I am looking to put a new carb on my truck (71 F250) 360 V8. I was looking at a 4 barrel Holley because I am looking to get a little better performance and keeping the truck as close as possible to the original. Thoughts or recommendations? Thanks in advance!!

 

Close to original? Then look for an Autolite 4100 with a 1.12 casting iin the clockface on the main body.. it's 600 cfm whereas a 1.08 casting is 480 cfm. I picked up a rebuildable 1.12 for a mere $40.

Easy to rebuild and not as fussy as a Holley IMO.

 

2X Hio. Plus I'd like to add if you find one look close at pics to make sure it is complete. There are some plastic pieces on those 4100's that don't come in carb kits.

As far as a Holley goes, a 600 CFM vacuum secondary. If you get one of these let me know ALL about your truck and I'll tell you how to jet,plate,nozzle,spring etc it.
Rear gears?
Whicjh tranny?
Stock engine?
Headers?
Exhaust system?
How you gonna drive it?
Tow. If so how heavy?

 

And don't bother with a 4300. They are problematic and you cannot re-jet the secondaries. They are only good for a Concours resto. 4100's are as trouble free as they get and there are tons of T-bird (read that as big block) and Ford Full Size units available. If you get one prior to 64 it uses the Holley jets, after that Ford specific. I bought the die so I can make my own but nowadays they are available from other sources. I start with hex stock so you can use a nut driver. Commonly on the 4100's you will find a busted secondary vacuum actuator arm (post 66, plastic) and the dams for the fuel transfer ports will be missing. Also look for the pitot tube in the secondaries. If it's missing, walk away. There will be no vac signal to open them and you will be driving a fairly wimpy 2V. Not reproduced.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I am currently looking into a Holly "Avenger" Mod# 4160 Part#0-80457S. Advanced Auto Parts is saying that it is a straight swapHolley Street Carburetor 0-80457S: Get best Carburetor -Performance at Advance Auto Parts. Does anyone have any experience with one of these swaps on the 360? My Father has had this truck for about 25 years. He gave it to my son (his oldest grandson) and we have been working on this together over the last couple of months and it has been a great time. He is 14 and getting his license in the next few months. My Father just had this motor factory rebuilt and it only has about 200 miles on it since. I just want to upgrade a couple of performance parts like carb, maybe headers, plugs, exhaust, and maybe a couple other misc items. I would like to get a couple other items corrected on the steering but then hopefully get it to paint. I am still very interested in swapping my front drums with disc brakes but have not found a donor yet. I found a 68 Ford F250 that has front disc brakes and thought about buying it to pull/replace the drums on my 71 but it would really be a shame to that because I have seen the truck and it looks to be in pretty decent shape. The guy only wants $600.00 for it. I am just not sure my wife is going to like the idea of another dent sitting in her driveway. I may do it anyway. Thanks again guys, any input you can give me, I would appreciate it. The forum has been a huge help!! I have subscribed to a couple of the threads and see what you guys have done/are doing. Awesome work!!

 

80457 Comes with the following in it:

1.#64 jets. FE's love fuel. IMHO 64 to lean. Better for gas mileage but it will run better with richer jets. ESPECIALLY if you install headers and free flowing exhaust. Which IS a good idea. I suggest #66 jets.
2.#39 secondary metering plate. PERFECT. Would have been my choice.
3.#6.5 power valve. Also would have been my pick.
4.#.031 squirters. Also my choice.
5.Black coded secondary spring. This is the strongest one so you won't get 1/2 of your secondaries opening with this. I suggest also buying Holley #20-13 secondary diaphragm spring kit and installing the purple spring in your carb. To easily swap out the different springs out of this kit to see which one your particular engine likes the best you can also buy Holley number #20-59 "quick change" spring cover kit.