which way should my primaries face on my clifford shorty intake? both to the front both to the rear or sindways inboard or outboard? My engine is stoutly modified with a 501 lift cam and lots of head work. also I have seen diagrams of 4bbl in takes with the primaries in all 4 positions but no text to explain why????

The orientation of the carb depends upon how ambitious you are in fabricating a new throttle and transmission linkage. The orientation with the primaries facing the front would be the easier to hook up. With the primaries parallel to the engine, the cylinders would have a more symmetrical fuel distribution, IMO.

I have never heard of anyone installing the carb so that the primaries are facing the rear but I don't get out much either. For sideways mounting of the carb, I have heard of people installing the carb either with the primaries closest to the engine or farthest from the engine.

I am not sure of the reason why someone would mount it with the primaries closest to engine but, with luck, someone will post with the answer.

I mounted the AFB and the Quadrajet on my Offy intake sideways with the primaries facing away from the engine for the following reasons:
* symmetrical fuel distribution
* easier to fabricate linkage in my application
* since the engine would be running on primaries most of the time, the primaries would be more equidistant from each cylinder
* the shot from accelerator pump would be equidistant from each cylinder
* easier to adjust the screws on the carburetor
* carb fuel inlet matches up better with original fuel line (with the Quadrajet)

I have found that this arrangement works well for me and, from checking the sparkplugs, the fuel mixture seems to be symmetrical too. Mounting the carburetor with the primaries facing the other way would probably work fine too. The only way to know for sure is to try each orientation and measure which works best.
Quadrajet Upgrade

Good Luck!

Frank Raso
Raso Enterprises