Packard Forum Index » Studebaker Built Packards (1957 - 58)

Hello All!

I would like to change out my original carburetor on my 58' Packard to an electric choke. The motor is a 289 . Can I use a 4 barrel carburetor with an adapter ?

Any recommendations ?

Thanks !

I have a 1981 Dodge pickup with a 318 engine that originally had a nightmare emissions 2 bbl carburetor. Someone added an adapter plate and installed an Edelbrock 600 CFM 4 bbl carburetor with an electric choke. It works pretty well.

A 500 CFM would would work better on the stock 318.

Of course, the original breather and carburetor linkage no longer fit, and I doubt if the performance potential of the 4 bbl is fully realized. It does start, run, and idle well, and the choke works well.

I believe the power supply for the choke is connected to the accessory circuit.

I think that Edelrock offers a 2 bbl carburetor that would probably be a better choice to replace a 2bbl.

Rebuilding the original equipment is the best choice, in my opinion.

Your 58 came with a 4 barrel Carter which can be rebuilt as basic carb was used on many 50s cars. The choke spring and related parts can be found athttps://www.carburetion.com/sitesearch.aspx?category=afbchoke&Title=Choke%20Chokes%20for%20Carter%20AFB%20Carburetors. A good rebuild and new choke bimetalic spring should restore choke to oem condition. I'm not a fan of electric chokes when you can get the original style Just my thoughts on this matter

For various reasons, several have used Edelbrock carbs with an adapter on the Packard 352 engine and been happy with the result. A few old posts on the forum here have their experiences. Since the 58 Packard was built by Studebaker in South Bend and is identical to a well equipped Studebaker President in everything but name and a few pieces of trim, you might also ask your question at the Studebaker forum. The 289 was Studebaker's large engine and was used thru 64 so far more of those engines are in that world. Undoubtedly some have been modified with the conversion you are asking about. Since it is a much smaller engine it would probably need a completely different carb setup than those done for the Packard engines. I would bet there are some Stude guys who could come up with decent suggestions.

As Howard suggested there are a fair number of guys here that either have 58's or Studes but if you want to really dive into this then I would post on a Stude forum as you will find tons more familiar with that engine.