I need some technical info on Carter AFB's that came stock on Buick 401's.I know that for all intents and purposes they are identical to their Eldebrock counterparts. How similar are they on the outside. I ask because a buddy of mine gave (that's right, gave!) me a 1965 Buick Wildcat. I have to go and pick it up and then drive it the two hours back home. The car is drivable but needs a carb rebuild (spitting gas on to the intake.) I just rebuilt an Eldebrock 600 cfm Performer carb(electric choke) that I hope to take along and put it on the nailhead. Unfortunately I can't find any clear pictures on the internet or in my shop manuals that show where the fuel inlet is or what the throttle linkage looks like. Is the Eldebrock a direct bolt-on or will i need to do some creative plumbing? Any info I can get will will decrease the amount of cussing I do in the sun on the side of the road.
Some Edelbrock's have a side fuel inlet, some are front. The throttle linkage will work, I think. Take some rubber fuel line along, you may have to cut and splice. The kickdown link might not work, either. If not, wire it about halfway through its travel to get home.
The Buick AFB is likely to be a front inlet unit. Call your buddy and have him take a look for you. The Edelbrock AFB 'clones' are calibrated for Chevy engines, which makes sense as that's the biggest market for these carbs. You'll likely have to use some hot-rodder ingenuity to hook up the throttle linkage and the fuel line, it won't be a straight bolt-on deal. I'd rebuild the original Buick AFB the first chance you get after it's home, it is a perfect match for your engine since it was specifically calibrated for it by the Carter carb engineers.
The air cleaner won't fit either as the Edelbrock has the 5 1/8" dia. vs the smaller early AFB size. Good luck, Frank
The Jalopy Journal
