My 5.0 came from an '89 Mustang, runs really well, stock internals with headers and an Edelbrock intake. I'm ready to pick up a four barrel carb for it and was wondering which one is the best choice? There are several re-manufactured Holleys currently available for good prices, along with the usual Edelbrock carb that matches the manifold as part of their performance pack.
Not married to any one make or model, just want the best carb for reliability and drivability. Hoping to eliminate the off idle stumbles, breaking up after 4,000 rpm, and the endless variety of jets usually needed to dial things it.
Looking for an out-of-the-box, plug and play with "a few turns of the screwdriver" option if there is one.
Thanks, completely lost here—
TC
Edelbrock 1406 is the go to option IMO
You beat me to it. Electric choke 600 cfm edelbrock. Won't make as much power as a holley, but much more reliable and drivable.
Plus the Edelbrocks have the vacuum ports to run just about any distributor or brake combo that you can think of.
Be a man. Holley up, dude. I think the factory carb for the 5.0 was a 600.
Thanks, reliability is a big factor !
I was looking at the new Street Demon on You Tube and it looks like another good choice, especially for eliminating the off idle stumbling that seems to be a part of the Edelbrock experience.
Does the electric choke Edelbrock 600 transition smoothly?
Im a fan of the 600 holley on all of my previous small block fords. I cant stand edelbrock carbs. If the car is stick look at the mechanical secondary designs. If you go vacuum secondary holley install the quick change spring kit before bolting it on.
Having just gone the full EEC-IV EFI route for a recent 5.0 pull 'n' swap for my new track car . . . next time I'm just going to spend the ECU and wiring harness money on a carb. For the wiring and computer package, people want $500 around here by the time it's all done.
Of course, EFI is the only way to get it registered in the DistMarVa area.
Relevant video from Mr. Regular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQamKROJRJU
Buy a used Holley off ebay and rebuild it (easy). Switching from vacuum secondary's to mechanical made a night and day difference for me. You can feel in the pedal when the secondary's are opening, so keep your foot out of it and fuel mileage won't be any worse between the two.
What kind of intake, single or dual plane? A dual plane will let you get by with a bigger carb. I had an Edelbrock dual plane on a 302, along with a four-hole spacer and a 600 Holley. Terribly mismatched combo- low RPM throttle response and drivability was excellent, but it hit a wall about 4,800 RPM. Switching to a 750 and an open spacer let it breathe.
You can always buy/sell/trade various size carbs until you get what you want. If you put a vacuum gauge on, the engine will tell you. If you're pulling more than 1" at WOT, the carb is too small. Doesn't mean you have to go bigger, but you're leaving power on the table (at the expense of burning more fuel).
Thank you all for the help. A best friend always runs the chromed finish Holley 600 on his cars and swears by it. I've seen it in "action" and have never noticed any bog or stumbles. I've also heard that Edelbrock 600 is the carb of choice for the 5.0. A simple problem free option.
Then there's the injection and Street Demon.
Thinking that the chromed finish Holley just might be the choice here, especially as it has mechanical secondaries, completely forgot about that ! A little over priced, but might be worth it.
Next step is to check on You Tube for some running/driving/comparison videos and listen closely for any stumble or rpm break-up.
Thanks—
TC
Next will be to check out
I have a Holley 570 Avenger on my relatively stock 289, and while it runs pretty well, it is really a little big for the car. If you want good throttle response, I'd recommend a 500CFM carb. Those stock heads really don't breath over 4500rpm, which is where you would have to run to make use of a larger carb.
You could run a 1050 on a 302 and have it driveable, you'd just need to know what you're doing (which again is pretty easy, just takes a little reading). Likewise you could have a 600 that fell on its face each time you touch the gas. I wouldn't turn to YouTube videos to figure out what size carb to run.
If this is a street driven car, I'd find a 600-650 Holley double pumper and call it a day.
This is well worth the time to read http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm
Yes, you technically can't have a carb that is too big, because the engine will only use what it needs, but the smaller the carb the higher the velocity of air thought the venturies and the better the throttle response, so on a street car you don't want to go larger than is necessary for the engine. And for a plug and play carb that the OP is looking for, a vacuum secondary carb would be a better option than a double pumper, especially if the car has an auto trans.
Ross2004—
Thank you for that link, I just now sent off an email with a simple question regarding, "What do you recommend?" Hopefully I'll get a simple answer !
Bravenrace—
The car in question is an MGA, the engine is up against a WC T-5 transmission. I know that I'm going to need a mechanical secondary or there will be a definite bog without a spring replacement.
Lots of folks seem to prefer a 500 for the small engine, others say that a 600 will work just fine. I would really like to avoid that off-idle bog if possible, yet have some stumble-free rpms left at the top end; I guess that there simply isn't a carb that will do both. Now trying to find a decent compromise I guess rather than the "perfect" carb for the 5.0/standard trans.
Again, thanks a ton for all of this ! ! !
TC
TeamEvil wrote:
Bravenrace—
... I guess that there simply isn't a carb that will do both.
TC
Well yes there is, and its a vacuum secondary 500cfm carb. I'm not sure why you think a vacuum secondary will have a bog, as in general they are less likely than a mechanical secondary carb to have that condition. Mechanical secondary carbs (which I prefer for myself, BTW) are also more sensitive to the CFM needs of the engine and thus have to be sized more accurately. You can easily have an off idle bog with a mech secondary carb, and IMO are more likely to as well. You said you wanted a plug and play carb, and that would be a vacuum secondary 500 cfm carb. If a spring change is needed, it's a simple change. And lastly, like I said before, the smaller the carb (to an extent) the better the throttle response.
For a car that light, with a manual, no way I'd stick a vacuum secondary on there. I also wouldn't go any smaller than a 600. Car would be a lot of fun. But that's me.
In reply to ross2004:
You're right, that's you.
a Holley 1850 with the Ford throttle arm setup is what you want. 600cfm, vacuum secondary, and electric choke. once you get it dialed in, you will love it. it's essentially what the 84-early 86 5.0 Mustangs had..
Stupid question, but what about Carter AFBs? I thought those were supposed to be good performing pretty easy carbs to work with, like a giant SU in principle.
Heck, I don't even know if they make those anymore - or if I even remember right....
Conflicting info seems to abound. The reason for the mechanical secondary statement is due to the second hand experiences that I've had with my friend's TR8. He always went with a mechanical secondary when he could, usually the chromed Holley carb. I've heard it elsewhere that mechanical secondaries were more sensitive to the carb needs and offered a better transition because of the precise linkage.
Still open to any and all suggestions, but starting to get confused by opinions, you know?
I guess that the 600 is the over-all choice, just have to narrow down the make and model.
The Carter AFB is almost the same as the Weber/Edelbrock offering I think. They look very much the same anyway, not at all sure of how they perform or is they're still available or even if they'll work with a drop base air filter.
So are you deciding to build the one you had for sale after all?
I guess so . . . nobody seemed to want to take on the project. Really too bad as I have everything needed to get it together.
We just finished putting up the huge work tent and both the Hillman and Austin are ready for high build primer and engine installations, so they're really progressing well. It's a four car work space and we only have the two projects, I thought that I might as well move the MGA over and begin the finish body work on the front and rear clips. After those are in primer, I'll begin fitting the engine and trans to the frame. Move forward from there in very small steps with the help of the other guys. Take it super easy. Since I've decided on running with the lightweight fiberglass fenders and rockers and the hood and trunk are already done, finishing and assembling the body shouldn't be a big deal and easy enough for one old guy to handle.
For right now, though, I REALLY need to get the info on the best carb, paint the 302, install the carb, headers, and distributor and tuck it to one side for later. Like to get the 302 sorted out while the body work is being wrapped up on the Austin. Probably ought to put some sort of schedule/build sheet up on the blackboard in order to keep things in some order.
We all have our Winter projects lining up, mine are now the Austin and MGA, I'll finish the Austin for sure, hopefully offer the MGA for sale again in the Spring when it's further along and not so frightening of a project.
All of that to one side though, I STILL need some real world/I just bought and installed one kind of infor on a nice performing carb for the 302/T-5 set-up.
Thanks—
TC
A 600 with mechanical secondaries is WAY too much carburetor for that engine.
You can indeed have a carb that is too big. The throttle will open very fast and you will probably have trouble fueling it properly on initial tip-in. This is where that bog that everyone always talks about comes from.
A properly sized and tuned carburetor will not bog or stumble or lean out. You just need to make sure you do your homework.
People like big cams and big carbs because they cost the same as little ones and bigger is always better, right? Remember, this forum is terrified of carburetors.
Try the calculator here: http://www.csgnetwork.com/cfmcalc.html
You'll find a 400cfm is probably about right.
Thanks everyone. Too many opinions, not really interested in an on-line calculator, just wanted to hear from someone with a STOCK engine and what they installed.
Might have asked for too much.
Please consider this thread closed, I'll probably join a Ford 5.0 forum and ask there, find someone who's already done what I'm wondering about, to many contradiction opinions here and only one or two or three who've actually owned a stock 5.0 and installed a carb.
Thanks everyone, thread all done. Closed and over with.
TC—
