The Pinto carb (weber 5200 progressive 2bbl) was always electric & water heated choke, super reliable carb, very good on gas, lots of folks here and on fordsix have run em with an adapter.
Without an adapter, that would be my top choice tho I have only run it on the Pinto.
I have not had good luck with the smog Rochester MV 1bbl. A buddy of mine got so mad at his, he punched out his own truck windshield one morning. Well ok he was only mid-30s, still just a kid.
I've had very good luck with the old Rochester B, both the mid-size 194-250 carb and the big jug 250HiPo-292 carb. Some start better than others though, and no factory electric choke.
If you go to a 4bbl intake, you have a lot of reliable choices.
Either the autolite 2100 as mentioned, or, I have run several autolite 4100 carbs, very reliable, they start good, run good too. The 292 will even partly open the secondary as these carbs are only 440-500cfm.
The most supported carb would be the AFB, aka Edelbrock Performer. Ive run the 1406 600cfm and it ran good, about as fast as my Holleys, super reliable, not as needy as Holley carbs, and they come with electric choke, and you can even get parts at Autozone or Oreilly. Probably the best "supported" choice. On a stock 292, they don't really use the secondary, just the primary and the secondary transition ciruit for about 300cfm total. But, so what? Theyre reliable, well-supported, electric choke, the 4bbl intakes are kinda pricey but re-sellable.
