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What aftermarket carb for stock 66 289

mattyq17

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
1,597
So the bronco I bought has a newer edelbrock 1406 600 cfm carb. I don’t know much about it other than it bogs under load and the electric choke isn’t hooked up. I am thinking that a 600 is too big for a stock 289. My cousin is a mechanic and has a few carbs at his shop and said I can take my pick they just need a rebuild kit and “should” be good to go. What size carb would work best and what brand? I am going to his shop this week to see what all he has but I do know he has some holleys, quadrajets, edelbrock, and carters. I am thinking something in the 480-525 range.

I don’t want to mess with the current carb if it is too big for the 289.

Thoughts? Thanks

Matt
 

metal1

Full Member
Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
259
Loc.
hidesert ,socal
I had the same problem with mine had a holley 500 that worked pretty good but a little to big found a ford copy on amazon for under 50 bucks had to modify the choke from electric to man. and after driving a few days needed to fit smaller main jets from 70 down to 64 ,I really like the drive ability now and the mileage is 20 -22 if I keep my foot out of the throttle and keep it under 65 .I would not even mess with used carbs ,and I also have boxes of them .that copy is going on 2 plus years now and not a hiccup yet .have fun with yours and drive em;)
 

taipeichris

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,752
Hi,
I love my Holley 500cfm 2v carb w/electric choke on my 66 302. When tuned right, it really purrs. FYI, there is a little bracket you have to buy separately from the carb and electric choke kit to make the electric choke work on the 2v carb. Call Holley and ask for the exact part numbers, those guys are super helpful.
Good luck and Happy Monday!
:cool:
 

chuck1022

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2017
Messages
562
My 302 has the stock 2150 2bbl , motorcraft i think. 1.08 venturi, 287 cfm of perfection. Pump the pedal once on the first start up, just tap the key after that. Cfm and carbs are measured at wide open throttle, how often are you at wide opwn throttle in an EB?
 

Scott_T

New Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2018
Messages
26
Loc.
Boise, ID
I have the same Edlebrock 1406 on a reasonably stock 302 (headers, but much else). The secondary circuit is mechanically actuated so you should be able to ease into step into the first half of your throttle without opening up the second set of barrels. If it is bogging right as you step into it off of idle, I would double check timing and the jetting before assuming the carb is too big. Edlebrock's tuning manual for this carb is on line and you can compare the needle and jets to the chart they have to see if it is stock or someone has changed things up. The vacuum spring selection will also have an impact on the initial throttle tip in response. You can also select different levels on the accelerator pump to see if this changes anything. The challenge can be that that are a number of knobs to tweak on this carb and getting them all dialed in can be difficult.
 
OP
OP
mattyq17

mattyq17

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
1,597
Thanks guys I am going to keep the 1406 for now and see if I can get it running better, I also believe its more of a timing issue as Scott_T suggested. I am in the middle of converting to a Pertronix Ignitor as well so I will definitely have to check the timing once that is done.
 
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OP
mattyq17

mattyq17

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
1,597
I don't understand why owners gravitate to the 600 CFM on a SBF engine.
Both Edelbrock and Holley make nice four barrel carbs around the 500 CFM range.
Even a healthy 351W would work fine with a 500 a 500 CFM carb.

https://www.summitracing.com/expertadviceandnews/calcsandtools/cfm-calculator

Blu, I hear what you are saying and if I can't get this to run the way I want I will be switching to a smaller carb or go some sort of EFI. It was the carb that came on the bronco when I bought it so that's the only reason its there. On my old bronco I had a smaller Holley and it was perfect for the 302.
 

jim3326

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Messages
1,781
Loc.
Appleturkey
I had the 1406 on my 289 and could never get it tuned right, swapped to the 500 cfm and it runs pretty good now. Still working to get it right.
 

pcf_mark

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
3,574
That carb will work fine. It is a vacuum secondary model. Essentially if it is too big the secondaries will never open or not open very far or very often. That is contrary to what I observed running that carb on my 289 especially climbing hills.

I jetted down the primaries to 66. The secondaries are a metering plate that can't easily be adjusted. You can get around the metering plate but once you get the primaries jetted you will be close. Once correctly jetted it will be more sensitive to accelerator pump adjustment. Just stick with it and it will be fine and deliver decent mileage.

Set your base timing to 10-12 degrees and verify your vac advance is working. That is about all you can do with the Ford distributor. If you have stick shift you can try vacuum advance connected to manifold vacuum and ported and see which your rig likes better. Stick shift tends to like manifold vacuum, automatics prefer ported vacuum.
 

Scott_T

New Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2018
Messages
26
Loc.
Boise, ID
That carb will work fine. It is a vacuum secondary model. Essentially if it is too big the secondaries will never open or not open very far or very often. That is contrary to what I observed running that carb on my 289 especially climbing hills.

I jetted down the primaries to 66. The secondaries are a metering plate that can't easily be adjusted. You can get around the metering plate but once you get the primaries jetted you will be close. Once correctly jetted it will be more sensitive to accelerator pump adjustment. Just stick with it and it will be fine and deliver decent mileage.

Sounds like you are describing a Holley with those jet sizes and a metering plate setup. The Edlebrock 1406 uses metering rods and a mechanical secondary. I ran a Holley for a while and never was able to get it setup quite right over the range of operating conditions. Edlebrock seems to offer more tuning flexibility for what I wanted.
 

pcf_mark

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
3,574
You're right! I had another thread open in a separate tab and posted the wrong info here!

**ignore my post (except the timing part)**
 
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