289 4bbl Carb

I'd like to swap out the existing 2V Carb with a 4V on my 67 289 Fastback. I realize that i will have to get a 4V Intake - which im already in teh process of. Im not out to race, im simply trying to get just that little bit of HP that comes from a 4V vs 2V. Besides, with today's gas prices i dont really want to see the insides of every gas station whenever i do take it out for a drive. I believe the Fords came with Autolites back then. Can someone perhaps provide me with their expertise and/or experience on this?

much thnx tkassam

Reply to
tkassam
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I assume you're talking Fords here, I may be talking out my hat but I know some engines (the Cleveland I think?) had different heads 2bbl vs.

4bbl so it might not be as easy as you think. Might want to do some research and/or get an informed opinion from someone that knows Fords better than I (not difficult.)

That said, a carburetor is a carburetor; your engine will neither know nor care what carb is on it so long as it fits the manifold and mixes the air and fuel correctly. I'm partial to Carter AFBs (currently sold as the Edelbrock Performer) although I've heard enough nice things about the AVS (Edelbrock Thunder Series) that I might want to try one someday. If you get an old, original carb it will need to be rebuilt most likely, and possibly have the throttle shafts rebushed to get it to idle correctly (vacuum leaks, you know. Those things are decades old, now, and they do wear out.)

Don't get too much carb for your engine, a 500 or 600 CFM model will be sufficient for an otherwise stock 289. Too much bigger will cost you throttle response with no benefits.

If fuel economy is your primary concern, definitely stay away from the bigger carburetors, and if someone makes a spread bore manifold for your engine a Carter Thermoquad or other spread-bore carb might be the ticket. Unfortunately they're not being made new, although I think someone is repopping the old Quadrajets, if you can bear the thought of putting a Rochester design on a Ford :) In any case I don't think you will see great gains in economy to make this swap worthwhile financially, although it will certainly make driving more fun. You certainly won't see improved economy if you actually use the secondaries...

I will probably alienate some readers and/or start a flame war, but I don't like Holleys. They leak, they warp, and while they may be eminently tuneable, they require that you actually know how to tune a carb and don't make for a nice "bolt and go" swap, and they seem to be oriented more for the racing crowd than the street guys and therefore aren't the best choice for a regularly driven street car.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

It sounds like you want to use parts that came with your car back in '67. That's okay, especially if you stay with the fact that you do not want all-out performance. I used to have several carbs that you are looking for, but have long sold them or gotten rid of them over the years. One neat thing about those old 4 bbl carbs is that you could take the entire top off and adjust the float while it was running. A very simple carb. If you do not do any hotrodding with it, you gas mileage will be the same as a 2 bbl carb. The swap is simple. The 2bbl vs. 4bbl heads for the 289 are about the same. It's the 351 Cleveland that had different heads when comparing 2 bbl vs. 4 bbl. Although there were some 289 HP heads available at that time, I wouldn't worry about trying to get a set of them. They are overpriced and if you want true horsepower, you will need aftermarket. The carb and manifold swap that you are wanting to do is pretty simple. If you get all the right parts you can do this yourself in a couple of hours if you have any mechanical ability and a shop manual for that year. Ebay and your older Ford part suppliers will have everything you need.

Reply to
Kruse

I helped a friend put an intake and a 650 (I think) 4 bbl on his 68 Mustang and it was drivable..... If he cracked open the secondaries it just bogged like a pig. Eventually it would crawl up in speed, but the

2 bbl was way better....

We swapped it back to a 2 bbl. At least it was an easy job....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

tkassam wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

I'm curious - when I hear stories like this I always wonder if you tried rejetting to get it to run right, or just bolt it on and have it run poorly. What makes me wonder is a single barrel of the Weber 45 DCOE that I have on my engine flow in the region of 200 CFM, and I have four barrels, so 800 CFM. That on a 1600 cc engine, and I can tune it to run just fine. So I hesitate to call out the size of the carb or the fact that it's a four barrel as the root cause of the poor running.

Brian

Reply to
Brian

It was a long time back, but I believe he bought a setup that was 'supposed' to be the correct one for his engine. He likely needed headers and maybe a cam to make it work properly.

Mike

Brian wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

It's going to be tuff to get a stock Autolite four barrel and manifold to work like you think it should without a lot of playing around, been there done that! For my money I would go with a Dual Plane manifold and the smallest Holly four barrel you can find like a 500cfm with vacuum secondary even on a four speed manual tranny. You may have to re-jet the secondary but the Holly should be good right out of box. I would also have the Distributor re-curved so that you get your advance in a little sooner than stock also a good time have it rebuilt too. I think someone makes fuel injection setup for the small block Fords too this might be a SWEET setup as well.

HTH, Rick

Reply to
rickbenites

Many years ago I swapped the 2 barrel on my 66 Mustang for the stock Autolite 4 barrel and manifold from the A code motor. It is a wonderful swap. DO IT.

Autolite 4100's came in two CFM ratings 480 and 600. You want the 480.

Do a Google search for "Pony Carburetors" He will sell you a correct carb that has been jetted to run correctly on your engine. Not cheap but easy.

I also have a 260 powered Sunbeam Tiger. It uses an Edelbrock 500 cfm carb and a vintage Edelbrock F4B hi rise Al manifold.(Available regularly on Ebay) It runs great, but I had to take it to a dyno tune shop to get it jetted spot on.

Either way the driveability is good and the car has a bigger kick in the pants when you mash the go pedal.

Erich

Reply to
Kathy and Erich Coiner

thnx to all that responded - great info provided and will take it into account when pulling the trigger on a good carb. I just "bought" cast iron 4V intake and should be receiving it any day now. "one down and zillion more to go..." Now, its time to devote to finding the right Carb.

Reply to
tkassam

I did this on my 68 Torino with a 302 nearly 20 years ago (I still have the car) I got a cast iron 4V manifold from a wrecker and hot tanked it, and painted it and installed it with a Carter AFB. It works fine. A few years later I played around with it on a dyno and rejetted the carb slightly bigger. At the time I was racing the car.

Fuel mileage will go down most likely.

Couple things you will find - the first is that the original 2V autolite carb has all it's linkages and such higher up than the Carter does, so you probably will need a spacer otherwise you will get interference both with the carb and the air cleaner.

The second is the linkage will have to be redone, you will see once you get the new carb on.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

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