Edelbrock.  I went away from the Autolites because of a lack of support for tuning.  I avoid anything with the H name because of the hassle of tuning.  Had plenty of them for years, and learned to tune them, but after some time messing with Q-Jets and the discovery that the Edelbrock was basically just a CarterAFB, which is a better Q-Jet style carb, I ran an Edlebrock for the first time in the early 2000's and never went back. 

Does anyone Know if the Autolite rebuild kits are the same for the 1.08's and the 1.12's?

I'll also vote Edelbrock 500cfm ... mine has never given me an ounce of trouble and it's super simple to tune.

M1Mustang69 wrote:

Really TKO.....good and interesting feedback!

my research most people didnt care for the Carters/Edels because they discovered a performance improvement from the holley counterpart......

but, I did ask between the 2 cause cost is a factor and I found a Economaster and Autolite for very reasonable prices ($120CAN)....for under $200 I can hace a "New Like Carburetor"  cant go wrong......and its being bolted to a Bone Dry Stock 289!
 

I've been hearing that for years, and I think there's a shred of truth to it, but its tiny.  The truth is that many years ago, before the internet, everyone ran Holleys because very few people knew how to tune anything else.  They also didn't know where to get tuning parts.  All the guys at the speed shops would steer them towards Holleys anyway (why would they sell you a couple metering rods and jets when they could sell you a whole new carb?).  Information was hard to come by, because there weren't books on tuning anything BUT a Holley.  So, most tuners learned to tune Holleys and it became a self perpetuating cycle.  I promise there is nothing inherently wrong with any other carb design I've ever messed with; if anything they're simply a little harder to understand than a Holley, but that complexity allows for greater precision, which is what makes then ultimately better carbs for the way most people use their cars. 

There may be a tiny edge in top end HP on a dyno using a Holley vs. an Edelbrock.  BUT, the Edelbrock will run better literally everywhere else.  In an all out race car, maybe that 2-3HP makes a difference, but on a typical Mustang that we all enjoy, even those that their owners would call "street/strip", the truth is that car spends 99.999999999% of its life at something OTHER than WOT.  So to me, you tune the car to run best where it spends the vast majority of its time.  An analogy I'd use is that you wouldn't dream of running DOT legal slicks on a car all the time that may see the track once a year, so why would you run a carb best suited to the track when the car only goes there once a year, if that? 
 

The only Holleys I have run are the double pumpers. They are wonderful IF you spend the time to know them  So much available for them to fix any problem. But, unless you are willing to spend the time an Edelbrock is not a bad choice. I have bought them bolted them on and not touched them for several street applications.

So get this.....I tried with all my might to get the numbers off the carburetor, but the seller never checked or responded when he was able to check....it was listed and described as a 1.08 4100.........I drive 1:20away to go get it, assured it was in working order, but required a rebuild only to Learn the Choke Assembly is missing, a linkage for the vacuum advance missing ANNNND 3/4 Butterflies are BENT!.....

wtf is wrong with people!!!!  im now 0-2 on carburetors, one purchased and this one....

because I didnt want to make the trip for nothing I purchased a New in the Box Economaster for the 289, had him take $50 off the price and asked for him to throw in the mangled Autolite (maybe I can rebuild the Autolite and recoop some).

what a Mess!

No one has mentioned the Summit carbs. They are based on the Autolite 4100, plus they come in a range of sizes and you can get parts for them. The downside is that it seems necessary to take them apart to empty out the grit (tumble polishing media) they seem to be delivered with.

I ran a 650 cfm Holley on my mostly stock 67 289 for about 10 years. I was never really happy with it as it tended to run rich, especially when first started. After warming up it did run pretty strong, but gas mileage was all over the place: worst was 11.5 mpg and best was 16. Idle was inconsistant also. Last fall I put a 500 cfm Edelbrock on, spent maybe 20 minutes tuning the idle circuits and just started to finally enjoy driving it. It cold starts with one hit of the gas pedal, fast idles at 1100 rpm, and kicks down to a smooth 650 rpm idle every time. No more eye burning exhaust when warming up, and my milage this summer after driving 2200 miles in all kinds of conditions has stayed between 15.8 and 17.2 mpg. I am really happy with this set up, I wish I would have done it years ago!