Best Carburetor/Intake combination ?

[jlewis]

What is the best 4 barrel carb out there for a stock 360? Can you tell that much of a difference then 2 barrel? I assume that you would have to buy an intake to match up with it. Let me know what you have and your feedback on your combination. Thanks

[fulsizjeep]

It depends on what your driving habits are... Street, trail, mix, daily driver. I don't know about best but popular upgrades seem to be Edelbrock Performer intake with a Edelbrock or Holley carb.

The stock spreadbore intake used in the 70s breaths pretty well. It is cast iron like the 2bbl stock intakes and is heavy. The spreadbore design is for the Motorcraft 4350 carb which are getting harder to find. It is good match for a 360 or 401.

The Rochester QuadraJet is a popular carb upgrade for off road use. There are a few other after market intakes that are out there, but I am not personally familiar with them.

We have 2 401s with stock 4 bbl intakes. One is 4350 and the other has a Holley 600 adapted. Another 401 is set up with a Performer and AFB and works well for towing. The other 401 is running a Edelbrock SP2P with AFB 750. I was going for more low end torque. It runs out of power on the highway at about 70 with 33s and 3.73 gears but goes up in the San Juans and on Moab slickrock pretty good.

[jlewis]

This is my daily driver and sometimes I take it on long trips maybe twice a year at about 400 miles one way. I will reach up to speeds of 68 to 73 mph. I am looking for an upgrade in performance and sound. I am looking at the carb and intake in BJs offroad. I don't know if that is that much of an upgrade to improve the overall performance of my engine. I have 153,000 miles on the original engine and it runs great. I was just looking for that edge to help inhance exceleration on the highway when I want to pass someone and take off speed from a dead stop. Do you think I should purchace the BJs offroad combination or should it be a 4barrel? If so will it take the same intake offered in BJ's? Thank you.

[fulsizjeep]

Never looked at intake carb options at BJs... Will check it out. Edit: looks like the Edelbrock Performer series like I was talking about, yes. Depending on your preference, used ones are not hard to find either. I picked up my SP2P for $50 and helicoiled 2 carb bolt holes and had it beaded for $35. Then the AFB was $50 from a friend and came with jet/needle/spring kit. I picked up a Performer intake on eBay a couple years ago for $150 to my house. I am not trying to talk you away from BJs, just saying how I've done it.

I have found that modifying the exhaust can give you some performance too. Let 'em breath top and bottom. We like duals, some like going 3" or 3.5" single exhaust.

Based on what you are saying a Performer intake and Edelbrock or Holley 4bbl around 600 cfm will wake your 360 up. Depending on how the 360 has been maintained, you could have 50 to 100k before doing more serious engine work.

[Stuka]

The edelbrock Performer is leaps and bounds better than the stock cat iron 4v intake. My cherokee came with a 4350 and it would fall on its face at 3k rpm. With the performer intake and a 600cfm performer cabr it would build power to about 4k, where the cam would then fall on its face. Bet better power across the band. I got better fuel economy with the 600 as well. On the 4350, soon as you open the gigantic seconcdaries, you might as well have a garden hose going down the intake. I went from 8mpg average around here (lots of steep hills) to 14mpg.

[fulsizjeep]

I guess there can be many experiences with this hardware we tinker with. The 4350 and stock intake on Krista's 77 Wag has produced pretty consistent 12.5 to 13 mpg running long distance at 75 to 100 mph on 31s and 3.07 gears and 5" lift. Also Hedman headers and dual glass pack shortys. This is all on an engine that we have had since 59K miles and now has 98K on it. I have a such a hard time considering changing that setup that we have a spare 4350 to go on when this one craps out.

[jlewis]

I believe that the one on BJ's is a 600 2barrel. What is the part number for the 4 barrel edelbrock and will it fit on the intake bj's has for sale? So do you all suggest I go to a 4 barrel or 2. By the way I have some Doug Thorley ceramic headers on it.

[fulsizjeep]

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=EDL%2D1406&N=700+115&autoview=sku
That combo should work nicely for you. It is a 4bbl and looks like a 1406 from the image. You should probably contact BJs for more details.

[Murphy]

It's a straight 4bbl that fits the performer manifold that BJ's and others sell.

[jlewis]

Thanks to everyone for all the help.