1966 Electra MT401 Nailhead - what carb?

[Guest]

I've spoken about my intake manifold in another thread but this time I want to ask a carburettot specific question...<P>What carb was my 1966 401 (MT) Electra fitted with? Mine has a Holley 725 fitted by a previous owner. What new carb is a good replacement? Or, can I get an original carb from anybody?<P>What sort of carb do all you guys use on your 401's?

[Guest]

The 1966 nailheads were most often delivered with Carter AFB carbs. The Rochester 4-jet was offered as an equivalent to the AFB, but relatively few, if any, were installed at the factory. The Rochester Quadrajet 4MC was offered on some 425's and on a few 401 Skylark GS cars as an option.These early Q-jets were plagued with problems, and required "recall kits" which helped, but, though they offered superior performance, the AFB remained the most popular carb for the street/strip crowd, due to its mechanical secondaries and excellent throttle response. The main weakness of the AFB is the throttle shaft, which passes through the base of the fuel bowl, and eventually wears through to cause catastrophic fuel dumping into the cylinders. I've experienced it twice. I still run AFB's and get them rebushed about every five years on my regular drivers as they fail. If you really want to show it off, hunt down a factory dual AFB setup. The stock 401 can only use about 6 bbl of the 8, but those last 2 make a great sound under hard throttle. Dan