Gotta 360 in my f250 and I really enjoy this engine. With this said it's pretty clapped out. I want to be able to tow 10k or so with this truck (ranch truck duties). Haven't atempted to tow this much yet cause I am lacking in the brakes department (drums all around). I know this engine won't be able to tow like a diesel or modern aluminum headed well refined v8, but I do want it to tow reliably. I initially was thinking fuel injection but that route is expensive, would rather spend that money on brakes, sway bars, steering, and tires. I'd like to keep the autolite 2100 because it's highly regarded in the off road world and I plan on this being a 4x4. People also say it's a real reliable, simple carb so that aspect sounds good too. I know this carb lacks in cfms (350 ish max depending on venturi). So what would be the most worthwhile mods in my instance? Gunna mod oiling (recommendations on this?), would rv cam be good? How about headers? I would really like to do RV cam, headers, full exhaust, and 390 crank buy I'm thinking all of this would probably be negligible without going up in cfms which I don't wanna do because I still want to be able to off road her w/o spending thousands on my fuel/air setup. So ultimately my question is what are the most worthwhile mods with the cfms I have alotted with the 2100? 390? Headers/exhaust? Rv cam? Thanks for advice ahead of time!

 

A 390, no matter what carb, will get you much more torque than a 360. A stock cast-iron 4bbl and a carb of your choice is not "thousands" - and the smaller primaries of a 600cfm 4bbl carb will help low-end torque so getting a load moving will be easier than with a 2bb, and empty highway mileage will be better.

BUT - you could keep the 2bbl and see how it runs. It'll be limited in the higher RPMs though, which means on the highway, you'll struggle with a load.

Sounds like a fun project

 

Tires and brakes are never a bad investment. That said from an engine standpoint do you want to tow 10K at 55? or 75? There is a big gulf between those from a HP requirement standpoint. A smokey wore out bone stock 360 could probably do 10K fine at 55 with 5.13 gears and stock size wheels. Will spin at about 2900 RPM at 55. LOTS of pulling ability. If however you want to comfortably cruise around with 10K on the hitch at 75? Now you need alot more horsepower. The road to alot more HP is not for the faint of heart, however it is fairly straightforward. First question, do you have a boneyard with good junk? These days a 390 only really makes sense if you have the rotating assembly available in the area for less than a grand. That is to say can you find a rebuildable crank and rod set for about 100 bucks from your boneyard? Do you have a good machine shop around? If the answer is yes to both then go for it! Use the money you saved on the bottom end, and buy an aluminum top end. Put a .500 ish lift cam in it and go. If you cant boneyard those parts you are looking at buying a new crank. At that point you are building a 445 stroker.

 

Are there any affordable 4 barrels that can do what the 2100 can do off road? On other forums I've heard it's pretty much 2100, FI, or expensive new off road carbs for off roading. That's the main thing holding me back from 4bbl...wanna be able to go up a hill at any angle FI could.

 

Have a friend who runs one of these on his wheeling truck with no issues. He says its based on a old motorcraft desingn but i cant swear to that. https://www.summitracing.com/search/...oview=SKU&ar=1

 

Nothing that says ya have to use just one carb. The smaller size venturi 2100 carbs are smooth and have great off idle acceleration for rock crawling. The 292 in my slick shipped with 1.02" Use one of the larger 2100 models - 1.08" or 1.12", or larger for towing. Takes about 5 minutes to swap a 2100 out, and that's making allowance in between for responsible sips of a tasty cool beverage.

 

I would assume that if you are happy with a 2100, a 4100 should be about the same but with 4 barrels....

 

5.13 gears on stock 31" tires is going to be turning a little over 3200rpm @ 55. Just over 4100rpm to get to 70 Not the best route if he doesn't plan on putting around.
For that kind of steady workload you're really better off upping the cubes. Stuart has it right about either sourcing a cheap 390 rotating assembly, and if not building a 445 if you have to buy new. The cranks are the same price so might as well go big. Won't even really hurt mpg because the 360 has such poor quench, which going to either of the larger cid fixes.
Headers are always first on any FE. Rv type cam, performer intake, and whatever your budget allows for heads will get you the most low end regardless of cid.

Not sure but like 72redneck I would assume the 4100 is just a larger 2100?

 

A 4100 is basically just a 4bbl version of the 2100.