I'd like to know what you are running for a carb ( 4 barrel ) . I have a 312 here that had the ford ( 4100??) on it , had been butchered by a previous owner so am looking to replace it . First thought was a 600 vac sec holley but keen to hear your experiences first .
Replace or rebuild the 4100. 600 Holleys, Carter AFB's and Edelbrock AFB's are too big. 4100's are easy to rebuild, tune, and, a good match CFM wise to a 292 or 312.
I ran a 500 CFM Edelbrock for years. It gives great throttle response where the motor needs it. If you wish to race the car, go with a 600. The stock 57 intake should have the holes made bigger with a Dremmel. While you are at it, remove the metal between the holes on the right, and the left, but leave the center divider there. A little bigger area helps the motor. A spacer should always be used under an Edelbrock. I like a two inch four hole.
A 600 is way too much carb for that engine . A Holley / Edelbrock in the 450 to 500 size . Get a nice Blue Thunder alum intake and you will be very happy with the results ! You can also use a stock 1957 intake as mentioned before . All depends on if the engine is stock or not . Honestly the 4100 is a good carb if it was rebuilt the right way by the right person that has rebuilt them before . Just my opinion . Jim
Actually a 600 CFM Holley can work on a 312 just fine,the old tried and true R1850 with it's vacuum secondaries won't over Carb it at all, I ran them on two different 312's one on a 1/4 mile dirt car and a '54 Victoria street machine(19-20 MPG highway MPG).If the these Carbs can work on a 289 or 302 they won't have any problem on a 312.The beauty of these old favorites are the availability of tuning parts use a vacuum guage to help with power valve selection and the Holley secondary spring kit to regulate when they will open,learn how to read the plugs and play with the jets.Visit the Holley website for lots of info on tuning and you are good to go.The 312 "B' intake is OK but like Jim said the Blue Thunder intake will wake it up a bunch in either case cut a piece of aluminum from your favorite beverage can and block off the center heat p***age.
Thanks for the replies so far team! The 4100 on this engine has been butchered quite severely (the secondaries have been cut and locked shut-real mess) so rebuilding it is not an option. It is a '57 so does have the holley bolt pattern which is a plus . I bolted a tired old 600VS holley on it last for ****s n giggles and it ran reasonable so perhaps a new one with some miserable jetting will help .
This is another alternative which seems to work well similar to a 4100 with modern upgrades with the annular boosters,plus it sure looks pretty.http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-M08600VS/
That's a shame that someone would do something like that to a 4100 carb ! They have a bad rap but if they are adjusted correctly and rebuild by someone that knows what they are doing , the carb will serve you well . Jim
Before I installed the three two's I ran a 60 intake with a Holley 4160 (600cfm square -bore vacuum secondaries) on my 312. 62 312 is 30 over with a 214/472 cam. The Holley worked great thru the power band. Three two's work just as good ,but look cooler and give me more top end. my .02 cents
Actually , I loved running a 3 x 2 over a lot of carb set ups because you can run a smaller center carb all the time until you needed the outer 2 dumps for that extra power ! They are a great set up for performance and will save your gas money as well . That's as long as you keep you foot out of it ! I will take a 3 x 2 over a single 4 bbl or 2 x 4 any day ! Back in my teen years when I owned the other brands of engines , I would use the 3 x 2 carb set up all the time if I could . I would un-hook the linkage from the outer carbs during the week and then for the weekend I would hook them back up for making some money ! They also gave you that BIG WOW factor when you pop the hood ! A nice 2 x 4 set up was also good on the big blocks with the big cams . They would give us tons of top end ! But then gas was dirt cheap at 39.9 cents a gallon for Sunoco 260 fuel ! We also didn't care what gas cost either ! We worked all week to pay for gas in the car and new performance parts for the engine . Then after the race , the girls were welcome to get in the car and off we went to get something to eat . Then we would go down a dirt road and park for the rest of the night ! Now those were the Good Ole Days ! Jim
Tom , is your 317 a Lincoln Y ? I have a weakness for the Lincoln Y blocks . Have just finished adapting up a 4 speed stick behind a 368 that is going into my '53 F100 .
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