FEATURE ARTICLE from Hemmings Muscle MachinesCarter 4-barrel carburetorsHemmings Muscle Machines - NOVEMBER 1, 2004 - BY JIM O'CLAIR
With the advent of performance-oriented street cars from all original manufacturers, stock engines were starting to get bigger in the later Fifties, and more factory options of larger displacement were offered. They were running at higher horsepower, and required better fuel management to increase their efficiency and get those horses to the pavement. There to meet these higher-performance engine requirements was Carter Carburetors. Carter had been manufacturing the model WCFB four-barrel in the early Fifties, and General Motors began using the "William Carter Four Barrel" as standard equipment in 1952, with Packard picking this type of carburetor as its stock equipment choice in 1953, followed by Chrysler in 1954. These were popular with many original manufacturers; in fact, the WCFB series carburetors were used on Corvettes up to 1964. However, their weight, at over 17 pounds, suggested that a lighter carburetor with the same progressive four-barrel characteristics was needed. In 1957, Carter started marketing the AFB series carburetor, and it quickly became a widely accepted standard for the automotive industry from the late Fifties to the late Sixties. AFB stands for "aluminum four barrel." and it was used as an original-equipment carburetor for all the major manufacturers on one engine option or another, although only offered on a limited basis on Ford products and Oldsmobiles. In most cases, all of the dual-quad carburetor configurations that were factory installed from the late Fifties to the early Seventies used Carter AFBs. These carburetors were also original equipment on many inboard marine engines in the Sixties and Seventies.
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