When considering a replacement 4-barrel, the FIRST item to consider is application! No, not whether the engine is a 235 or a 261 or, or, or.....
The application here is: (A) functionality on a street-driven vehicle; (B) race-only, (C) eye-candy.
If the application is (B), chances are good that the best SINGLE race-only (1/4 mile) carb is a 2-barrel, NOT a 4-barrel.
If the application is (C), then "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder".
If the application is (A), and the builder is looking for "best for he/she" carburetor, then lots of items should be considered.
Some items to be considered (the individual should prioritize the items, rather than having someone else prioritize them).
(A) Carburetor primaries applicable to "cruise" or normal driving RPM
(B) Carburetor secondaries plus primaries applicable to WOT
(C) Expertise of the builder (or the mechanic working for the builder) on the carburetor selected (it ain't gonna run right out of the box)!
(D) Availability of the selected unit
(E) Availability of replacement parts for the selected unit
(F) Cost of the selected unit
(G) Cost of replacement parts for the selected unit
(H) Ease of modification (this really is a sub-issue under (C) above).
(I) Availablity/price of intake manifold (one can always be fabricated)
Some have mentioned the Q-Jet as a good replacement for the stove-bolt; I respectfully disagree. I consider the Q-Jet to be the second-best carb (the first is the TQ) for FACTORY 4-barrel installations for street vehicles, so I am NOT throwing rocks at the Q-Jet. But tuning the secondary on a Q-Jet for use on a stovebolt is difficult, unless one has an excellent stock of rods and hangers (if one doesn't have that selection, that grumpy Missouri hillbilly has all of the hangers, and can fabricate all of the rods, or custom rods, for a price!). Yes, the Q-Jet has small primaries (most are 150 CFM), but I like to tune the primaries for cruise RPM, and then tune the secondaries for WOT
I would really suggest looking at a small square-bore carb. As an example, the Carter WCFB 2214s is a 295 CFM carb (147.5 primary / 147.5 secondary). So the primaries are roughly the same size as those of the Q-Jet. But the secondaries added then give a tunable addition for WOT.
The 2214s is simply one that would function well, there are others.
Jon
