I have what I believe is a mostly stock 289 in my '66 C-code convertible. It had the original 2 barrel iron manifold with a 2 barrel Holley sitting on top. The manifold appeared to be oozing oil down the front of the engine, and then the Holley started dripping gas from the accelerator pump. Sounds like an excuse for an upgrade, eh?
With some VMF help, I found a used Edelbrock 2121 intake (with fresh gaskets and bolts) and a 1" phenolic spacer. I bought a new Edelbrock 1403 carb (500 CFM, electric choke, vacuum secondaries).
I used the Dynolicious iPhone app to make a few 0-60 runs before starting the swap, and again afterwards.
The mean 0-60 time before the swap was 11.7 seconds (ugh!). After the swap, with no other changes or tuning on the carb, the 0-60 came in at 9.3 seconds over several runs along the same "track" as before.
That is about a 20% improvement, and a VERY noticeable difference under the right foot when tooling around. The car feels more responsive at all RPMs and, despite a tall 2.8:1 rear ratio and the T-5, there is much better "right now" torque in traffic.
The install was typical of my car projects; not all that much time under the hood, but a frustrating amount of time going back and forth to the parts store, with bone-headed advice from the parts counter guys.
Most of the challenges were pretty minor, though:
PCV: I wanted something neater than a long run of hose, but I wanted to follow Edelbrock’s recommendation to use the port on the front of the carb. I called Edelbrock’s tech line and even they said, “we don’t recommend it, but you can use the back.” Also, the old line was 1/2" and the new fitting is 3/8”, so I picked up a new PCV (cheaper than any adapter I could find) and ended up running some 3/8 rubber to the front of the carb. Still thinking about ways to tidy it up.
Throttle Linkage: I had the Ford rod setup. I tried to modify the plate on the carb to use the old clip to hold the rod onto the carb, but it wasn’t working – it would always jam near the end of the travel. So I ended up drilling a small hole in the rod and using a washer and small nail bent like a cotter pin to hold the rod in the hole on the carb. I also swapped the rod to the other side of the vertical near the firewall so the rod would be well clear of the carb.
Throttle return spring: I thought this was going to move right over, but since the base of the carb is much bigger the old spring didn’t work. For now I’ve got another spring running from the carb to a bolt in the rear of the manifold. I plan to drill a hole in the (nearly) vertical piece of the linkage mounted to the firewall and attach the spring there to relieve pressure on the carb’s throttle shaft.
Clearance under the hood: with the 1” spacer this setup is definitely taller than the old one, and I was a little worried. I rolled up a thick cylinder of plumber’s putty and stood it on the aircleaner before gently closing the hood (with a couple of “stop and checks”). Turns out I had 1 1/2 inches to work with for the stud and wingnut.
Heater line: the stock 90 degree fitting that goes just behind the thermostat was too small for the Eddy intake. I got a 1/2" to 3/8” NPT bushing (brass to work with both aluminum and steel) to fix that. Of course, it’s an extra trip to a plumbing store since the car parts stores didn’t have it.
Fuel line: I was able to rebend the hardline to get fairly close and then used a few inches of rubber to get to the banjo fitting (another trip to the store for that forgotten fitting...). Eventually I'd like to make up a new line.
Here’s a shot of the “after” (yes, I know the valve covers are wrong; that's in the works...):
That looks great! I'm running a 600 CFM electric choke carb on my 66. A bit big but I bought it used and the price was right. Very good carb! I used a stock 4V carb spacer with the PCV running to that. I used a rod end on the throttle. I have a fused wire off the batt going to a relay controlled by the ign switch for the choke, works great that way.
I didn't notice too much of a difference when I switch from the stock 2V to the E on a factory cast iron intake mostly because I still had a single exhaust. But boy, soon as the dual exhaust was on....! Have to tried playing around with timing and recurving the distributor?
The PO had wired the choke to the coil (ugh!). I changed it to the brown wire that powers the heater blower (it is always on with ign) pretty early on, and used the same wire for the new carb.
I also have a single exhaust, but I was planning the brake re-route to allow for the dual system earlier today...
I have what I believe is a mostly stock 289 in my '66 C-code convertible. It had the original 2 barrel iron manifold with a 2 barrel Holley sitting on top. The manifold appeared to be oozing oil down the front of the engine, and then the Holley started dripping gas from the accelerator pump. Sounds like an excuse for an upgrade, eh? I'm not a fan of Holleys. After 15 years on a daily driver, I figure I have a shot at bypassing Purgatory due to time served.
With some VMF help, I found a used Edelbrock 2121 intake (with fresh gaskets and bolts) and a 1" phenolic spacer. I bought a new Edelbrock 1403 carb (500 CFM, electric choke, vacuum secondaries). You did yourself a favor using a 500. More is not always better.
Most of the challenges were pretty minor, though:
PCV: I wanted something neater than a long run of hose, but I wanted to follow Edelbrock’s recommendation to use the port on the front of the carb. I called Edelbrock’s tech line and even they said, “we don’t recommend it, but you can use the back.” Also, the old line was 1/2" and the new fitting is 3/8”, so I picked up a new PCV (cheaper than any adapter I could find) and ended up running some 3/8 rubber to the front of the carb. Still thinking about ways to tidy it up. Careful trimming, and using a PCV with 90° top, will look just fine.
Throttle Linkage: I had the Ford rod setup. I tried to modify the plate on the carb to use the old clip to hold the rod onto the carb, but it wasn’t working – it would always jam near the end of the travel. So I ended up drilling a small hole in the rod and using a washer and small nail bent like a cotter pin to hold the rod in the hole on the carb. I also swapped the rod to the other side of the vertical near the firewall so the rod would be well clear of the carb. I use a real cotter pin in a 1/16" hole, but that's the idea. As for the rod, if you rebend the Z closer to the firewall, you can use the stock spring in the stock place. You can also accomplish that by using a 67-68 390 rod.
Throttle return spring: I thought this was going to move right over, but since the base of the carb is much bigger the old spring didn’t work. For now I’ve got another spring running from the carb to a bolt in the rear of the manifold. I plan to drill a hole in the (nearly) vertical piece of the linkage mounted to the firewall and attach the spring there to relieve pressure on the carb’s throttle shaft. I use a stock 2V spring bracket on the left-rear carb stud.
Clearance under the hood: with the 1” spacer this setup is definitely taller than the old one, and I was a little worried. I rolled up a thick cylinder of plumber’s putty and stood it on the aircleaner before gently closing the hood (with a couple of “stop and checks”). Turns out I had 1 1/2 inches to work with for the stud and wingnut. Hmmm… I'm wondering if you could just use a BOSS 302 or 428 carb spacer instead, and connect the PCV to that.
Heater line: the stock 90 degree fitting that goes just behind the thermostat was too small for the Eddy intake. I got a 1/2" to 3/8” NPT bushing (brass to work with both aluminum and steel) to fix that. Of course, it’s an extra trip to a plumbing store since the car parts stores didn’t have it. The BOSS 302 elbow would fit that hole.
Fuel line: I was able to rebend the hardline to get fairly close and then used a few inches of rubber to get to the banjo fitting (another trip to the store for that forgotten fitting...). Eventually I'd like to make up a new line. Glazier/Nolan offers a pre-bent, full-length fuel line for Edelbrock installations, p/n G26045.
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
Have you made sure you have wide open throttle when the pedal is fully depressed?
If that's directed at me, then yes, I took some care to make sure the linkage moves all the way. WOT makes a *very* different sound now (versus the old 2 barrel).
When you fix your spring attachment I'd suggest a double spring (large over small barrel), if the single spring ever breaks it's full throttle until you can get you hand down by the pedal to pull it off the floor (try that while driving at a rapidly increasing speed since you've added a 4bbl. )
Jon
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"If it ain't broke, I haven't fixed it yet"
-Jon-
1967 Coupe 333ci CandyApple Red w/red int., AOD, 9" 3.50:1, Front PDB
'09 Warriors In Pink V6 w/glass roof - wife's Stang
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2V to 4V swap: one data point
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