Switching from Holley 1920 to Carter BBS, will this carb work?

[dailydriver]

Hi, I know this question has been asked a ton of times, but there are also tons of variations on these carbs. So I'm giving up on my Holley 1920, want to put a Carter BBS on. Car is a 1963 Valiant with a 225 and has the
"twisty" style throttle arm linkage, not the cable. Also heard this called "box" linkage or "U-shaped" throttle linkage. I found a Carter BBS that looks nicely rebuilt (fingers crossed) with the same throttle linkage and it looks like it has the same two ports I have on my Holley, small one on the left for the distributor advance can, larger one on the right for the PCV.

But his Carter also has the vacuum can on the side of carb and my Holley doesn't. I have no idea what this does, I just know the earlier carbs don't have them. Does it assist the choke somehow?

My questions are: Will this carb will work on my car? I know I need to adapt the fuel line for the Carter, but other than that I'm hoping for an easy swap.

Do I need a different Carter-style choke thermostat/housing/pushrod or does the Holley one work? I've seen Carter slant six choke assemblies available on eBay but not sure if they are actually different than the Holley one.

Attached are photos of my Holley still mounted, and the Carter I found.

p.s. it looks like there is a hole drilled in the butterfly of this Carter BBS? I want to make sure this is normal.

 

[slantsixdan]

Yes, that carb will work fine. The external vacuum diaphragm is your choke pull-off. '63 and earlier Chrysler carbs (all of them, regardless of who made them) had a piston-and-cylinder type of choke pull-off; that's the round bit sticking out from your Holley carb at the 9:00 position in your first photo. For '64 the external pull-off came along; it was less prone to sticking with the gummy gasolines of that time. Fit/function interchange between the two types of carb is 100 per cent.

Your existing choke thermostat (down on the exhaust manifold) appears to be a Carter unit; in either event, it will hook up to the new carb, though it may require some adjustment. The air cleaner bail will transfer directly. The distributor vacuum and PCV hookups will be obvious. The Carter's fuel inlet is on the front rather than the side; good excuse to do the fuel line mod.

You need a new bushing for the throttle lever; whatever that stretched-and-sloppy rubber thing in your Holley's throttle lever might be, it's not the right thing, and it's worn out (as evidenced by that twist of wire trying to hold the throttle rod to the carb). The bushing is available as Gary Goers part № 415 from QQDC.

PCV hose loops around the front of the carb, not the back, so it doesn't get in the way of the throttle linkage.

Use a 5/16"-thick carb base gasket, not the thin 1/8" item.

You'll probably need to, at least, make some adjustments on that carb you bought. Like the bowl vent lift adjustment looks like it might be out of whack. Carburetor operation and repair manuals and links to training movies and carb repair/modification threads are posted here for free download.

 

[dailydriver]

Thank you slantsixdan! Very helpful response. I knew that rubber throttle rod bushing was wrong (I think it’s just a cut piece of hose) but I actually thought that twisty wire holding the was stock, like a failsafe to keep the throttle rod from popping out. Now we will see if the Carter solves my rough idle problem or not. Thanks again.

 

[slantsixdan]

Glad to help. The throttle rod really can't pop itself out of the correct bushing.

 

[dailydriver]

Looks like Gary Goers was recently acquired by another company, not able to order that bushing (part № 415) from QQDC at the moment. If you know another place to get it let me know.

I'm also looking for the short carb inlet fuel fitting for the Carter to replace my Holley one that connects to the side. I assumed this would be really easy to find but not luck so far. Do you know where I can get one? Or something workable?

 

[slantsixdan]

QQDC are the company who bought out Gary Goers. Did you call QQDC? There's no online ordering for the Gary Goers stuff.

As for the short bit of fuel line you ask about, I refer you again to the Fuel line mod.

 

[dailydriver]

I saw that. I plan to do the fuel line mod after I confirm I am definitely keeping the Carter on there, probably in the fall. Going to adjust the valves first too. Haven't had a chance to call QQDC quite yet, will after the 4th.