I need help in selecting a 4V carb for a stock 351w, C4 auto trans, and would like to know what everyone is using and if they like it or not. Thanks!
Edelbrock 1401 on a 351W performer intake
Mike M.
Not enough information about the 351w. Is it stock? Trans? Gears? After years and years of Holley 4150s I’ve turned the page to a sniper and wouldn’t go back…
Stock 351w, C4
600 cfm Holley 4160. Vacuum secondaries….plenty for a stock 351
Totally agree - stock Holley 0-1850 is perfect. Bolt on and go.
Before I bought my 2v car I planned to use an Autolite 4100 for the 351w 4v I was going to buy. The carb has a combination of vintage looks and jet options that can be tuned to any relatively stock motor with ease. For your setup would a stock fuel line and filter location be an advantage? These days my guess is the Holley might be cheaper, but I still miss my leaky Autolite 4300 because she was my first, and screw in filters are the originals for our cars.
Edelbrock 1406 with Edelbrock Performer manifold- hood clears and happy with it. Other than headers and exhaust rest is stock with stock C4.
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Another option would be a “Holley” 570 Brawler. Like a plug and play 4150 except clear sight glass rather than float bowl plugs. No mess simple float level adjustment. I can’t go back from glass bowls….
Vac sec + auto choke.
Default secondary spring should be right but from there you can tune in the secondary using a screwdriver rather than opening to replace springs.
Brawler uses standard Holley jets, power valves etc…
Otherwise as others, Holley 600, but I would replace the float bowls to the glass upgrades. Maybe order a Holley refurbed and put savings into the fuel bowls.
Note you can buy a maintenance kit for a brawler, but you can buy everything for a true Holley if you plan to constantly mess with it….
Caveat …. I know nothing about edelbrock carbs…
Thought of a con…. Brawlers are shiny as Fire Truck…compared to that old zinc / more period look Holley
Autolite 4100 or Summit M2008VS 500 cfm would work fantastic. If you intend performance upgrades later (like heads, headers, cam) the 600 CFM would make more sense. Either would work great on your stock build, but the 500 would have better throttle response and more average power at the cost of about 5 hp on the big end.
Annular boosters are a big deal.
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Ask 100 people, get 100 answers.
My choice is the Edelbrock carb, although you have to get creative with the fuel feed and throttle linkage. Start with the hard line fuel inlet that goes under the choke housing.
I recently went thru this process,
I have a mildly modified 351w with early Performa manifold and a stock FMX trans.
The original manufacture spent many millions deciding a 465 CFM carb was the best allrounder, so i went with a 465 Holley with drivability and economy, and throttle response in mind.
My advice-be conservative in your choice.
If you think different is cool and you wanted to be really cool, you could use a Carter WCFB.
I put an Edelbrock AVS2 on my 315w 2 years ago, put about 10K miles on it since and still love it, quick startup, great throttle response, smooth power, almost perfect right out of the box and easy to adjust, idles nice and low.
Elimivertible…back in the day, when my friends and I were under the impression “if it wasn’t a Holley it was junk” my neighbor bought a 67 Nova, which had an Edelbrock carb. It didn’t run right and we found one metering rod was bent. Switched the metering rod and it worked great. This car was used as his daily driver for several years. In south Florida old cars can be driven year round. One day I stopped by and he opened the hood, I said hey John you ought to put the air cleaner back on. He said this car never had an air cleaner. That carb kept right on working flawlessly until he sold the car. Hopefully the next guy put an air cleaner.
Heh that’s funny. I’m definitely no carb expert, which is partly why I went for the AVS2, but I’ve driven a few carbureted cars over the years and this thing is almost like fuel injection, only every have to touch the gas pedal on a hot restart and then only a touch usually, other than that it just fired up. I believe it’s the annular boosters that atomize the fuel better but I sure like it.
Thanks everyone for your input and advice. Since I am trying to keep the Cougar original (mostly), I have decided to go with an Autolite 4100. Yes, the 4300 would be the correct choice, but many users consider them fussy, and the 4100 is pretty reliable. I found a clean one on ebay that I plan to rebuild. Thanks again.
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