edlebrock vs. holley

I Like Edelbrock's And Carter's. Ive Never Had A Good Holley, Everyone Of Them Has Been Junk. And I Had A Friend Run A Quadrajet In A 429 In A Wrecker And It Ran 10 Times Better Than The 4300 Autolite, So I Do Have A Lil Respect For The 'quadrajunk'

 

Or you can buy it in the news paper really cheap ( 65 bucks for a 650 Holley here in bradenton, but sold it before I could buy it ).

Probobly not a double pumper, and if it was, it was probobly no good
All this talk about carbs reminds me how I was able to afford mine some 14 years ago. I sold my running, taged, daily driver, four door, 76 Impala tank with a nice 350 that you just couldn't kill. I sure miss that car . I was young and like today I just wanted to get the comet back on the road. Now I have a holley double pumper (forgot which 600 or 650) that has been sitting for about ten years, except for when I would just go around the block.
When the car was running with the holley, it was great as far as performance. Flooding after shutting it off was a problem I was having for a spell. So my opinion is this... don,t sell a car to get a part and go with the carb SIZE that you need. Beside, if you go with fuel injection, you can eat all the carbs you want.

 

My first two Holleys sucked, but this new one rocks...

 

I did for a few years in the 70s on a 289. It was the large cfm one, too (800 something?). Got it off a big block Buick. Changed the jets and rods, stiffer spring on the secondary air valve, and it was a great carb.

Most people that have problems with a carb, any brand carb, just do not have a thorough understanding of how to tune them. Sure, it's nice to be able to take one out of a box, slap it on and run it with no problems, but that would only work if everyone had the same engine combination and lived at the same altitude and climate. They have to be tweaked for your engine at your location. Unlike computerized fuel injection, carbs are not self adjusting. Maybe some think their (Holley, Edelbrock, Carter, Q-jet, Demon, etc.) runs good out of the box with no tuning but maybe it would run even better if they understood how it works and how to tune it. For those that don't want to take the time to understand, you never will have an optimized carb. That's just the way it is when you add a mechanical fuel metering device (carb) to another, variable, mechanical device (the engine). In the past 30+ years I've used Holleys, Q-jets, Autolites, Carters. Can't say that I had any problems with any of them once they were set up correctly. But yes, I did have to take some time to learn about them. For me that's part of what this hobby is about.

When Vic Edelbrock was asked why his vintage race car runs a Holley carb instead of one of his own brand, he replyed simply "The Holley makes more power".

 

No offense here - I was getting concerned that I was stepping on toes with my "anti-Holley" ways.

As a side note; know anyone with an Offy intake, spread-bore flange, for the 351C 2V - particularly the dual port that they want out of their garage? I looked at Offy's website and I didn't see one for the 2V Cleveland - only the 4V.

 

I put a Demon 650 on mine back in 02 when I restored it. Other than the idle circuit being too lean (air bleeds fixed that), Its been flawless for the last 4 years. Runs like a bat outa hell!!!

 

Spot on

I was scared to death of carbs. Why would an ASE master tech be afraid. I had no knowledge on them Give me a fuel imnjection system and I can fix/customize anything I need to. Anyway one day I dug in and started studing carbs and how they work. Easy peasey japanesey

 

overall, i would have to agree with the learn your carb and adjust it school of thought. i have an edelbrock on their that i dialed in, but i was running a holley vac secondaries for quite a while and had done the work of dialing it in and it ran good also. only problem i had with it was some of the gaskets, but i probably could have bought a little more pricey of kit and not had a problem. heck most of the leaking i did have was becuase of a certain states lame requirement to run MTBE in gas that eats hoses and gaskets in the fuel system. but thats politics so i wont go into that. i also ran a spreadbore on a 460 and that was a great carb as well, like said especially on hills offroad.

 

Just as a friendly reminder, You can a Holley and Quadrajet performance and economy. Holley does make a Spreadbore carb. You would probably need to put a spreadbore spacer plate on you intake.

In my opinion, the most economical carb for the street is spreadbore design.

Has anybody had any experience with the Holley Street Avenger? Like the Edelbrock, it is supposed to go from the box to the engine to the street with no adjustments to be made.

 

I guess it just depends on what you want to do & how fast you want to go. Hands down on a engine that is "not stock" the holley will stomp a mud hole in a Carter or Edelbrock, here's a question why do all the 12,11,10,9,8,7,6 second 1/4 mile cars run Holley's or a version of??

 

Because most never have to sit in rush hour traffic?


Just kidding. God I'm asking for it.

 

I would like to point out one little technicality on your supposition. In the '60s and '70s when Holley began its rise as the carb of choice, it was because of how easy it was to make changes. You have several sets of meteting plates ready to go, you could change nearly everyhting with the carb still on the car, and you could do these changes every economically.

The Carter and Rochester carbs required a heck of a lot more work to accomplish the desired performance levels in just about all conditions. I used to carry a tackle box of plates, jets, etc., in the trunk of '67 Fairlane, in the late '70s, to make changes to the Holley for performance changes.

This ease of use with the Holley (and similar carbs) is still the reason they are on drag cars. But, I am starting to see more Edelbrocks at the track, too.

 

I bolted my new Street Avenger on, set the float level, installed the secondary spring I wanted (3 are provided with it; light, medium, & heavy), set the idle speed, and it was a done deal. Runs great. Idles smooth. Has a smooth transition from idle to the main circuit. My other two older Holleys always had a dead spot. Mine's a 570. If you have aftermarket heads or a big cam go with a 670.

I don't bad-mouth any brand of carb, because I have seen Holleys, Edelbrocks, and Q-jets run great, and I've seen them all run like crap too. it's a matter of getting a good one in the first place, and of the appropriate size, proper tuning, and a little bit of luck...

 

I have had one of those as well.
I can honestly say that it was the worst Holley I ever had.
BUT, I didn't have the understanding of how they were tuned at that time, so my experience may amount to mudslinging out of ignorance. The same thing I hate about Holley bashers.
The idea behind the carb is actually VERY cool for Chevy guys because the carb is a Holley, however it is set up as a DIRECT replacement for a Quadrabog.
The fuel inlet, linkage, vacuum ports and such are all exact fit to an engine that was originally Quadrajunk equipped.
I had the 650 DP version, however they make them in many sizes and in vac secondary as well.
When that thing ran well, it ran great.
Maybe with fuel prices like they are, I should be looking at an Offy POS (Port-O-Sonic) with spreadbore flange and a 650 vacuum Holley QJ replacement.

If I could keep my foot out of it, I should get great mileage and performance when I want it.

Dave

 

I actually did too - I never got mine to even start the car. At all. In Holley's defense, it wasn't the brand (or even my limited tuning skills), but that particular carb. Bought it from a salvage yard, and it looked new. Apparently someone else found out that it had terminal problems and it ended up for sale there in the lobby. I'd still rather have the Quadrajunk. I just like the way they run. I'll admit my Holley misfortunes mostly all happened in the 80s when I was a teenager, and I might have more luck with them now. But once bitten twice shy I guess. I wouldn't mind trying out one of the Demon or Avenger carbs though.