Gentleman looking for some info what intake are you running with a 4 barrel carb in the market for one on my 51 stock Mercury whats the best Nvarro, Offenhauser, or Edelbrock for a 4 barrel set up thanks
A little preliminary information is probably in order. I believe all of the available manifolds have the old "square" carburetor mounting pattern (I have not had experience with all of the available choices). There are very few carburetors that will bolt on to them directly. The older WCFB's, small base Rochester 4G's (pre 1955), the original Stromberg's, and early Holley's are examples. All are from the fifties and are difficult to find and expensive when you do (and probably all worn out). The best alternative is a 390 Holley or a 500 Edelbrock that will mount on the manifolds using a commonly available adapter. I had a 390 Holley on an Offenhauser manifold 30 years ago and it performed satisfactorily. Right now, I have 3 flathead 4 BBL manifolds, a Sharp, an Edmunds, and a Fenton. Folks that should know have told me the Fenton is the best choice. I have moved on from these and now have two engines running small base Rochester 2G's on bored out Mercury 4 bolt manifolds, which I find perform excellently for street use on a stock displacement engine. There are some minor problems mounting any of these carburetors on a flathead. The ones I have had experience with (the Holley and small base Rochester) are best mounted backwards on the manifold so the fuel lines and throttle linkage line up. Most of these carburetors came with automatic chokes, and using a manual choke can be problematic (this is also the case with the Rochester 2 BBL). I have found that using the automatic choke mechanism on the Mercury manifolds to be the best solution. It is further complicated by the fact that the Merc's came with either "regular" (choke mechanism on the carburetor) or "divorced" (mechanism on the manifold) chokes. Luckily, the 2G's came the same way so you just have to "mix and match" the carburetor and manifold. As the previous posters have stated, 2 Stromberg or Holley 3-bolt carburetors are "traditional" on a flathead, but from experience, I can tell you that a larger modern carburetor is easier to deal with and probably performs better.
I had a 4 barrel on my 274 cu.in. 8 BA and it ended up being too much for the motor in my opinion. I was advised by folks who supposedly know flatties to go with it but I took it off. This was on a motor that had a Bubba's ignition, Schnieder reground cam, and a 4 inch Merc crank. A little more warmed over than a stocker. Running a single 94 until I get it broken in and then going to a 3 deuce set up with 97's
On my stock 239 cu. inch 8BA I run Holley 390, List 8007 on an OFFY intake. Runs great for last 30 years. Keep in mind, on the OFFY intake the generator mount is not centered. It's 7/8 in. offset to the right when viewed from the front of the engine. Read this: 4 Barrel Manifold - The Ford Barn and Offy 4BBL intake - Page 2 - The Ford Barn Here's 2 ways to solve the problem. I have an extra Corvair Fan Hub Pulley as shown in the thread below, if you need it. installing fan in 40 coupe with 51 mercury FH - The Ford Barn
do you have the later 8ba twin crank pulley and 1/2'' belts rather than 5/8ths single belt is the other side spinning the fan hub or a power steering pump? did you 'just; switch the 1/2'' pulleys onto 8RT / F1 pumps?
IMO-You won't feel the difference between any of the 4bbl manifolds. Based on using the same carb on each manifold.
Would you feel the difference in power or drivability? By using a 4 barrel over the stock 94 2 barrel.
I did my burn in and dyno run using a known 4 BBL on my flattie. But I run three 97's on the blower ever since. No, they do not produce as much HP, but they look cool. I didn't build a drag car. 80% rule.
3/19/24 Yes, I have the cast iron 8BA twin narrow belt pulley. Below is a photo of the 1951 mercury engine it was on along with the offset 1951 Mercury narrow belt water pumps that permits the use of 2 belts - one for each pump. A single narrow belt pulley is used on the alternator of both the Ford and the Merc.. The same offset narrow belt set up was also used on the 1951 to 53 Ford v-8 except the Ford narrow belt water pumps have different style mounts. Ford uses dual narrow belt crank pulley and single sheave narrow belt water pumps. Each pump is driven by a separate belt as shown in pictorial below. 51 Mercury water pumps are expensive and getting rarer everyday so if you can use the Ford narrow belt pumps you will save some $$. Because each narrow belt drives a different pulley using a power steering pump would not work on a flathead. 1953 ford 8BA engine photo - Search Images (bing.com) I used wide belt 8RT water pumps, a wide belt alternator pulley, a wide belt 1949-50 Mercury (or 8RT wide belt dual sheave wide belt crank pulley) all driven by one wide belt. At first, I used the 8RT wide belt fan hub pulley but later made my own wide belt fan hub pulley and bracket so as to have better fan/ radiator hose clearance. So, the bottom line is that I have one long wide belt that goes around the crank pulley, the alternator (or generator) pulley and both water pump pulleys like shown in the red engine in this link. Then, there is a second wide belt that goes around the crank pulley and fan hub pulley and drives the fan on my engine. This is not shown on the red engine. Ford Flathead: The First Performance V-8 — TorqTalk At the time (1971), I did not consider switching narrow belt water pump pulleys onto the 8RT pumps because already had the rest of the needed 8RT wide belt components that I knew would work for me and give me the radiator fan clearance I needed. The last photos shows home made aluminum fan pulley with belt that goes to crank pulley. Hope this helps. One more request: Please contact me using the HAMB conversation feature as it's difficult for me to keep searching through the regular HAMB discussion section.
3/19/24 Here's photos of the 8BA crankshaft narrow belt pulley I still have. It was on the engine on the engine stand (last photo) that used the narrow belt set up.
The Jalopy Journal
