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Yes the concept of the inline 4bl was done by Ford® on their Cross-Boss intake systems used in Trans-Am racing in 1969 & 1970. They were banned in 1971 and know one else has worked on the idea since then since most sanctioning bodies still have it in their rules that inline carburetors are illegal.
Let’s first start off with a standard 4bl carburetor: The 4bl carburetor was designed out of packaging convenience not performance in mind. The first engines had a single (1 barrel) carburetor. As they required more air engine builders added more one barrel carburetors, then for packaging purposes the idea came about to mount all four barrels together. This makes your fuel lines, linkage, etc all much easier, however it leaves you with a problem within the intake manifold. You wind up with 4 longer runners, and 4 shorter runners. This is not real good for distribution. The idea behind putting all 4 barrels inline is first and foremost that we’re able to equalize the length of the runners. This allows use to use the longest runner possible within the shortest height.
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