Nailhead carb choice

Hello,

Have a 58 364 (stock) with the 4b intake and am looking for an after market carb. Was looking at an Edelbrock (1405/1406) or Holley (4160) 600cfm. All the "application guides" I've seen so far say neither of these carbs will fit but I don't see why not. FYI ...tranny is a Dynaflo. Any help would be appreciated.

Alex

 

All of the 364s with 4 bbls. came with Rochester 4GCs, and I would imagine that even if the AFB style Edelbrock carb's bolt holes line up with the studs on the Buick intake, there is probably some throttle plate interference with the bores in the stock manifold.

 

Lay a gasket up there and that will tell you. Cheaper than buying a carb that won't fit.

 

The two listed carbs will NOT fit the original manifold without an adapter.

The two listed carbs will NOT fit the original air cleaner without an adapter.

The two listed carbs do not have provision for the "starter switch".

Adding a manifold adapter will add approximately 1 inch height; as will adding the aircleaner adapter. How much hood clearance do you have?

Neither of the listed carburetors will have the proper calibration for your Buick, and will need recalibration. Are you familiar enough with either to do the recalibration, and do you object to the purchase of additional parts to do the recalibration?

I do not know what modifications, if any, would be required to use either of the listed carburetor with your transmission. Possibly someone else can answer that.

Jon.

 

My Special would have come with a 2 bbl from what I've gathered. At some point someone added the intake, Q-jet w/adapter, and after market air cleaner. Suffice to say the accelerator/starter linkage is long gone and a starter button off of the column has taken it's place. I've never had much luck rebuilding a Q-jet but was very pleased with a second hand Edelbrock I installed on my SBC. I guess I could just pull the Q-jet and reuse the adapter with an edelbrock. The current setup tends to leave me with "dry bowel syndrome" between starts. Doesn't seem to leak on the exterior and I thought that I had those plugs between the primary and secondaries on the interior of the unit sealed off well enough so they shouldn't leak. Maybe I should give it another look. The carb works well, just loses it's "prime".

 

If you have a 1967 or earlier Q-Jet, it may be that the plugs are leaking; OR it may be simply that the modern fuel is evaporating from the bowl.

The clone will require a different adapter from the Q-Jet.

While the Q-Jet is an excellent carb; neither it through an adapter or a clone, will perform as well on that engine as the original carb designed for the engine.

Jon.

 

My 57 364 Buick is running a 57 buick Carter with the starter switch. I think they were available on the Roadmasters, Supers, and Century models.

 

AFB's with the starter switch & the proper linkage for the trans. were made up until 1960. I had a 63/401 AFB on my '55 Buick Special with a 264. At 625 CFM's it did not appear to be to much.