DryLakesRacer mentioned modifying the '55 and '56 Holley 4000 carburetors so that you do get the correct vacuum signal needed for use with a later '57-'64 Ford or Mercury ignition distributor. Click the link below to see the excellent 'how-to-do-it' article written by Ted Eaton.
http://www.eatonbalancing.com/blog/2013/03/02/modifying-the-holley-teapot-four-barrel-carb-for-late-model-distributors/As for the '56 Mercury application Carter WCFB carburetors, DryLakesRacer is correct. Only the one year of Mercurys with the 312 engine used the WCFB carb with the circuitry designed to work with the '54-'56 FoMoCo LoadoMatic fully vacuum controlled ignition spark advance distributor. Instead of modifying the '56 Merc WCFB carburetor vacuum circuitry for use with the '57-'64 centrifugal and vacuum advance ignition distributors, you could use just the centrifugal advance portion of the system.
While FoMoCo's LoadoMatic distributors worked back-in-the-day, they are prone to problems (vacuum leaks and faulty vacuum diaphragms) and are swapped-out by many of us in favor of the ignition distributors FoMoCo turned to in '57 and used exclusively in numerous engine families until crankshaft triggers and computer controls replaced them.
Back-in-the-day, I assembled several '59-'64 FoMoCo y-block ignition distributors with 1960, '61, and '62 Ford 352, 390, and 406 application stationary distributor plates mounting dual ignition points, combined with a 13 degree distributor cam, and alternate distributor springs. The assembly provided centrifugal advance only and worked very satisfactorily in the 312 y-blocks they were used in. The vacuum advance portion of the stock '57-'64 distributors is for the purpose of increasing fuel economy when operating at a continuous engine speed with an elevated high engine vacuum. That economy thought was not part of my thinking at that time.
NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York