84 305 HO guys in here...
 

Question for you. The 3rd gen 84 T/A I'm getting for my son needs to probably get a new intake and carb. What are you guys running? I was told the gaskets in the carb leak by which i'm also told was a common problem.

What transmission does the car have?

If auto, keep the stock carb. Leaking gaskets? Only if the airhorn has been warped due to overtightening of the screws. Now, there are some lead plugs on the bottom of the fuel bowl that are known to leak, that's a simple matter of cleaning them well and applying epoxy sealant over them. Otherwise, that carb is the best street performance carb you can find. Even if you have to replace it because of some former hamfist rendering it FUBAR, it's still the best choice.

If a manual transmission, then you can justify a double pumper carb. Anything else aftermarket will be a downgrade! Don't fall for the Edelbrock Performer or any type of vacuum secondary carb. A double pumper carb will require replacement of the distributor as well, as the factory computer control system relies on input from the carb, and unless you put an external TPS on the carb to retain the original distributor, you'll need to put in a vacuum/mechanical advance distributor. At any rate, only with a manual transmission should you consider an aftermarket carb, and then only a double pumper.

An Edelbrock Performer, Weiand Action +, or a ZZ4 take-off are all good choices for a slight upgrade over the factory manifold and stock or near-stock cam. If you go with a bigger cam, then a Performer RPM is a good choice.

Im my experience and opinion......I have an 84 TA with low miles that i installed a new intake manifold on and kept the stock carburetor with. Im very happy with the intake swap. The stock carb does very well and there is noticable increase in torque in the 305 engine with the Performer Intake. Not difficult to install and a fun project.

But i also installed a complete flowmasters exhaust. I think you will enjoy that car sooooo much if you just open the air flow out of the car to get that extra power as I did and rebuild your original carb if needed.

Good luck with your car!

Thanks for the info. I am not going to do anything to wild like my 94. This is a father son project for my kid for his first car. If he wants to dump money into it when he gets a job, so be it. I just want to get it to the point of it being reliable and safe for him to drive. I got him the car, the rest is on him.