gotta replace my 68 cougars stock carburetor looks a bit beat up and is missing some springs … what’s a reliable/durable carburetor that would work for this aspiring daily driver of mine? should I replace it with another stock carb?
More information needed. Is it a 2V or a 4V? What engine?
If it’s a 2V 2100, those are pretty awesome little carbs, even if the stock 2V intake was not the best performance choice. Easy to maintain, economical, and very good for a daily driver.
If you have a 4V, it would be an Autolite 4300, which is pretty much a pain in the neck. The older 4100 was an excellent carb, but by '67, Ford was feeling pressure from the federal government to clean up emissions, and thus, the 4300 was introduced. It was intended to be more environmentally friendly, but instead, turned out to be fussy, hard to tune, hard to keep in tune, and modestly eager to set itself on fire.
If you have a 2V, I’d rebuild it. They are easy to do.
If you have an original 4V 4300, I would replace it with a Summit M2008VS carburetor. The 500 cfm version would be perfect for a stock engine, and is essentially a modern copy of the old 4100. Easy to tune, great economy, performance, and on top of all that - it’s cheap! Put the 4300 up on a shelf, or sell it to a concours restoration person.
Best wishes!
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2v carb
great info! thank you
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stock 302
This is interesting. I am currently rebuilding my 68 F Code 302. Originally it had Autolite 2100. As I acquired it in 2015, original carb and 2V intake were replaced with Edelbrock 600 cfm 1405 and Performer 289 intake. The engine is otherwise stock with 63cc 2V heads. Edelbrock runs ok, but MPG is poor and I think that with my stock C4 trans and 3.00 gears I never run it over 4,000 rpm. So the 1405 is too much carb for me. I am leaning more on restoration side on my build and I think that a rebuilt Autolite 4300 would be a good carb. I will still use the Performer 289 and I paint it with Ford blue for stock appearance. There’s lot of modern carbs on 500 cfm range but I think that for my restoration oriented build a 4300 would be the best choice.
This is how it looked just before engine disassembly. I will replace the generic chrome valve covers and air cleaner with original refurbished parts.
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With concours style priorities, the 4300 makes sense! But if driving your car, I would definitely avoid that carb. It was not good when new, and it is worse now. Fine for shows, but very prone to stumbles and catching fire.
Your engine sure looks sharp. =)
Thanks for comments. I am not building a concours correct restoration so I think again. If I install a 4300 and then begins problems, it is not worth it. Better choice for my stock F Code is a new 500 cfm carb.
Put a 500cfm holley with Ford throttle linkages and call it done .
It seems that available 500 cfm 4bbl carbs are Edelbrock Performer and AVS2. Summit has SUM-M08500VS. I think all these are good.
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I ran one of these Holley 500 CFM 2V carburetors for many years on an otherwise stock 289. Perfect for the job, reliable as death and taxes.
Holley 500 CFM 2V
To me it looks 4300. You have many choices. You can buy a rebuild kit and do the job at home or send the carb to a professional carb shop. As a restoration oriented person I suggest to keep it if You don’t plan to make performance upgrades. There’s not so many 1968 Cougars anymore equipped with original carbs after 54 years.
It’s a terrible carburetor. I would save it for a future owner and get a Holley 0-1850 to drive with.
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Definitely not looking to keep this original looking for a durable/reliable carb I can just set and forget since this will be my daily driver
I would pick a Summit M2008VS carb for a few reasons. It’s a successor to the 4100, with a lot of nice tuning improvements, it has annular boosters, and it’s inexpensive. One of the best carburetors right out of the box that you could buy, until you start talking about $800+ carbs with some nicer features.
Very good atomization, excellent throttle response, reliability, economy, and even peak performance. It’s a tough little carb to beat for the money.
is this the one? does my cougar need any modifications ?
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-m08500vs?seid=srese1&gclid=CjwKCAjwqJSaBhBUEiwAg5W9p7MGChjaxCubRcsvSnDgOeAva6bBbUwJ0IPHqBLRtFkNykLObGVBkRoCDgAQAvD_BwE
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how many cfm?
The 500 cfm version would be better for a stock engine. The 600 would have a little less throttle response, but still works well. It would be more appropriate for a modified engine with better heads, cam, headers, etc. or a 351.
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