When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
We are restoring a nice '62 Corvette. The engine in it is NOM but is a correct cast and numbered 340hp/327 that we have rebuilt. It was bored .030 and then balanced. We are about to get to the point of needing to crank/start the engine. We have not purchased a carburetor for the vehicle yet. The car is going to be a driver. It has had a frame off, nut and bolt restoration. It is a 4 speed car and will have Vintage A/C in it.
We have used some new Holley carbs on some other vehicles that we have done work on. What are some good recommendations as regards the carb for this '62? Thanks for any advice.
Mike
I am in the process of replacing the good-running Edelbrock aftermarket unit currently on my 1962 300hp with a factory-correct Carter AFB and will have the take-off unit available shortly. Might work on your car.
I am in the process of replacing the good-running Edelbrock aftermarket unit currently on my 1962 300hp with a factory-correct Carter AFB and will have the take-off unit available shortly. Might work on your car.
I ran Holleys for years, but then went to a 600 cfm Carter AFB on my 68 and got a little better milage after dialing it in with rods and jets. Also seems to idle better and same performance.
I am in the process of replacing the good-running Edelbrock aftermarket unit currently on my 1962 300hp with a factory-correct Carter AFB and will have the take-off unit available shortly. Might work on your car.
I think a Holley might look out of place depending on how correct looking your NOM mill is. I nice AFB would be nice...the Edelbrock is basically an AFB copy so also would work...your choice..
Before you make a decision, look down the road a bit. What will you do for an air cleaner that will fit the carb, clear the hood, not interfere with linkage, and have a period look.
Before you make a decision, look down the road a bit. What will you do for an air cleaner that will fit the carb, clear the hood, not interfere with linkage, and have a period look.
if its large throat carb, like typical Holley, an air cleaner from a 1965 Pontiac tempest will fit AND look like a 1962 air cleaner.
If you use a Holley with a tall choke horn, you may have to have spacer made. the Poncho air cleaner fits over a Holley 650 spread bore choke horn (6210) fine, it needs a spacer on a typical 650/750 CFM 4150 double pumper.
You can put a modern Holley or Edelbrock on the car. But the stock air cleaner won't fit, and you'll need to fabricate a fuel line and filter. The fuel line and filter is not a problem, if you know how to bend tubing. Most people don't, and use rubber hose and a barb fitting instead. Please don't do that. In addition to looking tacky, it's dangerous.
You don't have a whole lot of room under the hood, so looking around for an air cleaner that will fit will be problematic. When I did this, I went through a few different air cleaners before I settled on something that didn't look too bad. After a while, I didn't like the way any of this looked, and went out and bought stock parts. They look best.
The correct carburetor for your car is a Carter AFB 3269S. But the more common service replacement 3721S looks the same and is much less expensive. If you use that, everything bolts right up and looks right. If you use a Holley or Edelbrock, you'll need to screw around with air cleaners, fuel lines, and filters.
You can put a modern Holley or Edelbrock on the car. But the stock air cleaner won't fit, and you'll need to fabricate a fuel line and filter. The fuel line and filter is not a problem, if you know how to bend tubing. Most people don't, and use rubber hose and a barb fitting instead. Please don't do that. In addition to looking tacky, it's dangerous.
You don't have a whole lot of room under the hood, so looking around for an air cleaner that will fit will be problematic. When I did this, I went through a few different air cleaners before I settled on something that didn't look too bad. After a while, I didn't like the way any of this looked, and went out and bought stock parts. They look best.
The correct carburetor for your car is a Carter AFB 3269S. But the more common service replacement 3721S looks the same and is much less expensive. If you use that, everything bolts right up and looks right. If you use a Holley or Edelbrock, you'll need to screw around with air cleaners, fuel lines, and filters.
I appreciate the comments and advice. We bought a new correct air cleaner from Corvette America which cost a bunch and I hate the thought of not being able to use it. I never considered the fact that it might not fit with a modern carb. Are those AFB carbs available for purchase? Tks.
Mike
I appreciate the comments and advice. We bought a new correct air cleaner from Corvette America which cost a bunch and I hate the thought of not being able to use it. I never considered the fact that it might not fit with a modern carb. Are those AFB carbs available for purchase? Tks.
Mike
I called O'Reilly's and they have a reman for $259 + $25 core. We will try that. Tks for the advice.
I appreciate the comments and advice. We bought a new correct air cleaner from Corvette America which cost a bunch and I hate the thought of not being able to use it. I never considered the fact that it might not fit with a modern carb. Are those AFB carbs available for purchase? Tks.
Mike
You can use the air cleaner top. Just the base need some modifications to make it work or find another base. Or find a base that will fit the diameter of the edelbrock or holley.
Last year i weighed the choice between a new Edelbrock and rebuilding the stock carb. This is a base engine.
A stock carb would have worked fine - it I knew of a really good rebuilder. There are very few people around who can rebuild a carb correctly. The shop I use could have done this but even they cautioned me about rebuilds.
It came down to money. A rebuilt carb and a new Edelbrock would cost the same. The Edelbrock would work. The rebuilt might work.
I have no regrets. The original is now in a sealed bag and if someone down the road wants to use it they can go for it.
Richard Newton The '58 Interior Project
btw - In two weeks I'm going to start a lighting project. I intend to have every light on my '58 operate properly. Yes. Seriously. Wish me luck.
I appreciate the comments and advice. We bought a new correct air cleaner from Corvette America which cost a bunch and I hate the thought of not being able to use it. I never considered the fact that it might not fit with a modern carb. Are those AFB carbs available for purchase? Tks.
Mike
Buy the air cleaner base ONLY from year one and it will fit your original air cleaner lid and the larger carb.
I ran a Poncho air cleaner on my '61 for decades, on a Holley.
I appreciate the comments and advice. We bought a new correct air cleaner from Corvette America which cost a bunch and I hate the thought of not being able to use it. I never considered the fact that it might not fit with a modern carb. Are those AFB carbs available for purchase? Tks.
Mike
Yes. 3269S carbs are available for $650+. 3721S carbs are available for a lot less. You probably want to buy a carb from a rebuilder who will guarantee it'll run right.
The original AFB carbs for 62-65 Corvettes had a 4 7/32" air horn opening. Therefore, the air cleaners for those carbs also had that same size opening. The Holley and Edelbrock carbs have 5 ⅛" openings. Just about every aftermarket air cleaner will have a 5 ⅛" opening because that's what the vast majority of carbs are today.
You can buy adapters to make the 4 7/32" carb fit the 5 ⅛" air cleaner. But I was never able to find one the other way around. And it didn't work for me if I flipped it over.
Some of the posters here stated that you can find 5 ⅛" air cleaner bases that you could substitute under your original air cleaner. That would work great. But I was never able to find them. When I was going through this though, it was 10+ years ago. But perhaps those bases are available now. An aftermarket air cleaner base could also be useful if you need a fresh air fitting for your PCV system. These bases usually have a provision for that.
With a Holley or an Edelbrock, you'll still have to fabricate a fuel line. And with the old gas tanks in these cars, a fuel filter is important. So, you'll need to bend a fuel line that incorporates a filter. That's very do-able. But I can't do it. Note the rubber fuel line for the final few inches of the fabricated fuel line in rfno26's photo. That portion of the fuel line is under pressure. Not a lot. About 4.5 to 6 psi. If it leaks, it'll pump fuel all over the top of a hot engine. Lots of complaints nowadays about 10% ethanol fuel causing rubber to deteriorate. You can buy special gasoline rubber hose that's supposed to stand up to ethanol.
If you go with the Holley or Edelbrock, get the electric choke. Yeah, the wires will look a little out of place. But not too bad. The right side exhaust manifold will also have an open hole on top where the choke tube went. But that's not all that big a deal, either. No problem with the accelerator linkage with any carb.
Did you know that the Edelbrock is a Carter AFB clone? Because of that, the 4 7/32 air horn, the top of the carb, from an old Carter will bolt onto the bottom or base of a modern Edelbrock. I did this at one time. Bought a junk 62-65 Corvette AFB on EBay for short money. Unscrewed it, and just swapped tops with a newer Edelbrock I had. In this way, the stock air cleaner fit and the factory fuel line and filter bolted right up. You may have to fiddle with the choke linkage. Or just don't bother with a choke.
Last edited by chris ritchie; 05-04-2016 at 08:11 PM.
At the time, I chosen to go with an Edelbrock intake and a Holley carburetor. Later, I changed out the carburetor to an Edelbrock 600 CFM.
I took a Spectre or Moroso air cleaner. Had a machine shop cut a hole in the center to the diameter of the carburetor then inverted it. I had to do some pounding to make it fit.
Making steel fuel lines is not difficult with a flaring tool, pipe cutter and a bender.
Its really up to you to decide what you want to use.
I've been tuning cars for over 35 years and never could figure out why people prefer electric chokes over properly sorted exhaust heat chokes. I've never run an electric choke on any classic---it's a shortcut and a cop-out, IMHO.
You can lead a horse to water but nobody believes what you say, ignores it, or thinks you don't know what you are talking about because you aren't JohnZ or FTF...
Below is the Pontiac air cleaner used on a Holley, that was on my car. The spacer was for using it on a 750 DP; on a carb like a 6210, you don't need the spacer. Ignore the air inlet temp sensor bung I added.
05-03-2016, 11:46 AM
'62 Carb Recommendations
