Carburetor Suggestions?

I have a 1971 Mach 1, 351 C engine, Looking to downsize the carb. Currently there is a Holley 4781 850 CFM and an electric fuel pump in the trunk. I am going to put the stock fuel pump back in. Any suggestions for the Model of Carb, size etc.?

Holley 4160 works nice in marine 351W motors. Are you using a low pressure electric fuel pump? I don’t see why an electric fuel pump should be replaced unless it is putting out excessive pressure and flow. Electric fuel pumps for fuel injected motors are high pressure pumps and won’t work with a carb but a low pressure electric fuel pump should work fine.

A 450-500 CFM carburetor is plenty big enough unless you go racing.

If originality is not an issue my vote would be for an Edelbrock 1406 or something along those lines.
They’re good carbs, simple as it gets, and very easy to repair or fine tune if needed.

I think the Holley 4160 is a 650 cfm carb.

the old autolite four barrels work great-kevin

I would agree that an 850 is too much carb for this engine. An Edelbrock or Holly 650 cfm carb should be plenty, as long as the engine is stock, ie camshaft, etc. I agree with Uncle Turbo. If it’s an electric pump designed for carburated engines, why not just leave it in. If it’s a unit designed for EFI, swap it out for a carb type unit., This way, you’ll not have any problems with vapor lock in the summer that tends to plague older engines designed to run on pure gas, and not the ethanol blends we have today.

For the money and simplicity the Edelbrock is awfully good. It should be an easy install and perform well with little attention.

Somewhere around '69 through '74 Ford pick-ups with the 390 truck engine came with 500CFM 2-barrel autolite carbs. They work great on 302’s and 351’s and they just bolt on, look just like the stock carb…

IIRC the heads on these cars differed based on what type of carb you had from the factory. There are “2V” heads and “4V” heads. I probably wouldn’t go to a 2bbl carb. I do agree that a 650 cfm Edlebrock or Holly 4 barrel would be you best bet.

@Caddyman when I was 15 my, father and I found a junkyard 390 2V and put it in a 74 F-100 (originally had a 2V 302). We ended up rebuilding the 390, we did some mild upgrades ( slightly hotter cam, had the heads decked and mildly ported, etc.) but we did get a low rise 4 bbl intake manifold and 650 cfm holly 4bbl. The 4 barrel really wakes up the 390.

A 390 was a VERY versatile engine…It could power a school bus or a GT Mustang or Fairlane…250HP or 335HP, the choice was yours…Replacing the huge cast iron intake manifold with a lightweight medium-rise aluminum model offered a big improvement, just getting 40 pounds off the front end helped a lot…But making Fords run fast got real expensive real fast compared to the Chevy guys…The Parts department of any Chevy dealer was more like a low-cost speed shop…A 300HP/327 Chevy could provide a lot of cheap thrills in a Chevell or Camero

I see Edelbrock carbs all the time at the car shows. There must be a reason for that.

I see Edelbrock carbs all the time at the car shows. There must be a reason for that.

They are shiny, and they say Edelbrock on them.