8ba flatty

parso4@bigpond.com

Junior Member
I have just purchased a 4 barrel manifold because we could not get a 2 barrel manifold for at least 3 months down under, could someone please advise me on what size 4 barrel carby to buy for a stock 8BA
 
Parso,
No argument with the choice of a 390 cfm Holley but lots of guys are
having great results with the Edelbrock 500 cfm carbs. The performer series
is very straight forward and easy to tune. It's a bit less expensive too. Ol Ron
may wish to add to this. He seems to be able to squeeze the most out of babies.
Charlie ny
PS In Speedways catalog too.
 
The early Carter or Rochester would be my absolute first choice but might be scarce
in the other hemisphere.
I have a few early Rochester 4 barrel carb cores , as flathead4rd says a direct bolt on,
but parts to tune might be hard to find down under.
Charlie ny
 
Actually my friend Richard from Fl is the expert on these Edelbrock carbs. They are very tunable in both power and economy. Yes the early 4 bl do fit quite well but may not be as tunable. I used a Carter from an early Buick and it worked great with no mods. Try and use an AF meter to prevent an over rich mixture in cruise. this is bad for everything in the engine and pocket book.
 
i also use a edelbrock performer 500 the beauty about this carb is its so easy to tune plus if needed you can rejet down 3 leaner mixs if needed @ ol ron is right richard in fl has done extensive work with this carb on his 276ci engine and is getting great results trev nz across the ditch
 
Actually my friend Richard from Fl is the expert on these Edelbrock carbs. They are very tunable in both power and economy. Yes the early 4 bl do fit quite well but may not be as tunable. I used a Carter from an early Buick and it worked great with no mods. Try and use an AF meter to prevent an over rich mixture in cruise. this is bad for everything in the engine and pocket book.

I just had the pleasure of purchasing a WCFB from Richard in Florida that he had rebuilt. It is slap dab gorgeous. I can not wait to install it. I have a Holly 390 that I purchased new on it now and have never been able to get the accelerator pump just right. It requires a little finesse when running the gears with the s-10 5 speed.

If I were going to invest in another new carb I believe I would try the Edlebrock 500.

John L
 
I had a Holley 390 on my 60 over, 3/4 cam, S10 T5 flatty that ran flawless.

I don't doubt you at all. I have tried different shooters, accelerator cams and even talked to the Holly tech support but just have not found the magic formula. My car is built pretty period correct so the Carter WCFB will actually have more the look I want anyway. I ran one on an old 283 and it was a really sweet little carb.

John L
 
I have just purchased a 4 barrel manifold because we could not get a 2 barrel manifold for at least 3 months down under, could someone please advise me on what size 4 barrel carby to buy for a stock 8BA
A Holley 390 4160 is the carb of choice for the flathead racers around here.
 
Carb discussions are always interesting. My engine is 245 CI., Max 1 cam, Edelbrock aluminum heads, headers and a Holley 390. Couldn't ask for a sweeter running engine. If I remember correctly the original carb was approx. 212 or so CFM. I was just wondering about a 500 Edelbrock on a lower displacement engine. Seems most people running them have higher displacements.
 
Carb discussions are always interesting. My engine is 245 CI., Max 1 cam, Edelbrock aluminum heads, headers and a Holley 390. Couldn't ask for a sweeter running engine. If I remember correctly the original carb was approx. 212 or so CFM. I was just wondering about a 500 Edelbrock on a lower displacement engine. Seems most people running them have higher displacements.

There was an interesting thread (I think here on the Barn) where someone was explaining that Holly and Edlebrock rated their carbs differently and that the Edlebrock was not really as much bigger as it sounds. Maybe someone will jump in here and refresh our memories. My 390 is not terrible and it gets pretty good mileage. The accelerator just has to be feathered or it will hesitate. I would be very interested to know what size shooter nozzle the other guys are running. If I remember correctly I have #31 on it now.

Mine seems to be the exception. The WCFB off of a 55 buick was built for 322 ci engine so it is all the carburator the engine could need.
 
One time I heard that the Edlebrock is really a Webber-Edlebrock purchased the tooling and rights to the carb from Webber.
 
The disadvantage of buying a new carb is they come fron the factory on the rich side. Parking one of these on your engine will usually make them run better at the expense of fuel economy. Richards Edelbrock got only 9 MPG in the beginning and now gets over 20. You have to try new jets to find the right combination of jetting and ignition advance. This is where the AF meter comes in handy.
 
There was an interesting thread (I think here on the Barn) where someone was explaining that Holly and Edlebrock rated their carbs differently and that the Edlebrock was not really as much bigger as it sounds. Maybe someone will jump in here and refresh our memories. My 390 is not terrible and it gets pretty good mileage. The accelerator just has to be feathered or it will hesitate. I would be very interested to know what size shooter nozzle the other guys are running. If I remember correctly I have #31 on it now.

Mine seems to be the exception. The WCFB off of a 55 buick was built for 322 ci engine so it is all the carburator the engine could need.

In the "For what it's worth" department. I was having the same problem. Tried everything I could think of to cure it but couldn't. The only thing I hadn't rebuilt on my engine was the distributor. Sent it to Bubba's to have it checked and set. When it came back I put it on and my problem was solved! It was the distributor all along.
 
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