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By Florida_Phil - 5 Years Ago
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I have a few questions about WCFB carbs. I know nothing about them.
If I am going to run two on an Edelbrock 257 Y Block manifold, do I need a specific model carb? I see some Mercs had them. Can I use two from a GM car? Do they need to match?
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By DryLakesRacer - 5 Years Ago
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When I ran a single WCFB I used a 53 Cadillac from a 331" on an "A" manifold. The fuel line came in at the rear and was ez to set up. I had to bend up a small arm on the carb linkage and make another bracket which I attached to the factory foot feed linkage.
I used this carb on the rear when I went to dual quads along with a 53 Oldsmobile from a 303" on the front. It's fuel feed was on the front. I did the exact same thing on the carb linkage as I found them almost exactly the same. I had to make a new arm from the Ford stock linkage that was shorter so I could keep the original if I ever went back, I ran that set-up for about a year.
When I found another 53 Olds WCFB with a matching brass tagI moved the front to the rear and put the new one on the front. I only needed to make a new fuel line as I had already made the carb linkage.
I wanted to have mine progressive and bought a set of repopped Ford 427" dual quad linkage from a supplier. I was able to use the slider and reposition the front carb linkage lower so it would open a little later. I made part of it myself by threading a steel tube and flatning one end and drilling a hole in it. It's not perfect but works well.
In my opinion there's not much out there and you need to fabricate a lot of what you need. A scrub foot feed would have been a lot easier to work with if I had a standard trans. All my shifter for the auto and kick down still work even with the current conversion to a Cruise-O-Matic.
Remember to use a 57-up centrifugal distributor if using carbs never intended for a loadmatic style distributor. Good luck
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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This is IMO -
GM had the most user friendly setup on the early VETTES. Study those setups for information.
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By DryLakesRacer - 5 Years Ago
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Since the Ford fuel pump is on the opposite side of the GM setup I wanted to keep it all on the left. 
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By Ted - 5 Years Ago
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Florida_Phil (1/10/2019)
I have a few questions about WCFB carbs. I know nothing about them.
If I am going to run two on an Edelbrock 257 Y Block manifold, do I need a specific model carb? I see some Mercs had them. Can I use two from a GM car? Do they need to match?
I’m partial to the GM WCFB carbs on the Y dual quad setups if not using the Holley 2140 or 4000 4V carbs (Teapots). The Mercury WCFB’s are not as friendly when working with them in pairs. The secondary diaphragm chambers on the Merc carbs tend to get in the way of the distributor if not using carb spacers to raise the carbs and are also harder to tailor the secondary springs accordingly. The Merc carbs were also designed to use with the LOM distributors which make the distributor vacuum port on those carburetors not suitable with the later model distributors.
There were a multitude of those WCFB carbs installed on the GM vehicles so I’d recommend finding a pair that’s very similar to each other if using them in a dual quad application. Using a pair from the same make of car would be ideal (Olds vs Olds, Cad vs Cad, etc.) . Getting the exact same carbs would be even more desirable.
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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The Merc carbs were also designed to use with the LOM distributors which make the distributor vacuum port on those carburetors not suitable with the later model distributors.
The 57 MERC 368 and LINC 368 used non-LOM WCFB's also.
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By Florida_Phil - 5 Years Ago
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Thanks for the input. I would prefer to use WCFB carbs as they fit the 257 manifold without adapters and they are more period correct in my view. There are a few things that are troubling to me. First, they are somewhat costly. Second, they are 60 years old. Two modern 500 cfm Edelbrocks can be bought for $800 plus adapters. Is it possible to buy two matched decent running WCFBs for $1,000? If not, how much can I expect to tie up in them? I have also heard they are difficult to tune. I need to learn more about WCFBs.
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By Ted - 5 Years Ago
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KULTULZ (1/15/2019)
Ted (1/13/2019)
The Merc carbs were also designed to use with the LOM distributors which make the distributor vacuum port on those carburetors not suitable with the later model distributors.The 57 MERC 368 and LINC 368 used non-LOM WCFB's also.
Absolutely right. Those '57 WCFB's do not come up very often.
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By Joe D - 5 Years Ago
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 Hey Phil,
I have been having trouble with a set of WCFB's with vacuum operated secondary's. See 292 Y block stalling issue (Joe D) 19 pages!
I had them rebuilt but not calibrated because I could not ID them 100%. Before and After rebuild could not get truck to idle below 950RPM.
Just installed a single carb manifold and I'm going to test drive soon.
I did not give up on the Carters yet. I may send them back and have them take a shot at recalibrating. Seems like the throttle plates are not closing all the way. I also may try one Carter at a time now that I have a single carb manifold.
I will let you know if I'm going to sell them and the Edlebrock manifold.
Joe D (The Frig)
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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I have read references whereas CARTER had trouble with the vacuum secondary models. The GM (VETTE) setup uses mechanical secondary's.
JoeD- I have the instruction(s) sheets on ADJ the secondary's if you want it. If the re-builder couldn't set to specs the first go-around, I don't think I would trust him a second time.
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By Florida_Phil - 5 Years Ago
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Here is an article I found on the Internet. It talks about the WCFB vacuum secondary problem you are experiencing. Evidently, this is a known problem. I am in the researching stage with my dual quad installation and I don't know which direction it will take me. http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/CarterFourBarrelCarburetors.htm
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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This is an EXCELLENT source of info. This 'ol boy knows his stuff (IMO)
The Carter WCFB was identified by a tag, which originally was placed under the drivers’ side rear airhorn-to-body screw. Various sources have attempted to positively identify WCFBs by casting numbers. This may be done in a few rare cases; but generally this is unsuccessful. While the various sources MAY be correct with their casting number tables, generally they are unaware that other carburetors may have used the same blank casting, machined in a different manner. Therefore, if one knows the carburetors identity, one would know what castings would be present; but the reverse is certainly not true. The reader should use any such tables with the proverbial “grain of salt”.
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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Phil,
I would contact the vendor you listed above as he is most likely the best source of info on fitting WCFB's on your EDEL.
http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Multicarbsetups.htm
To me, the 1956 VETTE 8V is the ideal setup as it is fully street-able. But the original setups are very expensive, if you can find them. He should know whether they (or a cheaper clone) can be adapted to a Y-BLOCK easily or not.
The above is IMO and have raised my shields to deter any GM hate attacks. It just makes more sense to me than FORD's H4000 offerings (unless it is a dedicated restoration).
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By Joe D - 5 Years Ago
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Kultulz,
Yes that would be great if you could send me, thanks!
Maybe I'll try myself someday.
Stay tuned for the test drive with single carb.
Joe D
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By DryLakesRacer - 5 Years Ago
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KULTULZ, your right on the costs, I have right at $1K with the 2- 53 Olds WCFB's plus the manifold. The best thing is they are direct bolt on and I used 3/8" phenolic insulators. Mine have the direct mechanical linkage which works fine. Fuel lines are fun and the more I make the better I get. I use coat hangers for templates. Eventho it was a lot of work I'm very happy with the result after 5 years of trouble miles..Good luck.
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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JoeD,
I tried to attach the info PM) but this system will not take it.
If you like, send me (PM) your mailing address and I will mail you the info.
GARY
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By miker - 5 Years Ago
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Phil, you might try contacting Sal “ scicala”over at the Ford Barn. He’s a carb guy, I know he does the early holleys, he might be another source for carbs or info.
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By mjs - 5 Years Ago
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The 57 MERC 368 and LINC 368 used non-LOM WCFB's also.
Absolutely right. Those '57 WCFB's do not come up very often.
The carb carb on my 57 Premier:
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By KULTULZ - 5 Years Ago
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Converting the LOM HOLLEY 94 to use with a DUAL ADVANCE DIST -
http://www.eatonbalancing.com/tag/239/page/2/
Running a DUAL ADV DIST without the vacuum advance feature will not perform well unless the MECH CURVE has been modified. For a street engine, you want both advance systems (IMO).
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