I'm running the stock intake manifold and stock quadrajet carb on my big block 402. The cam that is in the engine has a basic operating range of 1200-4500 rpm and was made by summit (if that matters). That's all the parts that have been upgraded so far. I'm looking to upgrade the carb and intake manifold but I don't know what cfm to go with. Any help with that or recommendations for carbs/intake manifolds would be great. The engine is a 1972 402 that came out of a chevy caprice.

 

Do you have headers? I'd consider a good exhaust system a must have first.
You'll get a lot of opinions on different intakes and carbs.
More input on how you plan on using the car would help since there are a lot of different set ups out there,some better suited for racing and some better for daily drivers and some that compromise and work well as a street or strip set up.
Personally on a big block I like a single plane intake like an Edlebrock torquer and a good sized Holley double pumper carb 750 or bigger cfm but then I like to mash the peddle a lot too.
If you like good street manners better you might prefer a dual plane intake like an Edlebrock performer and a 780cfm Holley vacuum secondary carb or a reworked Q-jet maybe.

 

I don't have headers installed. I'm thinking about doing it, but I don't want to have to modify the fender wells and stuff. Eventually I'm gonna throw aluminum heads on the block, so right now I just want to upgrade my carb and intake to get more power. I'm thinking of a dual plane intake because I don't have a lot of hood clearance for a tall single plane intake. I want to be cranking out more hp. Right now I'm at about 260-280 at the wheel. The engine came out of a chevy caprice, so it's got the big block but not much power. I'm new at mechanics, so if my ideas are going the wrong way, just bare with me please.

 

No need to mod the car for headers,big block headers are readily available for your car.
You'll waste your money putting on a bigger carb and intake on without doing the exhaust first,it's gotta breath or it'll fail to do much other than eat more gas with a bigger carb and stock exhaust.

 

I will take a look into it then. I gotta local race shop that does headers and stuff. I don't think I have the skill for that yet.