Captainkirk
Old School Mopar Warrior
Which is your favorite carb (or carbs) of choice? Vote in the poll and give some details on your reasoning in the thread!
POLL: Which is your favorite carb(s) of choice?
- Thread starter Captainkirk
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EL5DEMON340
Well-Known Member
Holley, they make the most power.
An SU one barrel.
d55dave
Well-Known Member
Holley, by far.
They are simple to tune and adjust, parts and information on modifying them are everywhere.
I don't buy the line that they need constant tweaking - all the ones that I have had, once set up stay exactly the same.
They are simple to tune and adjust, parts and information on modifying them are everywhere.
I don't buy the line that they need constant tweaking - all the ones that I have had, once set up stay exactly the same.
Purple Haze
Well-Known Member
Holley, work good ROTB, make big power, is more tunable.
RockinRobin
Well-Known Member
Holley!
Got 2 Demons, one on my 400 in my dart and and one on my 360 in my cuda. Both bolted right on and gave me great throttle response right thru redline.
JoesEdge
Well-Known Member
Demons are nice looking carbs......umm...and cars too, I guess. lol
I've been an AFB fan since when I had my '65 Mustang. I drove that car all around California with a 625 Carter and it did great on gas mileage. Of course, It was a 302 with a Erson TQ30H cam and I also put a T5 5-speed in that car with a 3.70 year in the 9". The Carter was trouble free and I never had to mess with it. It gave me good throttle response and it was a torquey little 302 to boot.
I think the Carter and Edelbrock options could have been combined though since I believe the Edelbrocks are basically Carters.
ArizonaKid
Well-Known Member
I like thermoquads, they are difficult to learn, but are an excellent unit to use.
Hemioutlaw
Make America Great Again!
Nuf Ced!
itate
Where is that wrench I just had in my hand?
What ArizonaKid said sums it up perfectly.
For a street cruiser Carter/Edelbrock, Racing, Holley Dominator.
Two7T3Dart
....
They aren't the same. Internal passages etc. have been changed from the original Carter design. They are the same as much as Demon/BG's are the same as Holleys.
I'm a Carter fan (surprise, huh?), but I have to admit, Holley got it right with the 3310 750/780
Captainkirk
Old School Mopar Warrior
Having owned both (Carter AFB/AVS) and Edelbrock version, I can tell you they only look the same from about three feet away.
That's why I listed them seperately.
Actually, I own Holley, Carter AVS, ThermoQuad, Eddy Performer and have owned a multitude of Holleys and AFBs in the past.
Your question was totally open ended. Favorite carb of choice for doing what? Cutting grass? Blowin off the sidewalk? Total race car? Street car? Combination of both? 100% street? Mileage?
Some kinda square bore Holley will probably be best for all out performance. By contrast, some kinda spread bore with vacuum actuated secondaries will probably best for 100% street and some semblance of mileage. Between those two extremes, you have a multitude of different configurations to choose from. From there it boils down to a matter of personal taste and ability to tune.
Some say Holleys are easy to tune. Some say they are not. I agree that they are. It all depends on what you are familiar with and what you know.
Asking someone else's opinion about your project is like going to a whorehouse blindfolded. You might regret it.
Some kinda square bore Holley will probably be best for all out performance. By contrast, some kinda spread bore with vacuum actuated secondaries will probably best for 100% street and some semblance of mileage. Between those two extremes, you have a multitude of different configurations to choose from. From there it boils down to a matter of personal taste and ability to tune.
Some say Holleys are easy to tune. Some say they are not. I agree that they are. It all depends on what you are familiar with and what you know.
Asking someone else's opinion about your project is like going to a whorehouse blindfolded. You might regret it.
Captainkirk
Old School Mopar Warrior
Favorite carb of choice for whatever the respondents happen to be using it for.
Right. Just trying to get a fix on what everyone likes to fiddle with.
I agree as well. I know Holleys and find them the easiest to work with...because I know them. Carters seem overly complicated....but maybe that's because I don't know them well enough.
Believe it or not, I'm not asking for opinions for my project (this time). Just trying to see what the majority prefers, and why.
There's a lot we can learn from others' opinions.
Map63Vette
Well-Known Member
The Carter that came on the 318 when I bought was my car was the best running carb I've ever seen. Would start right up in the cold and you could pull away almost right away without having to wait for it to warm up or anything. I thought it was pretty easy to tune as well. Can swap springs and rods without having to remove the carb or drain any fuel. Could change jets without dumping any fuel either.
Rebuilt a Holley because I was going to give it a try to fix what was most likely really an intake issue in the long run. I guess once you have it all together most of the tuning is external, but the power valve would be annoying to me to have to drain and knock off bowls every time until you got it right. Only other carbs I've ever really taken apart were a Thermoquad and Quadrajet.
Rebuilt a Holley because I was going to give it a try to fix what was most likely really an intake issue in the long run. I guess once you have it all together most of the tuning is external, but the power valve would be annoying to me to have to drain and knock off bowls every time until you got it right. Only other carbs I've ever really taken apart were a Thermoquad and Quadrajet.
Captainkirk
Old School Mopar Warrior
Good point! Jetting Holleys is easy, but dumping all that fuel is a PITA, especially on a hot manifold. I used to keep several sets of bowl and metering block gaskets on hand when tuning because with the old cork ones, you never knew when they would let go....
Exactly. With the Carters you can lift the top off without draining any fuel.
I like an Eddy for the street and a Holley for the track.
The Eddy to me has always been a set it and forget it carb. I don't like spending all my time working on a driver, just want to drive it and enjoy it.
A Holley on a race car gives better throttle response and can be adjusted for your needs.
The Eddy to me has always been a set it and forget it carb. I don't like spending all my time working on a driver, just want to drive it and enjoy it.
A Holley on a race car gives better throttle response and can be adjusted for your needs.
Gotchya. In that case, I am going to honestly answer. ....and this veers FAR off the beaten path.
My favorite carburetor to tune, build and run is the Predator. They are very versatile and can give from 390 all the way to 950 CFM with the same carburetor with zero mods to achieve it. Just slap it on and the engine uses what it demands. Too bad the company stopped making them. Their only drawback was hood clearance. They have a minimum of moving parts and gaskets and the models with the idle circuit actually run good on the street.
Absolutely not!
The changes to the Edelbrock carbs are small and the contrast to the verity of Holley carbs and Holley based carbs numbers 10 fold over the basic OEM design of the Carter/Edelbrock.
If you want to truly compare a Edelbrock vs. a Holley, the Carter/Edelbrock is a limited choice with only 1 racing AFB/AVS style design of the 3 bbl. design and 1 TQ. The 3bbl. Is based and not majorly changed from the OEM design save the mod of the rear barrels into a singular oval passage.
The TQ was designed from the onset as a race carb modified to a production carb.
There has been no development of the OEM design AFB, AVS carb since the only trick built, purpose built 3bbl. for NASCAR. (FYI Holley had a 3bbl. as well)
Holley on the other hand has stock production carbs like the 4150 & 4160 carbs which best directly compare with the Carters. And the Street Avengers compare directly best with the Edelbrock carbs made today. All other Holley 4 bbl. carbs and the after market Holley's that have removed themselves from the basic design of the OEM ste are more focused on racing & high performance. These style carbs are better for an intended purpose. Racing. These carbs do not (in my opinion) directly compare to the OEM carb, Holley, Carter or Rochester.
While a OEM type carb can perform well on a race track, there performance is a limiting factor. Since I myself do not race a track and spend more time in the street, this style of carb is used and is seen more common then other style of carbs from Holley or the aftermarket copy cats and modified Holley style carbs.
This ^^^^^^^^^^
Why? I'm in the street mostly. A flexible carb in many ways that performs! While the Holley is much more tuneable, the TQ as well as the AVS/AFB do REALLY good jobs. Often a TQ, AVS or an AFB can be found & rebuilt very inexpensive. From a cost stand point, it's hard to turn down a big TQ.
Bulldozer
free ice cream sandwiches
For ease of tuning and solid reliability I have always ran the avs, afb's and the performers. I've been around the block with my holleys , but I find them temperamental and somewhat annoying to work on, although they have serious balls when dialed in with your specific combo. I've had a few thermoquads that were decent even though the last one I had caught fire.
d55dave
Well-Known Member
Easiest way to drain a holley.....have a shallow container such as a litre oil container with one side cut out, put it under the end of the float bowl and pull out only one of the lower screws. The fuel will drain from the screw hole into the container. No problem.
I really did love my DP Holley!!!
Right carb for the right application! Works every time!
Right carb for the right application! Works every time!
Captainkirk
Old School Mopar Warrior
Yep, 650 DP on my 340 ran like a scalded dog.....
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