I just learned that a carb could give you more horsepower. I didnt know that. How much does it give you? how is it that it gives more horsepower?
more power hey duster a different carb and/or jetting in the current car you have increases fuel and air mixture increasing the volitilaty of the combustion in the cylinder. This process increases power output of the engine. More fuel equals more power to a certian point too much fuel and the car will not run right you have to have the right mixture of fuel and air that is optimum for your engine setup.
Bigger carb delivers more air & fuel to the engine. Air, fuel, & spark are neccessary for an engine to make power. All components must be properly matched in order for performance gains to be achieved...
It'll give more power if you get the correct one. Then, that carb will give even more power when you add other parts to compliment the additional airflow. Each part improved is a block that builds on the improvements of others... Same idea as the previous posts. You match your parts for optimum power. Dave
Its really a loaded question. Sometimes what works best on one car will simply not work as well on another. There are so many choices out there for carburetors that simply bolting on the biggest carb may or may not increase the horsepower or torque. I am a firm believer in that there is no such thing as a carburetor that's too big (CFM rating), BUT usually most carbs that are "big" are also designed for big cam, big inch, and big horsepower V8s. As mentioned, its the combination of parts that make or break the car...not just a few good parts, they all have to work together!
Short answer - a carb can't give you a horsepower increase. UNLESS: you are currently under or over carbureted you are under or over jetted. If you have a stock motor with a stock carb in stock trim then a carburetor can open up the horsepower that your engine is capable of making. If you have matched the carburetor to your engine and tuned it to fuel all the horsepower your engine can make then no other carb will give you more horsepower. If you then change the intake and exhaust a new carb or tuning the carb you have will let more HP loose for you to use. Change the cam to match your intake and exhaust you have more possible hp but you will need carb mods to get to it. Ads will tell you that such and such a part will give you a 30 HP increase but that doesn't happen when you bolt on the single part (usually - there are exceptions - blowers and NO systems). An Intake will not give you more power if you are running the stock carb, exhaust manifolds, pipes and mufflers. It will just make your car run bad. If you put on a matching carb, headers, pipes and mufflers and a cam to feed the manifold then yes you will get 30 HP. For example - take a stock 1975 302 and stick a huge tunnel ram manifold on it. Keep the carb you had and put on an adapter to make it fit. Will you get any more HP? No... You probably won't be able to drive the car on the street. You will get backfires and flat spots in the acceleration. Take that same 302 and put a 850 double pumper on the stock manifold. Will you get more power? No! it won't even run right until it is time to shift. Putting headers and free flowing exhausts on a stock engine will lean it out to the point that it will surge on the freeway and burn plugs. You have to match all the components to make it run right. When you do match components it is a treasure to drive and runs well all the time. You don't have to fight the engine to get it to perform - it is ready to perform all the time. (within its performace window)
Not much. And I speak from experience adding a 4V intake and Holley 600 to a stock 2V engine. In fact, I lost torque due to using a single plane manifold. Changed that to dual plane, got the torque back, no measurable increase in hp. These stock 302's were weak in '74, and compression, good ignition, cams and head all help more than a 4V carb. JMO.
I can't speak for the six cylinder, but I know for a fact that installing a 500-600cfm 4-barrel carb and dual exhausts to a completely stock V-8 (like the 302) will yield a power and acceleration increase...
if your I-6 is stock or has a mild exhaust system. go with a holley 350cfm. If you want to invest in an offenhauser intake and I-6 headers with a 2.25" exhaust to keep the back pressure for bottom end and do not cam it up. Tweak the 350cfm. If you cam up the motor go with a holley 500 2BBL.
The Only Maverick six with a removable intake manifold is not available in the USA. You can mill the top of the log manifold, have it bored for a two barrel carb and mount an adapter. There is no kit. You have to make it all yourself and bolt it on. Surprisingly you can get more from the 250 with this setup than you can with the tri-power set up from Ak Miller. You do need to be careful in selecting a carb and you will need headers to make the most of it. I will be doing this for my wife's car when I supercharge it. It will need a good sized two barrel carb to fill the engine with the additional air from the blower.
Combination of Carb & Intake gave me a tremendous power gain. I installed a "Professional Products Air Gap" aluminum intake & Holley 600 Carb on my completely stock 73 302 Grabber with C-4 trans. I was very impressed with the upgrade. After the upgrade the C-4 will burn rubber when shifting into 2nd gear.
