Silly me.
Have tightened one bolt a bit too much and have now got that crack on the carb (see pic)
That is an unusual place for a crack to happen from tightening it down. Are you sure it wasn’t dropped? I bet that crack goes further along under the carb body. Back in the day, my cousin had broken off a corner of a Holley base plate. He had it welded and you couldn’t tell it was repaired. This one, you might have to replace the base plate. Disassembly will tell more of the story.
It wasn’t dropped. I own that car for many years and the carb has never been removed. Looks like I have to replace the base plate and take it from there.
The carb’s list number is 3796-1 and the engine is a 69 351w 4v. What would be the correct base plate for this combo? Sorry but I am not very experienced as far as old cars are concerned and any help is very much appreciated.
A 3796-1 is a Holley carburetor, 600 CFM as you say. The original carburetor for every 351W 4V was an Autolite so your carburetor is a replacement. New base plates are available at holley.com.
