My youngest son is trying to determine the best carb for is rebilt 390...he has several but not sure what would be the best or at least recommended. The truck is an 69 F250 and the rebuilt 390 has about 30K on her now

 

Hi,

What style intake is on the engine? A 2bbl or 4bbl?

If its a 4bbl I would go with an Edelbrock or Holley in the 600cfm range, no larger. If Holley go with a vacuum secondary NOT a double pumper. Most auto parts chains carry these carbs or there are many to choose from on ebay.

If it's a 2bbl there is a Holley 500 cfm carb that should work fine. Again use auto parts store or search Ebay for a 2100 or 2150.

Good luck,
Lee

 

I'm a big fan of Holley. 2bbl. or 4bbl. I like Holley, the 4160 4bbl, or 2300 2bbl.

 

This looks like a good thread for my carb question. I bought a 1977 F250 (2WD w/ C6 automatic) that has been fitted with an Edelbrock Performer 400 manifold, and it has a Holley 4 barrel that is in TERRIBLE shape -- some past stackfire was so bad it melted an upper edge and now the choke can't close; no accelerator pump left at all.

VIN indicates my rig left the factory with the 351M, but identifying decals and tags are gone. I have not measured stroke, so it could possibly be a 400. I've hear a lot of 351M owners installed the 400 pistons and crank at rebuild time.

I have a friend who talks about putting a kit into one of his old Holley carburetors. But I'd be buying a kit, his time, etc., and probably getting a bigger carb than I really want.

I've run the formula, and this engine will never breathe 500 cfm, even if it is a 400. I want decent mileage and low end performance. It's a truck, after all. Right now, it gets terrible mileage and is NOT happy about starting when the weather is cold.

I'm leaning toward a new Edelbrock, because I've had mixed luck with rebuilt items. The Edelbrock 1406 is a 600 cfm with electric choke. Schuck's usually stocks this one, as will Parts America if I want to order online. The Edelbrock 1403 is a 500 cfm version with electric choke. I'm operating on a shoestring budget. Should I spend the extra time and money to get the smaller 1403, or just go with the 1406 carburetor? Or are there better options?

Lane

 

Well, I was at Shuck's tonight, and they had the 1406 for $269, while the 1403 would have to be ordered for about $309.

I went ahead and bought a 1406 for $269 (more like $299, with our sales tax).

I'll let you all know how it went, after I install the carburetor.

 

Hey, we got the 600 Edelbrock installed tonight, and I like my truck a lot better! There's something about NOT having it fall on its face and die when you hit the gas. And that whole concept of having a choke that works and an engine that starts right away -- that has a lot going for it.

We had a bit of dragging and interference at first, between throttle linkage and kickdown linkage. The first time I fired it up, I had to shut the key off quickly. But we got it sorted out. Even got the idle set pretty well. (While I was fiddling with the kickdown linkage, I did find upper bellhousing bolts getting loose. That concerned me.)

Now, if I step down on the throttle at 40, it kicks down, secondaries open, and someone lit the afterburners. I like it!

Just filled the tanks. I was getting 9 mpg or less. We'll see how it does now. The Edelbrock 1406 has much smaller primaries than the Holley we removed. I like that.

This truck has an electric fuel pump installed amidships. I keep finding things.... like the hidden kill switch under the dash. A former owner must have liked to tinker...

The engine revving on our first attempt reminded me of a tale: The buddy who was helping me once worked in a shop and saw a Mechanic had taken the carburetor off an engine, just dropped the fuel line so it happened to be pointed at the open intake manifold. He put a sign on the steering wheel, "Do not Start. No Carb." Another guy ignored the sign and tried starting the car. Oh, BOY, did it start!! In the absence of jets or venturis, the mixture may not have been great, but you don't get much more "wide open throttle," than having the full output of a fuel pump dumped directly into a wide open intake manifold. The engine was headed for orbit! The guy who did it was frantically trying to lift the accelerator, thinking it as a stuck throttle. Noise was too great to communicate, even shouting. My friend reached in and shut off the key.

Well, now to pick my next item to fix....

 

Good choice, Edelbrock makes a great carb.

 

''yeah i have tried the same trick with starter fluid pretty cool'