Looking for some replacement carbs for an early poly 318. Not concerned w/period correct or anything. Just some good new replacements, prefer Holley. Probably out of the question, but curious if anyone has any input on the throttle plate sizes and such.
Any help would be great!!
Thank you, Ken

Pretty sure Holleys are a no go simply because of the spacing between the carb mounts, not enough room to fit. No idea if you can mount Holley's sideways on them, been a long time since I farted about with a dual quad 318.
Might want to take a tape measure to things before you buy.

I'll swear I responded to this earlier shruggy: and said basically the same as Sniper. If you have an aftermarket intake your chances might be better (don't know if one was ever made ?). I might suggest checking edlebrocks offerings, even that maybe dicey due to bore size and spacing, although if enough material is available on the manifold those could be moved/enlarged
Adapters MAY be an option as well. I believe I have seen 3x2 setups for the poly from time to time but can't remember what
they used for carbs
I googled "318 poly dual quad intake" and came up with quite a few hits on carbs etc.

The original WCFBs are about 375-400 CFM, any more than that would be too much IMO. I have an original front carb on a stock mani with a 56 265 Chev carb on the rear but not in use, I should check the front carb on my flow bench.

Thanks for the input, did some re-search as well. Re-man carbs start in the area of $500 each. Can purchase the dual plane single four intake for $350, used good re-built Holley for around $250.
Easier to tune, wide parts out there. And not ancient stuff that was really never performance oriented to start with.
See what he wants to do now
See ya, Ken

Finding any WCFB, I can't remember if they, OEM 318 dual 4 set ups, use the original small bolt pattern WCFB or the later WCB and AFB wider bolt pattern carbs.
I've seen both types on Mopar V8 a long time ago but Carter did make the smaller WCFB 4 barrel bolt pattern in the mid 1950s, which year I'm not sure of
OP, you would be better off looking for some original 273 four barrel AFB carbs instead of trying to use Holley carbs, especially if your thinking of using the pre 1957 Holley four barrel tea pot type carbs on your car

318's used the later carb bolt pattern, not like the early 53 to 55 Buick and Olds bolt pattern. I have actually bought 56 to 61 Chevy 2x4's manifolds at swap meets that had factory 318 dual carbs on them. They bolt on, but the linkage arms aren't even close to being the same. That's the dead give away. Those old factory 318 2x4s intakes aren't cheap like they used to be either, but they sure as hell are heavy. Chevy and Studebaker Carter carbs can be substituted for a nearly correct look if you're so inclined.

speaking of heavy, i once carried a 413 inline 2-4 intake from the farthest part of the carlisle fairgrounds back to the car. i think my arm grew 2" in length doing that.
those RB intakes ain't light either, but i'll bet the poly intakes might be a touch heavier.
it would be interesting to compare weights.