Anyone have experience with a Carter AFB #2441SA off a 1957 Ford 312? It has a vacuum diaphragm for the secondaries like a Holley instead of a weighted air flapper like the rest. To me it seems like the good parts of a Holley mixed with the good parts of a Carter, but I keep reading that they are "rare" because they were "unreliable". I found all the rebuild parts for it easily so that's not an issue. Was planning on setting up two of them for a dual quad application on a small block, as I have a feeling that the smaller factory-dialed carbs will run better on the street than two 600cfm "universal" Edelbrocks.
Carter built the vacuum diaphragm secondary for a couple of years for both Ford and Chrysler instead of Carter's much superior weighted air valve secondary. After that, Carter said no more. For dual application, would agree on the factory calibrations, but NOT on the diaphragm secondary AFB's. Rebuild kits are fairly easy; vacuum diaphragms are not; and they are VERY expensive. Jon
Diaphragms are 48 bucks, not the end of the world to me. What was the issue with them? Still don't understand how they are so terrible. Seems just like a Holley where you can change the spring for better response. Would you have a recommendation for a small cfm factory carb # to use on a multi carb application? I was looking up some other factory AFBs from GMs but the Corvette guys have the prices through the roof. Thanks!
Someone must have reproduced the diaphragms in ccccc. Last ones I bought were WAAAAAY more than that wholesale! The 2441s was one of the three smallest AFB's ever made (the other 2 were A/M for the 289 and quite rare). The 4061s (Buick 340) is only slightly larger than the 2441s, has a weighted secondary air valve. The Buick calibrations are not the same as Ford, but way closer than those for Chevrolet (new stuff). If you wished to do WCFB's instead of AFB's, there are quite a few possibilities. The original AFB's were somewhat superior in technology to the WCFB (cannot say that about the new ones), but the WCFB's are somewhat more reliable than any of the AFB's. The biggest issue with the WCFB is parts availability. While the Missouri hillbilly makes parts, not a lot of calibration parts (at least, to my knowledge) coming from ccccc. I would personally go with a pair of WCFB's (look at my list on my website for venturii area of what you could use), and hook them up with solid linkage. If you go with a pair of the 4061s AFB's, again would suggest solid linkage. Jon
Thanks Jon. I was planning on running a solid linkage vs progressive, should work well since the carbs won't be oversized. I will keep an eye out for some 4061s if I can't get these 2441s dialed in. I was surprised to find these 2441s so I jumped on them while they were available.
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