certain areas- looks like "some disassembly required" to compare internal parts with the original. Hopefully, I'll track down some literature at some point!

Frank-
I have access to a flowbench, so I can probably get flow figures when the carb arrives. I spoke with the seller of the M-2, who appears to have a bit of experience with them. His recollection was the M-2 & M-3 had the same bore dia- 1 1/2".
Brown quoted me 1 9/16" for the M-3- I can't say since I don't have one to compare. Perhaps the Tyce version is a copy of the M-3- I'll see if it differs in bore dia. Supposedly, these could run V8 engines- Brown's version was supposed to work up to 500 c.i. One problem they had was icing, since they were more effective at fuel vaporization. I don't know much about the M-1, maybe the promo literature will have a model breakdown. Supposedly a small version called the "Minnow" was also made.

Hmmmm.... as far as I know the Tyce was verry popular as a replacement on the Mini Cooper.

Can´t belive, that the same carb would work on a Stovebolt or V8

...but on the other hand - thats what a variable venturi carb is for.

Frank

P.S. here is an Phantom Picture of an M1



Here is some more Information:

http://www.boni.com/fish/

The Fish is a fixed-venturii carb- it's claim to fame is better airflow due to a lack of a fuel-metering venturii above the throttle plate, and supposedly superior atomization via shearing a thin fuel film off the edge of the butterfly. The flowbench should tell if the airflow is sufficient to support 6 or 8 cyl engines. A wet-flow bench would give insight into atomiziation, as would a laser spray anlysis unit (real expensive equipment). Chrysler's CFI unit was meant to generate 10-50 micron size particles (1 micron is about the dia of a human hair). 10 micron particles are small enough to stay suspended in the intake manifold & not get slung out in the bends. Ideally, you want all particles in the intake charge to be identical in size for a rapid, even burn. Most carbs generate an irregular mix from 10- 400 micron dia particles. Fuel Injection system particles have better size distribution, but still typically average 100 microns in dia.

Those flow figures would be a great help.
Thanks, Frank