Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

hi everyone I just had a quick question,

What do I need to know to put a different carb on my 56 patrician?

Such as what is the bore, was the manifold specific to packard?

The reason I'm asking is my girlfriends dad has a Edlebrock Thunder 650 doublepump carb he wants to give me tomorrow, but he doesn't know Packards

And if that one won't fit on what will?

Yes, the manifold was Packard-made. It can mount either a Carter WCFB or a Rochester Quadra-Jet (original equipment on the Patrician). Although my 56 Caribbean has the original dual Quadra-Jets, I've always considered the Carter to be a superior unit. As to the specifics, I'll leave that to others as I like to adhere to authenticity and your car should give excellent performance with either OEM carburetor, and parts/rebuild services are plentiful.

I would love to stick with the original, but I'm tryin to work with stuff that I'm getting free. I'm definatly going to save the old one for the future. But will anything else fit?

Brandon, TAKE THE CARB!!! I have an Edelbrock 600cfm carb on my '56 Pat and haven't had to do anything with it. Get the carb, then get a 1/2" Mr. Gasket adapter from one of the parts stores. It'll go on there, it just takes a little know how. I'll post some pics tonight of my setup, I'd do it now but I'm pressed for time to go to work. It won't be until after 11pm tonight, so be patient. But by all means, GET THE CARB!!

An Edelbrock can be made to fit, with fiddling with an adapter plate and the throttle linkage.

Question: How do you know the Edelbrock is in any better condition than your present carb? Lot of work if it has its own issues.

Minor point, "double-pumper" is not correct terminology for any Edelbrock Thunder series carbs. Also, AFAIK, they only come in 500, 600 and 800 CCFM.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/carbs_acc/carbs_access_main.shtml

thnx, jack vines

FYI, the Thunder series does come in a 650, part # 1805 or 1806 for 302 to 400 cubic inch mild performance engines. In "my" experience there is no more trouble free carb than an Edlebrock.

Everything I know about the sizes comes from the Edelbrock web site I referenced above. Here is a copy:

THUNDER SERIES AVS? CARBURETOR
The next step up from our Performer Series Carburetors is our Thunder Series AVS? which was designed and calibrated to deliver optimum street performance in hundreds of applications. Primary and secondary booster clusters offer the most accurate and up-to-date calibration available for today's fuels and octane levels. The Thunder Series' unique Qwik-Tune Secondary Air Valve allows for limitless calibration of the secondary circuit with simple hand tools while on your vehicle. It can be easily adjusted - in seconds - to suit your application... no extra parts required to achieve optimum performance. They are available with either manual or electric choke in sizes of 500, 600, and 800 cfm (cubic feet per minute) for optimum performance for small-block or big-block V8s. Click here now for Thunder Series carburetor applications

Also, no knock on Edelbrock - any carb can have problems. I've probably rebuilt fifty AFBs and Edelbrocks. Some of them had been used, abused, left out in the rain until they were unsalvagable junk. One rare AFB from the R2 Studebaker took $450 in parts and labor by the time I got it back in shape.

thnx, jack vines

Jack,
Sorry if I came accross as condescending in my reply, I was just injecting info from the site you posted, click in left hand column on "thunder series" and then click on "carb application guide" supplied by Edlebrock. As for staying with original equipment, I put a kit in my Carter WCFB and couldn't ask for a smoother running carb.

Bill

Here is my Edelbrock 600cfm electric choke, albeit supercharged:

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The innermost 4 bolts on the Edelbrock carb are the same as the stock Packard 4 barrel. Now, if you used a 500 cfm carb, you'd only need to either use a 1" spacer plate, or cut off the lower end of the thottle lever on the carb, as it hits the intake. With a larger carb, 600 cfm or higher, the throttle blades on the secondaries are larger than the Packard intake manifold openings, and on the 750 carb, they're both the same size, but still larger than the Packard manifold. Now, you can bore out the secondaries to match the Edelbrock carb, and I recommend this. With a 750, you'll have to do all 4 mainfold openings. You'll still have to use the spacer plate or cut off the throttle lever no matter what Edelbrock carb you use.

Personally, I have found no better carb than the Edelbrock, for ease of tuning and simple construction. If your car is going to be a driver, then I'd HIGHLY recommend putting on an Edelbrock carb, and saving the original carb back in case you sell the car. You'll be happy you did, as everytime you rebuild a carb, that's one less life it has to live. (Meaning it just gets even more wore out)