Upgrading CARB and Ignition. WHICH IS BEST ???

[pnavarro170]

Okay i need to update the carb and ignition system on a 69 with a 302, the motor is still healthy dont think it has anything special on it but headers.

Im not an expert on engine stuff at all actually. So i was advised on a holley 600cfm or even edelbrock 800cfm . So i was wondering what yall thought also.

Also is upgrading the ignition system as easy as just getting new coil, distributer and wires ?? i was leaning toward the pertronix brand middle end.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[dave67fd]

The Pertronix is a great inexpensive, easy and reliable upgrade. You will get 100's of suggestions on the carb but stick with the 600cfm as a maximum. I have used Holleys for years with great success. Make sure you add new quality wires recommended (resistive?), plugs cap and rotor to go with it.

You didn't mention if the intake is currently a stock 2bl. If so, stick with a low profile dual plane intake. Make sure you confirm any added height of the intake/carb/air cleaner combo so your hood will shut if thats a concern.

 

[rguest3]

You can put a larger Autolite 2B on it pretty easily. If I remember correctly the 69 had a 1.08 Venturi 2-Barrel at 287 cfm. A larger 1.21 Venturi would have 351cfm and are the most popular and easiest to find. If you happen to have the 1.21 already there is a 1.33 Venturi that is 424cfm. Your engine is stock, so i would not recommend a much larger carb at all. Autolites are still considered one of the best carbs ever built, even today.

I have a 69 that had a 302 with mild cam, headers and higher flow exhaust. the 1.33 venturi 2-Barrel was a perfect compliment to the upgrades. Pulled strong with excellent throttle response.

 

[pnavarro170]

its got a 4barrel already. so 600cfm should be better than 800 im guessing if its pretty stock ?

 

[rguest3]

Since already 4-Barrel, I would go with Autolite (1.08 Venturi) 480 cfm 4B.

 

[bronconut73]

Mine has never ran better since going with the Jegs Billet (ready to run) vacuum advance distributor and a Holley TA 670. Some might say that carb is a little big but it runs really good with it.
The Jegs dizzy appears to be a rebranded Pertronix II, it is noticeably better than my old mechanical advance Unilite. Smoother idle, and the vacuum advance Jegs has my Windsor running a little cooler.

 

[pnavarro170]

thanks guys, helps alot. i wont ask about the brand on carb then, but yeah was mainly asking about the cfm. and ill look into the jegs also.

 

[broncnaz]

Edelbrocks pretty much suck offroad. Holley is very forgiving offroad. the autolites are good but can have issues with vacuum leaks on aftermarket manifolds. Id try to go no bigger than a 600 cfm carb. Many people have had good rsults with holleys 670 TA but thats as big as I'd go. 800 CFM is way to big for a 302 unless your running 8000 RPM. A carb thats around 500 CFM is way more responsive on a 302 than the 600 cfm carbs. I currently run a Road Demon jr(basically a holley knockoff) 525 CFM and like it a lot better than the 600 cfm carbs.

For ignition the pertronix is not to bad at least you can easily convert them back to points when it fails. I dont care much for the HEI types a lot of poeple use for a few reasons usually you have to modify your hood brace to fit them under the hood, there are big and well just to GMish for me. And lastly quite a few of the cheap versions of that setup have failed and wiped out peoples engines. On the other hand there are more people running them that have not had issues.
Personally besides pertronix I'd just convert to the 76 up factory duraspark setup. as replacement parts are everywhere for it.

 

[nathan.hall1]

I like my HEI...it runs good and I have a 500cfm Edlebrock on my 351 i like my set up, I couldn't get the duraspark spark off fast enough,

I guess there's a lot of personal preference and opinions

 

[bronconut73]

I like my HEI...it runs good and I have a 500cfm Edlebrock on my 351 i like my set up, I couldn't get the duraspark spark off fast enough,

I guess there's a lot of personal preference and opinions

Yes.....there are lots of opinions on this subject.
Cool thing is, we live in a day and age where there are "many" good products and "many" good ideas. You'll find what works for you soon enough. Your obviously already pretty damn sharp if you're here asking questions like this.

 

[Sporto]

I like this discussion. I had a similar one a few years ago with many on here. I am not an off-roader so I went with the Edelbrock Performer package. Carb, Manifold and Cam. It all works quite well. Reliable and snappy.

I had a Mallory Unilite that I used for years, and it died on me one so I tried a ProComp HEI, it lasted a few hours and then died. Finally at the suggestion of many. I went with a Duraspark setup. I got the distributor, harness (which can be fabricated easily enough), coil and Blue tab ICM for about 100 bucks. Maybe more, but not much.

Wired it in, set the timing and never looked back...

However I do recommend that if you do the Duraspark option, be sure to find an actual Motorcraft ICM as the one's you get at the parts store today are made overseas and are less than reliable.

The good news is that if I have an issue, I can get parts anywhere, and they're very easy to swap out.

Just my .02

Good luck on your decision!

Rich

 

[WheelHorse]

If you are still using stock cylinder heads, you're probably at 160 bhp by today's measurements. Exhaust manifolds are restrictive and if you throw on crummy E7 Fox style choked headers, they are worth 7hp over the exhaust manifolds, better headers are worth even more, but not much, seeing that the stock exhaust ports don't flow very well to begin with.

I'm with everyone else, keep your 4bbl around 500 cfm, unless you go to some real cyl heads like TFS or AFR's...165 runners flowing 250 In/ 185 exhaust at .500 lift. Stock irons are 165-ish and 110-ish respectively.

Upgrade your choked down cylinder heads and then you can talk 600-650cfm carbs.

Oh ya, with supporting exhaust, those cylinder heads I speak of are worth around 100 crank hp over what you're currently making.

 

[SteveL]

I run the HEI dizzy with a q-jet on both broncos. The edelbrock carbs are great if you're street only. I just run the motorsport wires

 

[pnavarro170]

ill find out if it has anything else special on it. Its not in my possesion just yet. Dont want to modify the internals just yet either. and i want to have a sleeper weekend warrior slash daily driver so edelbrock is out.

 

[SteveL]

Q-jet or motorcraft carb for best of both worlds.