Fuel System: 2bbl to 4bbl

[bisboy1949]

I have a 63 GT hawk,289 automatic with 2bbl.I would like thoughts on putting a 4 bbl wcfb on it. I have manifolds and rebuildable? wcfbs from 61 hawk and also a 57 hawk to choose from. My 16 yr old grandson is co-owner and this car will be his when he matures and or i get tired of driving it. Both the 61 and 57 were stick shift. How about the pcv system hookup? How about the automatic? Perhaps i should just build a spacer and put an edelbrock 500 on one of the 4 bbl manifolds? Your thoughts and comments would be very helpful.

[shifter4]

Well , this question has been asked many times on this Forum . If you use the search box up there in the upper right corner
you can read all about it .
By the same token , why do you want to do the change ? The 2bbl gives adequate performance for most situations.
Do a super tune , and rebuild the 2bbl if needed. That way no changes to the car, or linkage, or spacers is necessary.
You can change jets in the 2bbl as well , for a bit of a performance gain ,albeit with a mpg loss .
The 500 cfm Edelbrocks are a little pricey, compared to the more common 600's .
Any way, do the search thing and read all about it .

[Mike Van Veghten]

Been heavilly talked about.
Yes, rather than worry about loose fitting, leaky throttle shafts in your WCFB's, a new 500cfm Edelbrock carb. would seemingly be a better choise.
The auto trans., connects to the linkage down next to the trans., so there's no linkage to worry about at the carburetor. And yes again...you'll need the spacer.
PCV, sure. Connect it the way one normally would, full vacuum into the crankcase. Either at the valley cover or a rocker cover.

Take the time to tune it properly once installed.

Mike

P.s. - If you need...save another month or whatever it takes, but overall, the 500cfm carb. will work better than the 600cfm version.

[swvalcon]

Has anyone tried putting on a 500 cfm holley 2 bbl carb on a 289 auto? Just wondering how it would effect mpg's and performance.

[Bud]

I Holley 500 cfm carburetor would work on a Studebaker engine with a later AFB manifold, but an adaptor plate must be used as the mounting centers are different than the AFB's. I guess it's also possible to re drill the manifold for the wider Holley mounting stud spacing. Bud

[PackardV8]

Has anyone tried putting on a 500 cfm holley 2 bbl carb on a 289 auto? Just wondering how it would effect mpg's and performance.

Mounting a 500 CFM 2-bbl Holley is way more trouble than it's worth. The big 2-bbl was designed for racing classes limited to a 2-bbl. On a street car, it doesn't idle as well or get as many MPG as a small 4-bbl.

I have a 63 GT hawk,289 automatic with 2bbl.I would like thoughts on putting a 4 bbl wcfb on it. I have manifolds and rebuildable? wcfbs from 61 hawk and also a 57 hawk to choose from. My 16 yr old grandson is co-owner and this car will be his when he matures and or i get tired of driving it. Both the 61 and 57 were stick shift. How about the pcv system hookup? How about the automatic? Perhaps i should just build a spacer and put an edelbrock 500 on one of the 4 bbl manifolds? Your thoughts and comments would be very helpful.

You asked for opinions:

1. Use the best of your existing WCFBs. Rekitting a carb is a great grandfather/grandson project. Let him read the instructions, do the disassembly, cleaning and reassembly. Then, install the carb, along with new points, condenser, rotor, cap, wires and plugs. Have him read and follow the Shop Manual tuning steps. By the time the process is completed, he'll either be stoked about Studes or you'll be disabused of the notion of passing the car along to him.

2. An Edelbrock will work well, once the necessary modifications to the intake manifold fuel line, linkage, choke, but no better than a well-sorted WCFB.

jack vines

[jbjr]

I have a 63 GT hawk,289 automatic with 2bbl.I would like thoughts on putting a 4 bbl wcfb on it. I have manifolds and rebuildable? wcfbs from 61 hawk and also a 57 hawk to choose from. My 16 yr old grandson is co-owner and this car will be his when he matures and or i get tired of driving it. Both the 61 and 57 were stick shift. How about the pcv system hookup? How about the automatic? Perhaps i should just build a spacer and put an edelbrock 500 on one of the 4 bbl manifolds? Your thoughts and comments would be very helpful.

I went through the same thing a little while ago and just had my 2bbl rebuilt, truck is running fine and the 2bbl works fine for me. I drive about 75 miles a day and I have no trouble with power or mpg. Stay with the 2bbl

[Chucks Stude]

Speaking of Holley, my father used to tell a story about the time that he used to ferry new B-17's from Long Beach to Hickam Field, Hawaii. He had ferried several planes, and knew the routine. One day he was given a new plane to take to Hawaii, and it had a new Holley carb on it that made it run better than the existing carb. He said it ran better than the others, but wound up doing a ditching drill, as the plane barely made it to Hawaii. Landed on fumes. Miss him......