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Best carb for 302?

texfire

Full Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
162
Loc.
LTOWN, TEXAS
Hi all,

Was curious about ya'lls thoughts on carburetors. Which ones would work the best for my 302 (a 4 barrel or 2 barrel) and which ones are absolutely a waste of gas and money... but look nice. And does the intake make that much of a difference and if so why? Thanks in advance!
 

daveweil1

Sr. Member
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
387
Loc.
Savannah
I had an edlebrock performer intake and holley 600cfm 4 barrel on my otherwise stock 302. I got good throttle response, decent fuel consumption and it looked good too. You can buy a summit intake/carb/air cleaner combo for a decent price right now.
 

BUSMC

Newbie
Joined
Apr 11, 2005
Messages
10
Autolite 2100 or 4100. I went through several carbs and finally went to a factory 4100. Best my rig has ever ran on and off road. I had a Holley Truck Avenger and it just guzzled fuel. I got mine (internal spread board) through Pony Carbs. Pricey but worth it IMO.
 

ep67bro

Contributor
Bronco Junky
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
3,642
Loc.
Easton, MD
Edlebrock performer intake with a 500 cfm edlebrock carb, or a 500 cfm holley. The stock 2barrel Motorcraft 2100 is a great carb too but wont give you the power of the four barrels. If it is a stock motor there is no need for larger than 500 cfm carb.
 

73stallion

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
16,786
Loc.
Eugene, OR
i have a 470 truck avenger on top of my built 302 and it's plenty. a stock 2 bbl can go everywhere i can though.
 

steven1826

Full Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Messages
353
carb

I had a 600 Holley and endelbrock and went back to ford 2 barrel. I rarely need to pass anyone on the road.
 

broncnaz

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 22, 2003
Messages
24,341
Any carb is good there are some a little better offroad and easier to tune but basically they are all the same. Unless your putting on headers I wouldnt bother switching intakes and carbs the exhuast side of a SBF needs a lot more help than the intake. It does no good to get more air into the engine if you cant get it out.

Now with that said I'll go to the otherside as I rather like 4v intake and carbs more than 2v stuff.. Stock intakes are just that stock they work for what they are and thats about it. Aftermarket intakes are designed to flow better and give you more power Usually in a slightly higher powerband than stock.

Aftermarket carbs are good because they have more support availible in the form of tuning parts so they tend to be more tuneable than stock carbs. Although the term aftermarket is relative as even most "aftermarket" carbs have been used as a Stock apllication from the factory.

Most people dont tune there carbs. They bolt it on and it doesnt run right so they say its crap. Whick is usually not the case at all its just they didnt take time to tune it. Even a stock carb can benifit from tuning but few people ever do it.

I would look for someone selling a old used setup you can pick them up for way cheap and then go from there. I like edelbrock manifolds and Holley carbs 600 cfm or less.
 

ken75ranger

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,069
Loc.
Troy, NY
I'd get a Performer manifold(short) and the carb would depend on how you use your Bronco.
Street driving, semi stock engine-stock or Edelbrock are easy to set up.
Off road- stock 2barrel, Holley TA, are easy to set up.
If you don't mind doing a bit more to set up for an off road carb- A holley 600 with vacuum secondaries (tech article in the tech file).Quadrajets can run very good off road too. It does take some time to dial them in.
High hp, high RPM, street/strip - Holley double pumper.
 

ugly74

Bronco abuser
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
2,847
I've used lots of carbs,and overall I'm much happier with a plain jane holley mdl 1850 4v. they can be modded very cheap and easy to run offroad well, with much more power potential than the stock 2v motorcraft/autolite.
as for intakes, right now I have an edelbrock performer 302 (with egr blocked) and it works well. but I've also used a weiand stealth, and really that's the one I prefer.
 

Ranchtruck

Sr. Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
766
I'm running a 1.12 primary 4100 on my 302. It's pretty much a 2100 most of the time but if you wind it out the vacuum secondaries open up. Nice how the tone of the motor gets lower and louder when they open up and it won't run out of steam. It runs great, and they're so simple there really isn't much to go wrong with them.
 

iwlbcnu

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 1, 2001
Messages
3,341
I tried the 4100 and it still would overflow on steep inclines and flood out, ended up using a Autolite 4300, it's a quadrajet on a holley base basically and was used on the 68-75 Fords. Finally found one from a 68 302 Cougar and love it. Dad flopped my rig on its side the other week and said he had to cut it off.
 

clarrance

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 3, 2005
Messages
2,674
X2. I've tried them all. went back to the motorcraft

"x-4" I love the factory carb. Although if you want to become a carb expert go buy a Holley and I promise you you will work on your carb more than you will ever drive your Bronco.
 

blubuckaroo

Grease Monkey
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
11,795
Loc.
Ridgefield WA
I can't remember having a "bad" carb except for a worn out one. Then again I don't mind getting the book and tools out to tune it properly to the specific motor. Which one? It really depends a lot on the use. For trail I can't see using anything but a Ford 2BBL. Any more would be a waste since you'll want more grunt than speed. Now if you plan to mud bog... you'll need to feed it a bit more.;D
 

broncnaz

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 22, 2003
Messages
24,341
That's odd i have had great success with my Holley 2bbl

Thats because he doesnt know how to tune it. I've got well over 200,000 miles on my holley and never needed to mess with it after the initial tune. Baring some idle mixtured adjustments like all carbs need over time.
 

rsharpnm

Sr. Member
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
712
Loc.
Las Cruces
Moto Craft... ;)

For off-road crawling, I gotta vote for the 2100 also - I had Pony Carbs build mine, and it works great. Never starves, never floods -

I've had Holleys (for sale: plated 600 CFM!), Q-jets, and a 4300 (on various vehicles) and never found anything more stone-simple reliable than a 2100.
 

BronCowie

Contributor
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
8,024
Loc.
Vancouver, WA
Moto Craft... ;)

I gave my stock 2 bbl to sprdv1, I think he likes it. I am currently running an edelbrock 500 cfm on my daily driver... no complaints, good mileage, I tend to keep my foot soft with gas at ~$3/gal. With a 302, you don't need much more than 450-500 cfm on a stock or slightly built engine.
 
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