Carb choice, everyone ( who has a few grey hairs on their head) has had experience with carbs. The overwhelming choice for performance is the Holley 4160 / 4150 model. Incidentally, the modern Holley squarebore 4160 that we all know today was ORIGINALLY designed for being OEM equiptment on Ford's 1957 Thunderbird, to replace the "teapot" style 4 barrel carb used by ford up to then, so historically, if nothing else, the Holley is a more acceptable choice for any Ford, Then, 12 years later, Holley designed the Dominator for Ford's Nascar and Road Race program. Revel in the fact that every Chevy today is running induction designed , and introduced, for Fords.
The Carter AFB ( aluminum four barrel ), is a good carb, and it has it's good points. The very best Carter carb for performance was the "Competion Series", I believe made in 500cfm and 750 cfm ratings. I'm talking about the real AFBs, not the Edelbrock re-pops. The Carter carb was used as OEM on many Mopars during the Musclecar era, and should be considered proper induction for those cars. The Carter carb is not made today, hasn't been in quite a while, so don't think that Edelbrock IS a Carter. The Edelbrock carb is/was manufactured by Weber. I know the Edelbrock carb, though mimicking a Carter in every way, still doesn't run as good as a for real Carter AFB. If I had my druthers, I'd stay away from AVS ( air valve secondaries) for any serious performance.
All that said, the Holley style carb design , and components, have been produced by many aftermarket carb builders. Many of the features of these new race themed carbs are an improvement FOR RACING, most street cars however, should not be lured into purchasing one of these for everyday driving. Cars driven on the street need the choke, don't need four corner idle screws, double accelerator pumps, and MOST don't even need mechanical secondaries. Proper carb selection requires giving the engine what it needs, what it wants, NOT what you want to give it .. Even if an "X" sized carb made the most HP on an engine dyno, ever see a dyno pull? The numbers are made with a constant accelerating, wide open throttle, up to maximum designed-in RPM limit. You don't drive a car on the street that way, so fuel delivery is a whole different animal at idle, cruise, part throttle tip-in, so dyno numbers don't accurately reflect the carb that will run best in the car on the street, or accelerate out of corners, etc.
It is a stone cold FACT, that the vast majority of enthusiasts cars driven on the street are overcammed, and over carbed. Are you in that category? Don't be. A standard 4160 / 4150 Holley of proper cfm ( not drag race specs ), should always be the first choice on the street ,and looks good, and, is the appropriate aftermarket design for these cars. Now, for those of you who have cammed their engines to the point of not having proper vacuum signal at the butterflies, sure, we used to drill holes in the secondary butterflies. TODAY, you can order a new Holley with an adjustable idle air leak , which is hidden down the center where the air filter stud threads are, and can be adjusted for idle quality with a thin screwdriver, making drilling butterflies, somewhat of a thing of the past. Just stay away from "Trick" carbs, .....andwhen in doubt always, buy new. A friend's used carb can be a crapshoot.