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Been considering some possible options when I get the 288 rebuilt on my '51 Coupe. Does anyone have any feedback about putting a factory 4 barrel intake/exhaust manifold with a modern Edelbrock carb?

I was looking at the 500 CFM Performer Series. I'm going to do a 700R4 transmission swap (and if I do a new 4 barrel vs. the factory 2 barrel) the Edelbrock has an adapter ready to go to for the TV cable. Takes all of the fab and guess work out of the TV adjustment on an old Carter carb. Plus the power boost would be nice.

Thoughts ...

I don't recall anyone doing the Edelbrock on a straight 8 but on V8s there have been several done with good results. I believe it needs an adapter to raise the base over the V8 manifold but on the inline manifold the throttle linkage may clear. The 500 is used on the 352 and would probably work on the 327 but I wonder if it would be too much for a 288.

Jim used one on his packard powered indy car.

Link to Jim's Packard powered "Indy" car.

I was looking through that thread. The consensus seem to be that 500 CFM would be good for a 327 (and 600 may be too much).

But my question remains; is 500 CFM to much carb for the 288?

The Edelbrock 1406 is the go-to carb for 60's V8s if you want great bolt-on drivability. It works great on my '55 352 but could be a little large for the flathead? If you have not ruled out a 2bbl, the Holley 2300 series, # 7448 specifically is a great bolt on & go carb for smaller or low revving engines @ 350 CFM.
The factory had the luxury of fresh engines, carbs & laboratory tuning to perfect drivability.
Unless you have access to a highly experienced carb expert,(who does?) many times "close" is as good as it gets. Because I drive my old car a lot, I have little patience for bogs, stumbles & the like.
Keep swinging for the fence!

There's a way to calculate the cfm that the motor will pull but it escapes me at the moment. I like the easy way, I'd just call Edelbrock Tech and discuss with them.

If Pack offered a 4 bbl for the 288, then match the cfm of the carb they used. There should be a carb number and you can run them down on the internet on the carb site's like MIke's. There's original Rochester and Carter info online too. I've downloaded it all.
Be advised, if you don't do anything with the cam and timing, you won't realize any gains in performance any way. Can't beat an old horse to run faster, put some carrots in front. The old grey mare 288 probably won't scream like an eagle, regardless of what you do, but you can crank it up to the 327, I'm told. Otherwise, the 4bbl will be mostly for show. Vintage speed parts is a search unto its own but they are hoarded.

Just calculating the pumping, at 4000 rpm a 327 is only moving 378 cfm if the volumetric efficiency is an impossible 100%. A 288 can only process 333 cfm at the impossible 100% efficiency. Real life volumetric efficiency on a flathead is maybe 75% if we are lucky, so the 288 will only process 250 cfm.

I did have a 4bbl setup on a 288 some years ago and was not thrilled. It tended to bog and was not noticeably quicker at the top end. That engine had been ported and relieved so the efficiency was better than stock.

In the car that is now the basis for the After Eight project, I am running a 288 2bbl, ported and relieved and with cam advanced to 1954 327 specs. That works quite well with a smooth delivery of torque over a wide range.

Ross, on advancing the cam to '54 327 specs. Was this through a cam re grind or adjustment of the timing?

John

It is just a case of using a 54 camshaft gear as it has the keyway indexed slightly different to the teeth. I discovered this by accident whilst agonizing over the specification sheets of 53 and 54 after wondering why a good 54 always felt a bit snappier than a good 53.