Carburetor Cooling Channel?

Any idea what this channel on my carburetor is for? I've been told it's meant to absorb the heat from the exhaust manifold to keep the carburetor cool. If it is, not sure how to hook it up to the water pump.

Well to start off,,,,,,,its hot water to heat up the carb,,,,,,,,,,,

Is it the same diameter as the heater hose? And it has an "in" side and "out" side right? If all correct, you run from engine to carb, and then out to the heater, and back to the engine. Check this picture of a '63 170 six and you'll get the general idea....

,,,,,and,,,I am thinking its for automatic transmissions to prevent stalling when you drop it into Drive,,,,,,,,,and maybe it depended on what engine or what carb you had,,,,,or even if you had an automatic choke,,,,,,,,,,,seem like that system caused more trouble than good,,,,,,,,

not familiar with the small ford inlines but am with heated intakes. on a v-8, the intake and carb are heated by the engine but on inline engines, they hang off the side. typically, the exhaust is bolted directly to the intake and designed to heat it up but foreign cars have been made with this set up. once you install an aftermarket header, water heat is needed. here is an article that explains why   http://www.langdonsstovebolt.com/tech/why-you-need-to-heat-your-intake-manifold/

It's for cold weather carb heat. It's not one of Ford's better ideas and can be eliminated/not hooked up without problems. All 61-68 falcon 6 engines had these. There is an argument that it also keeps the carb at the coolant temp so it operates in that range and the fuel atomizes well and doesn't get any hotter.

Seth G wrote: There is an argument that it also keeps the carb at the coolant temp so it operates in that range and the fuel atomizes well and doesn't get any hotter.

no fear of it getting hotter. fuel cools the carb. you need it hotter to atomize properly.

jdlaugh, yes. same diameter with in and out. Thanks for the info.
Good to know. thanks everyone