1965 PL Marauder 390 Carb - model #?

[Breadfan]

What is the correct carb to get as a replacement for a 390 engined Park Lane Marauder?

From what I can find, there are a few different models listed, both Ford 4bbl's and Holley 4bbls, though I'm assuming the ford one is a rebadged Holley.

What is the correct Holley part # to buy?

Is there a better carb out there, perhaps an Edelbrock model? (I suspect the Holley is the best)

Engine is stock.

Thanks!

[Breadfan]

I think I got it, it should be a 4160 holley right?

Will probably just get a rebuild kit, that's more fun anyway!

[Mach1]

Check with Pony Carburetors inc. www.ponycarburetors.com (http://www.ponycarburetors.com) They specialize in Ford carbs. They are diffrent from the Holleys and at least as good as far as performance goes. Things like the choke, throttle linkage, vacuum connections will be correct also. The Ford carb use the same mounting bolt pattern too.

It is possible your car came with a Holley also, but some of those carbs are pretty hard to come by these days.

[wsmylie]

Owned a very used (rusty), high mileage 1965 Merc Marauder with 390 4bbl in late sixties while living in Cleveland area. The carb on it had the FoMoCo "Motorcraft" name on cast housing IIRC; not sure who actually made it though. The only reason I remember the carb so well is that it caught fire early one cold winter morning when it backfired while I was trying to get the beast to fire-up by pouring gas into it. Guess I shoulda put the air cleaner back on before I cranked it. :)

[wsmylie]

I believe that should have an Autolite 4100 on it. It is a flat top carb and will look like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1960S-AUTOLITE-4100-CARBURETOR-GALAXIE-F-100_W0QQitemZ160051308465QQihZ 006QQcategoryZ34198QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

John Sorry...meant to say Autolite. The photo looks like the one I had. Would have to see it with a large flame on top and belching out thick black smoke to be sure though.:D

[Breadfan]

In this case though the Autolites are pretty much Holley's right? Probably has special linkages, maybe special choke setup, but the basic core is a Holley.

I found a local shop that has many many years experience rebuilding and tuning carbs, they can even do a full dyno/cruise tune of the carb.

I'll take a closer look at it and grab some pics when I'm there during the upcoming holiday.

[Mach1]

The only similarity between Holley and Autolite is the mounting bolt pattern, everything else is different.

A Holley will work fine on your 390 though, if thats what you want.

[Breadfan]

OK I'm gonna have to check it out then. I have gotten mixed info from looking up reviews and old car writeups on the '65 Merc's.

The "Marauder" trim is supposed to have a higher HP engine, and some places say it's a Holley, some say it's a Ford 4100 (which is a Holley Model # infact).

Thanks for setting the record straight, we'll see what's on the car and go from there!

[JACook]

OK I'm gonna have to check it out then. I have gotten mixed info from looking up reviews and old car writeups on the '65 Merc's.

The "Marauder" trim is supposed to have a higher HP engine, and some places say it's a Holley, some say it's a Ford 4100 (which is a Holley Model # infact).


With the 390 engine, it's doubtful it would have come with a Holley. Back in '64/'65, the Holley 4Vs were
only used on the 406, 410 and 427. There were some 390s built with the Holley 2300 2V carburetor.

It doesn't matter if the car was a Marauder or the regular Park Lane, what matters is the engine code.
Unlike the '03-'04s, an early Marauder got the same engine hardware as the full-size Merc it was based on.

As for the Holley and Autolite carbs being related, no. The Autolite 4100 shares nothing with the Holley
4150/4160. Ford first used the 4100 carb design in 1957. That same year Holley introduced the 4150,
which was used on the '57 Thunderbird. But the two carbs are as different as a small-block Ford is
from a small-block Chevy.

A lot of 4100s got pitched in favor of the Holley 4150, IMO, only 'cause that's what the Chebby guys were
doing. Lotta grease-monkey-see, grease-monkey-do back then, as now. And, of course the magazines
were pushing 'em, 'cause, well, that's what magazines are in business to do. Perhaps if the Chebby guys had
decent factory carburetors, things might have been different.

The Autolite 4100 is a simple design that belies how good it was. Way back in '57, Ford was the first to use
annular-discharge boosters, and patented the idea. Annular boosters provide much better fuel atomization,
and a much better metering signal than the conventional boosters used in Holleys and the like. The annular-
discharge boosters provide much better driveability and economy. They're also much more tolerant of an
agressive camshaft profile. Holley uses annular boosters on their "Dominator" series carbs, but the only
Holley 41xx carb to ever use them was the 4180 that Ford used on the '83-'85 5.0 HOs

Holley did sell a 4010 model for a few years, beginning in the late '80s, IIRC. The 4010 was an updated
Autolite 4100. Holley acquired the rights from Ford, when Ford got out of the carburetor business.
The 4010 never really caught on, though, and it's been discontinued.

Unless you really need a carb larger than 600 CFM, I think the Autolite would be the best choice for
your '65. Companies like Pony Carburetors can sell you a complete correct Autolite 4100 restored to
concours or driver standards. Or you can go the used route and rebuild it yourself. Look for one with a
"C5AF-xx" tag number, and a "1.12" cast into the driver's side of the fuel bowl. If the tag is missing,
look for the number stamped into the side of the front driver-side foot.

If buying used, make sure the throttle shafts move freely. The 4100s didn't have much problem with worn
throttle bores, but if they sit out in the weather for much time at all, the throttle shafts will bind up.
I would also shy away from any carb that looks like it's been subjected to a rebuilder's sand-blast cabinet.

[jakdad]

Holley built a lot of their carbs (4150,4160) with Ford numbers on them. They were primarilly for the performance engines like 406,427 4V & 8V, 428 CJ. The Autolites simply wouldn't perform or build horse power like a Holley. The Chevy guys learned early on that the Holley was way more responsive than the Carter and Rochester. As for as what is correct carb (?) for your engine, it should not be hard to find out. Most motor manuals of that era will I D the carb and distributor numbers. Good luck.............
Jim