Hey guys im a little lost, I just bought a 1956 Cadillac intake manifold to upgrade my 1951 Cadillac from a 2 barrel to a 4 barrel carb. what aftermarket carbs will work with it ? Thanks for your help
I've got a '56 Coupe de Ville with a 365 that I just picked up and I'm in the process of trying to get the Rochester 4GC Quadra-Jet rebuilt. http://www.walkerproducts.com/wp-content/catalogs/carburetor/by-model/rochester.pdf They also apparently came with Carters sometimes as well. My understanding is that with an adapter (check into it before you buy anything) you should be able to go from the quadra-jet manifold to an Edelbrock Performer (holes are bigger on the quad). I'd probably run a 600 cfm (the 1400 or 1406 model depending on if you want to run an electric or manual choke) with my 365, but I'm not sure how many cubes you block is. If it's smaller (like closer to 300ci) than you're probably better off with the 500 cfm. http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/carbs_acc/performer.shtml Keep in mind that anytime you switch up your carb your linkage might not necessarily line up and you may need to figure out how to hook it up correctly. I know with mine the Edelbrock linkage seems to at least be on the correct (Drivers) side of the car, but the last time I tried running a Holley versus Edelbrock set up they were on opposite sides. I'm certainly no expert, but since it seemed like no one had answered your post yet I figured I'd throw my 2 cents out there for you. Best bet would be to call some where like Tognotti's that knows their stuff and pick the "Parts Guy's" brain a little. Wish I had more for ya. I'm wishing I could upgrade my manifold to the Eldorado version with 2 four barrels. Edlebrock makes an intake that is set up to run 4 two barrels. I wish I could afford 4 Stromberg 97's and the manifold but I'd probably be looking at $3k for that set up so there's no way! LOL Hope this helped out a little anyway Good luck and Happy Hot Rodding! -Shibby
The best functioning and least expensive options would be either an original Cadillac 1956 Rochester or an original Cadillac 1956 Carter. Should you wish to do differently, figure on: (A) throttle body adapter (B) new fuel line (you fabricate) (C) new throttle linkage (you fabricate) (D) new air cleaner (E) total recaliabration of whatever A/M carb you find to fit the adapter (F) possible automatic transmission issues Both of the two original carbs were/are excellent carbs. Jon.
------------ I don't mean to be ****, but just set and keep the record straight for the' young 'uns' here...you don't have a "Rochester 4GC Quadra-Jet". There is no such thing. You have a Rochester model "4GC", aka a Rochester "4-Jet. A "Rochester Quadrajet" is an entirely different animal. The Rochester"Quadrejet" is a spread-bore-type '4-bbl, with it's most notable feature being its tiny primaries and by comparison, hu****ous secondaries. It also came much later, circa mid-1965 and it lasted and was used by GM by all of it's divisions ,right through until the end of 1990 model year. Mart3406 ===========
I just rebuilt a Carter AFB for that intake on a 56 Cadillac with a 365. It was easy to do. Runs good. Should be easy to find one of them.
With no disrespect intended, curbspeed, I believe you may be one year off. The 1956 Cadillac used either a Carter WCFB or Rochester 4GC, both with the almost square (3 3/4 x 3 7/8) bolt pattern. The 1957 Cadillac used the Carter AFB with the rectangular bolt pattern. The AFB will not fit the 1956 intake without using one of the flange adapters. I do not know if the 1957 intake will fit the 1951 engine, but if it would, I would suggest to the original poster that acquiring a 1957 would then allow the use of aftermarket carburetors as requested in the original post; however (opinion) non of the A/M carbs will perform as well as an original, and one would still have air cleaner, fuel line, and linkage issues. Jon.
I have a 59 390 that came with an AFB. I rebuilt the engine and decided to go with a new carb. I bought a Edlebrock 1406, it bolted right on. No problems with the fuel lines but I did have to make a few changes: the air horn has a larger diameter on the new carb so I added an open element chrome air cleaner. I added a relay to power the electric choke. The shop that did my machine work transferred the throttle linkage from the old carb to the new one. That preserved my hydramatic linkage in the correct location. I did have to add a small tab to the throttle linkage for idle speed control since the old linkage doesn't have an idle speed screw set up. No problems for me, it works fine. No more fighting clogged accelerator pump p***ages! Curly
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