I have a 1960 F100 292 that I am trying to do a little at a time with due to money constraints.  I wanted to start with a decent carburetor and then move to the exhaust, heads, then on to tearing down the engine.  I currently have a two barrel carb off of a 302 from a 70's ford torino.  I was hoping to put something else on there.  Is there an Edelbrock carb (500cfm) that would bolt directly to my intake, that would be ready to go as soon as it's bolted on?  I went to the edelbrock site but didn't see anything about the 292 with a two barrel.  Should I get the mummert 4 barrel intake?  If so, what carb could I bolt directly to that that would help my performance.  I read something on one of these forums about how you have to change the distributor with certain carb mods.  Any help with a good set up for my stock engine, would be greatly appreciated.  I would like to get something that would do me good now, but would also be good once I get some good heads, exhaust and a better camshaft.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.  I am not real familiar with anything that will work.

With all due respect, IMO you will not see much improvement in performance by simply changing the carburetor and manifold.  All the major components have to compliment each other in order to perform at their best.  I would suggest starting with the exhaust system.  Headers and a good free flowing dual system will add power and fuel economy too.  The improvement will be immediate and encouraging.   Acquire the other pieces such as intake manifold, carb., cam and lifters, etc. as funds permit and then build your motor the right way- as a total package.  BTW, the Ford/Autolite carburetor is a good unit so you don't have a bad piece there.  It isn't as flashy as some others but they do a good job. 

If you want to just try a carburetor before I did my rebuild I bought a 500 cfm 2 barrel holley. It is the carb that a lot of circle track guys use.  I bolted this one on and truck ran great without any tuning.  It was not an exact fit but but ran perfect.  When you get to the rebuild make sure you can do it right or you will not be happy.  I am glad I did mine that way now it runs like I hoped it would.  I have a few pics of what I did under the street forum.  62 F100 Makeover.  Good luck.

I think the carb you have is good until other things like suggested by gekko have been done.   I've been using an Autolite 2V for quite a while, one version or another with the 1.08 or 1.14 preferred.

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Thanks guys for the info.  I will try to find a similar carb then.  The one that I have now has an automatic choke on it.  It's so cold natured that I would like a manual choke.  The cable in my dash is stuck so I will buy another cable, then find a carb just like the one that came on it.  I have a bad exhaust leak so I was planning on getting some new exhaust manifolds and possibly straight pipe with no muffler.  I was looking at the Mummerts exhaust manifold.  Figure I will go with those or put on some headers...just not sure which one yet.

The automatic choke can be changed easily to a manual choke, with the use of a different black cap.  They are or were available in the auto stores as a Universal Manual Choke conversion.  Price 10-15 dollars.  Visually they arent very neat, but are functional and could be an answer for a carb that will be replaced in near future.  New cable is included.

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

If the choke is functional, why not just adjust it?  The cost is 0 and takes approx. 1 minute.  The stock warm air type choke system is simple, effective and did I mention, FREE?  LOL  Save your money for parts that actually make your engine better.  JMO

The automatic choke isn't functional. The carb is off of something else. Doesn't an automatic choke work off the exhaust manifold somehow? Either way, it's not hooked up nor do I have any idea how it should b hooked up.

Based on my experience with a stock 57 Tbird 312 Y blocks like more carb. If you can find a 57 4bbl manifold put a 600cfm 4 bbl on it. I replaced the stock 4 bbl on my bird (s/od) with a 600 cfm off my 390/375 with no changes. It promptly went 92+ mph in the quarter through the stock exaust. Driveability was excellent.

On my present 57 Bird (auto) I have a 600 cfm carb and it runs very well with no driveability issues.

Sure, with more mods the effect of added carburetion would be greater, but in stock form in my opinion and past experience, a stock Y is noticeably short changed from the factory in terms of carb capacity.

Brandon, the choke senses the engine temperature by drawing warm air through the choke thermostat housing.  Typically, a metal tube connects the choke to a cavity in the exhaust manifold and heated air from the hot manifold warms the thermostatic spring inside the choke housing (the black phenolic "can" on the side of the carb.).  If the tube is missing, a suitable replacement can be fashioned with copper tubing from the hardware store.  One end of the tube connects to the choke housing with a compression nut and ferrule and the other end can either be shoved into the stock hole or just clamp a section of the tubing to the manifold.  The thermostat housing is adjustable by loosening the 3 screws which hold it and then dialing it left or right like a radio knob.  There are little hash marks and a pointer to reference right on the rim of the thermostat housing.  Do a little search on the net for pictures of all this and it'll make more sense to you.  You should also be collecting printed manuals and references.  You're going to need them sooner or later.  This is very basic stuff which you can easily do and you'll have the satisfaction of doing yourself.  Good luck.