Carburetor cfm calculator

Rustyratrod thinks the same as I. If your just cruising around, that would be a fine cfm amount. I’m running a Edelbrock 600 on 2 different 360’s right now. One is a 5.9 with bolt on parts only. Just a cruiser. It does see WOT every now and again. But it mostly is just driven here and there.

The other 360 is in the wife’s car and it is seriously under carbed. It does need another 150 cfm (750) for getting all the power even though she mostly just drives it. Her car is a high compression aluminum headed hot rod with a small ish cam @ 224@050 on the intake.

You can feel the limitation on her engine. (At WOT on the big end) While the carb will be changed out later, it’s still a good driver with excellent throttle response. Sometimes the smaller primary is a restriction that can be felt. I experienced this with a TQ on a dead stock (‘78) 400 with only headers and a intake change. I had at my disposal 2 TQ carbs. An electric choke small version was used first. Then I switched it to a early year big primary unit. There was a big difference in the power return with no mileage loss.

This is why you’ll see a 750 on top a 360 instead of a 600/650. A lot has to do with the rest of the build as well. Things that give way to a larger carb are things like increase cam, stall & gear.

See if you can get both size carbs as a loaner from a friend and try them out. Then you can decide which is best for you. Even though you didn’t list any parts for what a mild 360 is, a 600 would not be a bad choice. A larger carb will probably deliver more power up top, BUT! a lot is how often you will be there and do you need that last 10 hp?