American Motors: 1968 Ambassador 343 carburetor question, american performance products, carter afb

Question
Hello,
I have just purchased a 1968 Ambassador DPL four door equipped with a 343 and four barrel carb.  The car was running poorly, so I took it to an "old school" mechanic hereabouts who soon showed me the carb, with a significant crack in it near the base.  He suggests that rather than trying to repair it I should source a new carb, but none of the local parts places list any AMC older than 1975.  Do you have a recommendation as to which aftermarket carb would work in place of the original?

Thanks for any tips and advice.

Answer
Doug,
Your AMC has a Carter AFB carburetor. It was a very popular carburetor back in its day. Unfortunately, the bolt pattern is different than today's replacement carburetors made by Holley or Edelbrock. You could change intake manifolds to a later model that uses the Holley bolt pattern. Edelbrock makes an aluminum dual plane intake manifold for your vehicle. It must be for a 1966-1969 AMC V-8. In 1970 they changed the cylinder heads which does not allow earlier intake manifolds to bolt on. You could then use a Holley 600 cfm w/vaccuum secondaries or an Edelbrock 600 cfm carburetor.
Search the internet. You could possibly find an old Carter AFB to replace the one you currently have. The problem is it might not be in much better shape than the one you have.
If you can't find one on the net try some AMC parts vendors.
Collier AMC  919-242-4462
American Performance Products  321-632-8299
Eddie Stakes Planet Houston AMX  713-464-8825
Any of these guys might have an old carburetor or know where to get one.
Good Luck
Kevin