Suggested carb and intake help

[Bucky66]

Looking to upgrade my carb and intake. I've got a stock 289 that has been rebuilt with a 2 barrel carb. I want to upgrade to a 4 barrel carb and intake. What is suggested the most. I'm only on the street. I'm running a c4 trans with the Dana 20 and 4-11 gears.

It's a 66 with 3.5 suspension + 3” body lift. 35” tires,

Let me know what to buy. I don't want efi kits. I want good old carburetor setup.

Thanks

 

[pcf_mark]

No comments yet...my guess is that every time someone suggests a carb others flame them.

But I'm not a scared!

Edelbrock Performer (not RPM or AirGap) with a square flange
Holley 600 cfm vacuum secondary carb with Ford kick down linkage and electric choke

It will need some tuning to get it running solid. Before you even install it, take the cintered filter out of the carb inlet, throw it away and use a disposable paper inline filter. Drive it around and see how you like it. It may be jetted too rich from the factory but live with a while then I would reduce the jets from 66-68 stock to 64. That should get you close. Many threads on tuning but this combo will be easy to install, start and drive just fine and you can enjoy it right out of the box.

I think the cheaper Truck Avenger carbs have a bad rep so I have stayed away from them but I have run this combination on 289 in a mustang with C4 and 3.00 gears and on my 289 Bronco, C4, 31" tires with 3.5:1 gears. It just works.

 

[Bucky66]

Thank you much for your input. I guess it is kind of a loaded question I asked with so many opinions but wanted to hear people's thoughts. I'll check out the combination you said!👍👍

 

[BOBS 2 68S]

I'm running a Weiand intake and a Holley 570cfm carb. The Holley took some adjusting to run right. Added a bowl baffle for off road other than that it is OK. I had a Edelbrock 500cfm. Great on the street, flooded all the time off road. and the Edelbrock needs lower fuel pressure. There are wright up's on tuning the Edelbrock.
But my best all time carb was a Holley 500cfm 2 barrel, but I went down the 4 barrel rabbit hole.
There a those that love the q-jet and I have been thinking about one.

 

[buck68]

Edelbrock performer intake and the quadrajet. You will need an adapter to run the quadrajet.

 

[Rustytruck]

I personally use the factory stock cast iron 4 barrel with adapter and quadrajet for its offroad ability. but its not bolt on and go. for the 289 I had in my mustang I used the edelbrock F48B manifold with a holley carb. definitely not bolt on and go. swapping to a 4 barrel nothing is bolt on and go. They all need someone who knows how to tune the carb you choose to run properly. the edelbroc carb is the easiest to get to run properly but needs a pressure regulator and is absolutely horrible offroad.

 

[67sport]

I've got a Ford dual plane aluminum intake off a mustang. I think it's very similar to the performers, but don't know which is better. I love it, and cool that it's stamped Ford.
Vacuum secondary 4 barrel Holley, I think a 570. It took a bit to tune, but has been awesome since, and the Holley walk through a are great. If I ever stray from the Holley, it would be for a Q-jet.

 

[Bucky66]

Glad to hear more feed back.

I called Holley today and they mentioned going with their 390 carb and use an edel. Performance intake. Would any of you think this is to small? It will be only for driving around town and on the hwy.

 

[jckkys]

Holley is correct. Too many gear heads only consider full throttle high RPM, when real drivers only go full throttle occasionally. Part throttle response is far more important. In 4x4 off road use full throttle is almost never used. The parts that work at full throttle hurt part throttle operation and MPGs. Large carbs and high raise intakes only work efficiently at high RPM. The OE 2 barrel and intake is as effective as any I've seen suggested above. This system is so off road capable, that CJ Jeep owners have even put 2100/2150s on straight 6s. I know of no reason to go to a 4bbl or a Chevy Qjunk. Those that recommend the Qjunk assume there's problems with the OE with no evidence.

 

[blubuckaroo]

Glad to hear more feed back.

I called Holley today and they mentioned going with their 390 carb and use an edel. Performance intake. Would any of you think this is to small? It will be only for driving around town and on the hwy.

https://www.summitracing.com/newsandevents/calcsandtools/cfm-calculator
Here's a good CFM calculator. Too much carb is hard to tune properly. Sure you can get away with too big, but the throttle plates end up trying to be the venturi.
As far as carb brands is concerned, you might as well try to convince someone that your paint color is best.

 

[jckkys]

That CFM calculator recommends a 320 CFM carb. It's about the same as the Holley calculator, and less than any 4 bbl. So the Holley recommendation of 390 CFM 4bbl is as close as there is. Ironically NASCAR has restricted carb size to 390 CFM and they still get 800 HP. So is a smaller than recommended carb size a big problem?

 

[nvrstuk]

well, I'm glad jkkkkksy spoke up belittling "chevy qjunk". We would have expected nothing less. lol

In a heartbeat I'd go with a alum Edelbrock Performer, an adapter to make the Qjet fit and a qjet. I have run this combo on many engines from 289's to 418's. I have run multiple Holleys, Edelbrocks and old Carters on different intakes all on one and multiple other Broncos so all I can do is offer up some of my experiences.

One of the nice things about the qjet is it makes the 2 bbl kind of a dinosaur because of how efficient the Qjet is at low rpms for throttle response, torque and hp & yet can also handle huge amounts of air if/when your engine requires it-- and you'll get better mpg with it also.

A 289 will not need the air requirements that a Qjet can supply but don't even begin to think that this means it's too big for a 289 because the Qjet is almost a variable venturi carb- at least as much as not supplying too much fuel because it can be easily tuned to be the MOST efficient carb for your 289 for mileage- easily surpassing the 2bbl and able to supply all you needs for WOT when needed.

Also, I'm not sure where jkkkksy gets his experience when wheeling but quite often WOT is needed and throttle response is extremely important in many situations and this is where the Qjet excels besides the fact it can handle off camber situations better than any other 4bbl out there!

Anyway, I'm glad a lot of people are offering up their favorites. Have fun sorting them all out. Remember, you're not a real driver if you go WOT lol

 

[nvrstuk]

jkkkkky-

1- Do some physics when burping out cfm ratings to others. Carbs are rated, can be rated at different Hg levels. Check it out.

2- There are several different size NASCAR engines- which explains why you stated they use a 390 cfm carb so your example would be as small as possible.

I am NOT a NASCAR guy but checking several sites about carb sizing try reading this from Holley: https://www.holley.com/blog/post/holley_and_nascar_a_performance_marriage_that_s_still_going_strong/


Apologize to all who don't want this thread to head towards a NASCAR debate (which it won't).

My responses above just point out that cfm ratings quoted about nascar aren't correct because of several physics issues that aren't addressed AND, and, and... physics- read up on why a 390 cfm carb supplies enough fuel for 500+hp which is physics

 

[73azbronco]

Having a Qjet myself, if you can keep that 2 barrel, my guess it's a 2100, that is a hard carb to beat. You will NOT wake that 289 up with a 4 barrel/intake unless you also throw a camshaft at it, headers, heads, etc. So, keep it simple and be happy

With 35's and a c4, I'd say you need to change gearing to get the most bang for your buck. 4.88 or higher.

 

[nvrstuk]

Agree with 73azbronco

289's really wake up without sacrificing any mpg with heads, a cam, headers (including a non restrictive exhaust) and intake. Then the qjet with his engine will really shine. Been there several times on Broncos. Some great combo's out there.

All about efficiency.

 

[m_m70]

well I'm running a Weiand manifold and Holley 4160 1848-2 4 barrel carb @ 465cfm and ran pretty good out of the box. I run afr gauges in the header collectors on each bank and out of box freeway cruise #s 15.0 to 15.5, WOT @ 12 and idle #s around 14. Very nice throttle response and best mpg out of all others I've used.
Have not had this one in serious off road angles so can't say if the carb would be good or not there.

Any carb is going to need adjustments and some love to work with what you got.

 

[BroncoJimbo]

Hard to beat a dual plane manifold and a Truck Avenger carb. I like the idea of the Qjet but I don't like the funky adapter.

 

[blubuckaroo]

I've got fond memories of the 289. They made a lot of HP with the Hi-Po package. But those had bigger carbs than you'd run even on a 302 for one reason. They had a solid lifter cam that allowed much higher RPM than any 302. (Boss 302 excluded)
With your hydraulic lifter 289, you're going to see the same performance gains as a 302 with the same equipment.
I'd set it up with an Edelbrock Performer cam, (or one of its many knock-offs) a good dual plane manifold, and a 450-500 CFM 4 barrel carb.
The power range will be a bit higher than with a 302, but it's going to be pretty peppy and fun to drive.

 

[Madgyver]

Having a Qjet myself, if you can keep that 2 barrel, my guess it's a 2100, that is a hard carb to beat. You will NOT wake that 289 up with a 4 barrel/intake unless you also throw a camshaft at it, headers, heads, etc. So, keep it simple and be happy

With 35's and a c4, I'd say you need to change gearing to get the most bang for your buck. 4.88 or higher.

I agree with this and the stock for 2 barrel is best for what your driving style is.
I'd say a simple rebuild of your carb.
There was a time when my yellow77 was down for repairs and my stock green77 was my daily. I was impressed with what it could do stock. It went all over the places my yellow77 would go including our secluded fishing spots.

 

[nvrstuk]

My 2nd engine was a HP289 wtsolid lifters. My first engine - stock 289 that had some upgrades was pretty anemic compared to the HP 289. I ran a 600 Holley on it because it fit snd was cheap. Had some fun with that setup back in the mid '80's.