Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance Clifford 4bbl Intake

My youngest twenty something son is building a 57 Chevy with a 261 motor. Flat top .030 cast pistons, Schneider cam, big valves in the head. Actually one of my old heads that I thought was cracked. Turned out to be weak machine work on the deck. So waste not want not, its going on the boy's motor! Langdon HEI.

I have a beautiful Weiand 2X1with a pair of Pinto carbs that I built years ago and ran on my 261 until I changed over to a newer Clifford with a pair of Holley 2300 350 cfm 2 bbl carbs. The issue, it may not fit with the dual master cylinder. We will mock it up this coming weekend and if it fits, we will do the happy dance all over the driveway, lol.

If the master cylinder interferes, I am going to have to source a Clifford 4bbl and sort out a carb.

Has anyone gone through this exercise recently that can maybe walk me though some carb choices. I have read over the years that the Holley 390, while appearing almost perfect on paper is not a good choice needing considerable tinkering to get it to work just ok. I have also read that a Carter AFB 400 cfm is a good choice. I would hate to guess at this and thought I would ask.

No experience with the fitment under the hood. I do prefer the Holley for the ability to tune the carb. A suggestion would be to add a WBO2 for tuning help.

I would also prefer to use a Holley. The question for me is whether anyone has any experience using the 390. The internet posts are a real mixed bag but the majority consensus seems to be that it is not in any way a blot on carb with some minor tuning. There has been some discussion that the larger 465 Holley may be a better choice with its vacuum secondary's and choke but I would love to hear from someone that has actually used it. I am desperately trying to avoid reinventing the wheel.

At some point, I will explore efi which is where I would ideally like to be but for right now, it has to be a carb.