401 intake and carb ?'s 2 or 4 barrel

[scottsaint401]

Hey guys I am new to the amc 401 and was looking for some opinions on carbing the 401. I had a waggy with a 360 in it and roasted a couple of main bearings when I broke the oil pump housing somehow. I have since purchased another 74 waggy with a 401 in it. I am getting ready to put the motor back together and had some questions on the intake and carb.

I will be using a stock intake for now, to many other projects going on to get a different right now. I have the 2 barrel intake and carb off the 360 or I have the four barrel intake and carb off the 401.

-I need to know if I must run the 4 barrel with the 401 or will it be able to breathe enough if I use the 2 barrel?

-This waggy will only be used for trails and mud

-What about running the 2 barrel carb on the 4 barrel intake, sort of like circle track racing guys do?

I will be installing a sum 8600 cam with headers and fresh tune on the motor. Any help would be appreciated, thanks

[Ristow]

i ran the small,1.08 2 barrel on my mild cam'd 401 for some time. ran very well,but anemic at mid to high rom.

[fulsizjeep]

The stock 4 bbl intake is designed for the Motorcraft 4350 carb. To fit anything else requires the right adapter or to modify a Quadrajet to square bore adapter. I imagine the 401 will run OK with a 2 bbl. You may want to start looking around for an Edelbrock Performer intake. That is the popular 4 bbl upgrade for 360/401.

.....and welcome to the forum!

[HARDCORE pacer]

2 bbls came from the factory on the AMC 401s that came in the international pickups. The 4bbl intake you have if it is the original 74 one will be square bore and not spreadbore. There are lots of carbs that will bolt on and adapters to get any other carb on you want. I personally would put on a reman Qjet adapter is $15 and if you get the Qjet from the erly 70s BB buick with an auto the linkage is even very close for an auto. Dont waste your money on the edelbrock carbs or the performer intake. The performer and your factory square bore intake flow the same amount of air. If you must upgrade your intake by the airgapper that is the best offroad intake for an AMC v-8.

[scottsaint401]

thanks guys, this is the kind of info I am looking for. I used the motorcraft 2100 on my 360 and never had any problems with it, I know the 360 had enough umphh in the wag, I just do not know much about the 401 capabilities. thanks

[fulsizjeep]

2 BBL carbs came on 401s in CA too. I think the 401 offering in CA ended in 75 or 76. I thought the square bore 4 bbl intake ended at the end of 73 models, but it is very possible some 74s had square bore intake. If you have a square bore factory intake, I agree with HARDCORE pacer.

I don't know if I agree on the air-gapper though, but that is just me.

Telling someone to not waste money on Edelbrock is kind of a wide open statement based in personal opinion. I think it works better to say in your experience Edelbrock is junk and not say don't waste money on Edelbrock carbs and intakes. We have 2 401s with AFBs and they run good. Ryan has a Edelbrock on his 360 Cherokee and it runs dam good too. oh well...

2 bbls came from the factory on the AMC 401s that came in the international pickups. The 4bbl intake you have if it is the original 74 one will be square bore and not spreadbore. There are lots of carbs that will bolt on and adapters to get any other carb on you want. I personally would put on a reman Qjet adapter is $15 and if you get the Qjet from the erly 70s BB buick with an auto the linkage is even very close for an auto. Dont waste your money on the edelbrock carbs or the performer intake. The performer and your factory square bore intake flow the same amount of air. If you must upgrade your intake by the airgapper that is the best offroad intake for an AMC v-8.

[willysworker]

My AMC 360 has an Edelbrock carb and Performer intake manifold. I really don't see why many talk it down. It works very well on my street / trail rig. Now if my need was for extreme wheeling only, sure I'd be running something different. 1st choice, Propane. Fuel Injection may be a future change for my rig but for now I'm happy with Edelbrock.

[fulsizjeep]

If you look at this:
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/manifolds/amc/amc.shtml
You will see the primary difference in the Performer and Air Gap manifolds is in the power band/rpm range.

http://www.jeepfan.com/reviews/review_edelperfrpm.htm
I also read here the new new Performer Air-Gap manifolds are ideal for street performance from idle-to-5500 rpm.

So, take your choice...

[scottsaint401]

Thanks guys, I just wanted to say thanks for the recommondations, I will let you know how it all goes, I think I will go with the 2 barrel for now and get the bugs worked out and broke in. Thanks scott