Thoughts on Carter Carbs

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rod7515

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Im looking at an offenhauser 2x4 intake that is a single plane with Carter AFB 500 CFM carbs. The carb numbers are H7 9500 A. The front carb has a choke and the rear one does not. My question would be how well do they work on a performance car, how tunable are they for performance and how available are parts to play with. Its been so long since i've had one of these apart (25 years or more) and when I used to rebuild them at work it was for the stock engines only. Do you know if this model number has jets that can be changed or just the metering rods. Do they have upgrades for accelerator pumps? The linkage would be a progressive style. I would guess upgraded parts would be more expensive then holleys because of the availablility?
I would be using on my 408 instead of the Edelbrock tunnel ram and holleys I currently have.
I appreciate any help and information you can throw my way.
Thanks Rod
 
Great carbs! I’ve had 2 500’s and they worked flawlessly. I’m on to a 625 Competition Series and it’s been just as good if not better. I couldn’t find a 500 when I wanted one but I’ve seen a few since I didn’t need one. How much for the lot? They’re tunable just like Edelbrocks are and you can find jets and rods. Every now and then you can snag a stripkit for 50/60$ and that a good way to go. I got a nearly NOS carter 625 with 2 70’s strip kits for 125$ yesterday so keep your eyes open, they’re out there. I don’t have any experience with tunnel rams so I can’t speak specifically on that aspect.

Jake

Im looking at an offenhauser 2x4 intake that is a single plane with Carter AFB 500 CFM carbs. The carb numbers are H7 9500 A. The front carb has a choke and the rear one does not. My question would be how well do they work on a performance car, how tunable are they for performance and how available are parts to play with. Its been so long since i've had one of these apart (25 years or more) and when I used to rebuild them at work it was for the stock engines only. Do you know if this model number has jets that can be changed or just the metering rods. Do they have upgrades for accelerator pumps? The linkage would be a progressive style. I would guess upgraded parts would be more expensive then holleys because of the availablility?
I would be using on my 408 instead of the Edelbrock tunnel ram and holleys I currently have.
I appreciate any help and information you can throw my way.
Thanks Rod
 
Jake
Thanks for the thoughts. I havent raced in over 35 years and back then I had all holley's so Im glad to hear you say they are tunable.
When you say strip kit what exactly are you referring to?
Rod
 
Jake
Thanks for the thoughts. I havent raced in over 35 years and back then I had all holley's so Im glad to hear you say they are tunable.
When you say strip kit what exactly are you referring to?
Rod

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Rod, they're not a "strip" down and rebuild kit.....they're a drag "strip" kit.

They have a bunch of different jets and metering rods to tune the engine for best performance at the track.
 
Rod, they're not a "strip" down and rebuild kit.....they're a drag "strip" kit.

They have a bunch of different jets and metering rods to tune the engine for best performance at the track.
They’re essentially the same as the Edelbrock kits that are sold but with a different name. You get a 5 pack of springs and that kit and you’re good to go.

Jake
 
I was at the track yesterday with this combination and it's worked for me over the years. Of course I've had the motor out of the car for a year and using a different kind of fuel so it's starting to run much richer and I need to do some more jetting again. All in all though it's been very tunable and with the aid of a wideband O2 sensor which I was able to get Summit to price match eBay or somewhere and get it down to about $150. I think that's really been the key to my confidence in tuning. I went outside and just took a couple pictures of mine so you can see maybe get an idea of how my Progressive linkage is setup. It is nicer I guess on the street and all and actually it hasn't worked bad on the track. I've noticed no difference really on my Time Slips when I don't have it hooked up Progressive cuz basically I'm slamming It Wide Open LOL and at that point the motor just kind of takes what it wants. Very mannerful though if it's hooked up progressively, they can just get a little touchy when it's not LOL
Okay I will list the photos hopefully in order the back one is the 625 Carter performance or whatever and the front one is an Edelbrock 1406 with the choke disconnected. Oddly enough and I know this may not make sense but I just used all the Jets and same settings and metering rods and metering Rod springs for the Edelbrock I just put them also in the Carter to make them match and it seemed to work? Now the experts jump and say I did something nuts but I don't know but it works. Kind of try to do the same exact thing on both carburetors. Anyways if you need any explanation on how I hook up the linkage either progressively or 1 to 1 (obviously that's easy) and this is way easier linkage WISE option than having two Holley carburetors sideways. I'm not sure if it looks as cool as having two Holley carburetors sideways though and when I think about it.
IMG_20180506_183934.jpg
IMG_20180506_183940.jpg
IMG_20180506_183954.jpg
 
Never liked carter/eddy carbs, always preferred Holley or Holley based carbs.

Never saw the point of 2 carbs other than a factory original or a rare crossram etc. Twice the trouble, Harder to tune (most can't tune 1 much less 2) I'd much rather run a single carb on a quality modern intake. Simple, reliable effective.
 
Never liked carter/eddy carbs, always preferred Holley or Holley based carbs.

Never saw the point of 2 carbs other than a factory original or a rare crossram etc. Twice the trouble, Harder to tune (most can't tune 1 much less 2) I'd much rather run a single carb on a quality modern intake. Simple, reliable effective.
I think at the time the point of having two carbs was because they weren't making 1000 demons like they do now. I personally do it for Nostalgia sake I wouldn't want anything else. And as far as adjusting two carburetors it's quite simple you just do exactly what you did to the other one. Then we could probably go on all day about Holley verses Edelbrock. While I agreed that if I had an all out effort I would prefer Holley. but for a hobbyist and ease of tuning I prefer Edelbrock. And again I feel with a wideband O2 sensor it's pretty hard to miss getting everything right. And I'm hoping you're taking this as a friendly Counterpoint not an argument.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for everyones reply. I am going to go look at the set up either tomorrow or Thursday. Not sure if Im interested in it or not. I already have an Edlebrock TR5 tunnel ram with 2 600 holleys. Im thinking that its going to have to have a great price to get me to buy them.
Again thanks for all the replys!
Rod
 
Ive run a pair of 600’s on a Edelbrock dual plane dual quad intake. While some make a note of difficulty in tuning twice the carb, how effective two carbs are, the manufacturer of carb, there not helping but just bitching and exposing there own short comings or fears.

The fact of the matter is the Carter, Edelbrock carbs are not as super tuneable as the Holley but this shouldn’t be a problem in getting a good tune on the engine. So parts are cheap and even more so at swap meets. Some parts are not replaceable to order. Notably the secondary velocity valve. You’ll need a parts carb for that.

Just tune it like a single 4bbl. What you do to one side, do to the other. Most of the performance will come from launch and the primary side. The Icing on the cake is getting the secondary side tuned in. And being forgiving carbs, it should do well.

The Federal Mougal carbs will use the Edelbrock parts. Edelbrock has an extra squirter pack (3 squirters) and plungers. There is no real way to increase the amount of fuel the squirter reservoir can hold but the pumps duration can change (arm position in the lever) and the squirter pack has 3 sizes to choose from. If the sizes are not good enough, they can be drill out larger.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for everyones reply. I am going to go look at the set up either tomorrow or Thursday. Not sure if Im interested in it or not. I already have an Edlebrock TR5 tunnel ram with 2 600 holleys. Im thinking that its going to have to have a great price to get me to buy them.
Again thanks for all the replys!
Rod


What top is on the TR5?
 
Yellowrose,
A few months ago I purchased the top for the GM tunnel ram. It's about 2 - 3 inches lower then the original top that was on it when it was new. I think you may have told me about this top fitting?
I have not tried it yet as the car is still no ot ready for the street yet.
Rod
 
2 carbs are Better than one. I ran two 750 carter carbs on my tunnel ram 440 in my old 73 dart. On 93 pump gas the car would run 10.60 at 125 in the 1/4 mike and was fully streetable

1D73763C-4409-4BD1-8367-67407C9A938A.jpeg
 
Yellowrose,
A few months ago I purchased the top for the GM tunnel ram. It's about 2 - 3 inches lower then the original top that was on it when it was new. I think you may have told me about this top fitting?
I have not tried it yet as the car is still no ot ready for the street yet.
Rod


That's what I thought. Cool. Hope you use it.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for everyones reply. I am going to go look at the set up either tomorrow or Thursday. Not sure if Im interested in it or not. I already have an Edlebrock TR5 tunnel ram with 2 600 holleys. Im thinking that its going to have to have a great price to get me to buy them.
Again thanks for all the replys!
Rod
Did you buy the offenhauser manifold?
 
1fast340,
No I did not. I really wanted too. But when I weighed in all the factors I decided to pass. I probably would have bought it but when I ask the guy for his address he said call when your on the way. It was in Hagerstown Md which is about 1.5 hrs from me and Im there every week for my job but it pissed me off that he couldnt give me his address so I could program it into my GPS. Probably a good thing because I already have the tunnel ram and I really dont need another intake. He also said he got the setup in another deal and never ran them so he didnt know what all would be needed. I need to get my car on the road before I start to buy more stuff! He did send me an email on Friday to let me know he sold it this week.
Rod
 
1fast340,
No I did not. I really wanted too. But when I weighed in all the factors I decided to pass. I probably would have bought it but when I ask the guy for his address he said call when your on the way. It was in Hagerstown Md which is about 1.5 hrs from me and Im there every week for my job but it pissed me off that he couldnt give me his address so I could program it into my GPS. Probably a good thing because I already have the tunnel ram and I really dont need another intake. He also said he got the setup in another deal and never ran them so he didnt know what all would be needed. I need to get my car on the road before I start to buy more stuff! He did send me an email on Friday to let me know he sold it this week.
Rod
Exactly how I would have done it, if it's out of my comfort zone I don't even play with it.
 
I heard that Edelbrock bought Carter. -- I have a Carter AFB, and a Edelbrock 1406. They look to be the same.
 
1fast340,
No I did not. I really wanted too. But when I weighed in all the factors I decided to pass. I probably would have bought it but when I ask the guy for his address he said call when your on the way. It was in Hagerstown Md which is about 1.5 hrs from me and Im there every week for my job but it pissed me off that he couldnt give me his address so I could program it into my GPS. Probably a good thing because I already have the tunnel ram and I really dont need another intake. He also said he got the setup in another deal and never ran them so he didnt know what all would be needed. I need to get my car on the road before I start to buy more stuff! He did send me an email on Friday to let me know he sold it this week.

Rod


Seems like good reasons not to buy.
Was just alitle curious about those maniofolds if it could be ported out to 340/360 port size since they are 273/318 portsize from the factory according to whatever info i can find on them and they looks awesome.
 
1Fast340,
The only reason I was interested was because of the height of the manifold. The tunnel ram is going to push quite a ways thru the hood. Although I have enough room(I think!) having them siting lower would be nice. But that will also effect my top end. That offenhauser would have given me a better low end. Not sure which one I really need. lol
Rod
 
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