Intake manifold/carb selection

[Speedrdr]

Alright guys. My 5.0 HO roller engine is now at the machin shop for a rebuild. Among the decisions to be made is do I go ahead and get it bored .030 over and new pistons? What kind of intake and carb would y'all recommend? Will I still need a carb spacer like the one there now?
Gonna go talk to the shop guy Thursday and would like to be able to make some educated choices. Thanks for the help
Randy

 

[cs_88]

Edelbrock Performer intake and Summit 500 cfm carb.
That’s my vote.

 

[pfdff1115]

I like the Weiand Warrior/Holly Sniper

 

[PaveBronco]

I like the Weiand Warrior/Holly Sniper

Ditto...

 

[SteveL]

If its gonna go off road get a stock auto lite or q-jet carb.

 

[DirtDonk]

...Will I still need a carb spacer like the one there now?

Depends on what spacer is in there now Randy. But generally, no you don't.
If it's just the factory pre-'73 non-EGR spacer, you don't need one because the carburetors you choose will (or should!) have the 3/8" hose barb fitting for the PCV valve integrated into their base. And in some cases even a second one for other things.

If you have an EGR spacer and want to keep it smog legal, then yes you'd need a 4bbl version of the EGR spacer such as the one Edelbrock sells.

Any other spacers would be for fine tuning power or tunability. But you ALWAYS have to take hood clearance into account when adding a spacer to an aftermarket carb.

Paul

 

[vintage bronco]

summit autolite style carb with weiand 8124 intake.

 

[Speedrdr]

Smog legal??? In the south??? I don't think so. At present my guy is thinking.030 to .040 bored and edelbrock performer manifold and edelbrock electric choke carb, or at least that's what he said today. He mentioned a 270 grind cam, so I'm thinking a little 'lope' at idle. Sure am ready fo Bronco to be home so I can start body work. I'm NOT getting any younger. Lol
Randy

 

[SteveL]

The edelbrock carb is pretty good for the street but they're horrible off road. Even the off road version doesn't handle being at angles. Off road you're back to an auto lite or q-jet. If you go q-jet it gets tricky to fit under a stock hood without a body lift. It can be done with the right air cleaner and intake manifold combo.

 

[jckkys]

The performer intake is ok but no better than the cast iron OE. The OE 2100 is better than any aftermarket carb with no tinkering. If you think you need a 4bbl, the 480 CFM 4100s made for 289-302s is the best choice. Again no tinkering, good off road performance, and more than enough air flow. A 270 degree duration cam will hurt low end torque and vacuum. I don't think I understand not wanting a smooth idle. 302s have thin cylinder walls so I would only bore it as needed to clean it up. If you want more displacement, try a 347 crank. That would give you back the low end torque lost with the high revving cam. Whatever you choose for a carburetor, some provision for a PCV line will be needed. I would get a spacer that has a PCV port and offers insulation from heat soak. With PCV in the spacer, you have no need to pick a carb that has one.

 

[blubuckaroo]

The edelbrock carb is pretty good for the street but they're horrible off road. Even the off road version doesn't handle being at angles. Off road you're back to an auto lite or q-jet. If you go q-jet it gets tricky to fit under a stock hood without a body lift. It can be done with the right air cleaner and intake manifold combo.

Steve, we really need to set you up a test drive with mine.
Sure, Edelbrocks come with off-road quirks, but those are easily fixed. Edelbrock support is better than any other carb manufacturer.

Mine would actually die going slowly over a speed bump. Now it'll drive over and on the side of any obstacle the Bronco is capable of.
It just takes a bit of tinkering and patience.

I think the main reason for the troublesom off-road performance is selecting an Edelbrock carb that's too big. That can be confusing with so many vendors selling intake packages for the 289/302/5.0 with a 600 CFM Edelbrock carb. It's just too big unless you're turning 7000 RPM.

The other problem is too much fuel pressure. I think an Ed elbrock carb would be happy with 4 PSI.

 

[SteveL]

I had the Carter but it's the same carb minus the California smog exempt sticker you get with an edelbrock. For that you pay an extra hundred something bucks. We tried a bunch of the mods with no luck. In the 66 I got stuck stalled out in a steep driveway waiting for traffic. I had to use the starter to back it up to flat ground so it would run again. That was the last straw.

 

[gr8scott]

I'm willing to bet that all these Carter/Edelbrock/AFB carbs with off-road problems were all being single fuel line fed. Hard to keep two fuel bowls full
with a single feed line while going up/down steep hills and off-camber. That's why I swear by the Thunder AVS series carbs that are dual feed capable.
I've never had any of the the problems mentioned here with my dual fed AVS and now AVS2 series carbs.

So OP, my vote is:
Edelbrock Intake #2121
Edelbrock AVS2 dual feed capable carb

This would be a good combo with the 270 grind cam your guy mentioned which is probably this one or a facsimile thereof:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-2122/

 

[PaveBronco]

The question to ask yourself is, what will you be doing with your Bronco?
if its 90% street then whatever carb you want will work
if its 90% street and you want a no hassle fire and forget, go with fuel injection
if you plan to do ANY off roading and you like F'ing with Rods, Jets, float levels, needle and seats, fuel press, fuel vent baffles, choke settings. Like stalling halfway through full throttle hill climbs because the float level and fuel pressure has to be so low you run the carb out of gas, then get an Edelbrock. I milked mine for 10 years and tired everything, even a hardwood spacer, to stop the fuel boiling in the bowls on 100deg days at higher altitudes.

 

[Speedrdr]

Would LOVE to have a sniper setup but the $$$$$ is just more than I'm gonna pay right now. I'm old enough and have Grenaded enough axle halves and driveshafts and u-joints with the 1st EB I owned. I'm over 99% of my off-road driving and it's mostly for street use. One of the reasons I'm looking at the new manifold is strictly for the bling, if you will. I am certainly going to ash my engine holder about the 270 grind cam. Although I did have it in 1st EB and it sounded 'purty' through the headers.
As always, I appreciate the input from y'all as I CERTAINLY don't know as much as I want to.
Randy