What carb for my 312 y-block?

What carb should I replace the useless teapot carb with? Car is a 56 merc custom 4 door, trans is a merc-o-matic, everything i've seen says its a 312, but I haven't opened it up to be 100% sure. I'm looking more for reliability, driveability, and cheapskateability than performance, it's a kustom. later on when I pull this engine and put it in a rod, it'll get a performance set-up, but right now, lets keep this cheap.

suggestions I've gotten so far are a carter wcfb from an early 50s buick, olds or caddy, a single rochester, or a Transdapt 2064 plate with a new Holley on it. (http://www.amazon.com/Trans-Dapt-2064-11-16-Adapter/dp/B000CPZW0Q)

 

#2064 and find a working holley 4bbl (small is better,around 600cfm)on the low bucks going to be low $ bucks out,the teapot's are land fill,but sell it to a restorer .

 

A couple of things to ponder....in no particular order.

1) Most important: if the car still has its original distributor, you MUST replace it with a '57 or later version. The '54-'56 dizzy is known as the Load-O-Matic & works in conjunction with the teapot (it has no centrifugal advance). If you do not do this, the engine will have, essentially, only initial timing, most of the time....& will be the biggest slug in Indianapolis (kinda).

You can order a '57-up distributor from NAPA, AutoZone, Advance Auto, etc. They will tell you that there is no dizzy for your car, so, order one for a '64 F-100 with a 292. Advance Auto was the cheapest, last I looked, even ***uming you don't have a core....still under $100. You can also find them used but eBay prices are too high...lots of people don't know that you can still buy them new (rebuilt).

BTW, the '57-up distributor can easily be converted to an electronic ignition; use a kit that fits '57-'74 Ford distributors...offered by Pertronix, Crane, Mallory, & probably others.

2) So far as a carb goes...the WCFB is a possibility; keep in mind there are two different bolt patterns for it, it's heavy, & rebuild parts can be hard to find at times. I am guessing that you don't want to swap to the '57 intake due to $$....but, make sure the adapter doesn't cost too much, the 9425-B intake runs about $100.

I would look at the Holley 390/450/600 vacuum secondary carbs; the Edelbrock 500 or 600; or, if you have pretty good access to salvage yards, look for an early '60s Autolite 4100 off a 289 or 352, which should be fairly close in calibration for you...& they are cheap...though rebuild parts can be high, so find a nice one.