I have heard from 2 people now that the carb on my '68 is a POS and I should put something else on it. I know very little about carbs. I have a stock non-HO 350 with an Edelbrock Performer intake and a Holley 650. I have been told that the Holley is "too much carb" for my 350. One of the guys who said that is a mechanic and races some pretty serious dirt track so he seems to know what he is talking about. He said that Holleys are great for WFO, but terrible for just tooling around town. What do you think? I have to admit, I have owned faster muscle cars that have gotten better gas milage (the best I can get is 10mpg with my 4 speed even babying it on the highway).

So what do you think? Should I jerk the Holley in favor of something else? What?

Steven

I use a Holley 650 on my 72 400 engine w Edelbrock performer intake, milled 5C heads and 1.65 rockers...it runs great! and its NOT a racer,its a weekend driver, but i tend to drive it on the hard side...but runs fine in slow traffic and at idle...the 650 "may" be a little too much for the 350, but Im` not so sure...I know the 350 Holley was too big for my old small car which had a 302 Ford in it...(replaced it w smaller Holley and got 19 mpg instead of 12)

maybe just lean it out some?
I get 14.5 mpg at 85-90 (2800-3000rpms) on frwy and about 9 mpg 'having fun' in town...

you`ll get lots of different answers on WHICH carb is better, most people have a preference on make, and when my old carb went bad I asked my mechanic friend (who used to race too)which is best ,his comment:" the one you or someone you know can work on"!
I asked which he preferred to work on...
"Holley"
so there was my choice made!

Then there are us Quadrajet folks

Selecting the size and type (spreadbore or squarebore) of carburetor to fit your engine size and driving environment are more important than brand.

Re-read Bjorn's post as to working on carbs.

Ask three carb guys and you would probably receive three answers: alphabetically "Carter", "Holley", "Rochester". All have their advantages, all have their disadvantages.

There is another thread on this subject called "Carburetor replacement - advice" started by Barry that you might care to read.

Jon.

Here is the link to Barry's question... Carb. replacement
Kelly

Yeah, you have the wrong TYPE of carb, and it's a bit on the big side. You really need a spreadbore type with small primaries and bigger vacuum secondaries if you want good gas mileage.

Holley makes spreadbores and squarebores.

I am by no means sold on any kind of carb, but why is it that Edelbrock gets no respect or mention?
Holly, Carter, Quadrajets, Rochester, all get lots of love (from their respective advocates) or are at least listed as major players?
What is edelbrocks story? Are they crap or are they similar to one of the fore mentioned carbs and that is why they are not mentioned?
I have an edelbrock and therefore have done some re-search on them. I think they have a very good operating principal (metering rods vs pumps, etc…) and personally have not had any issues with mine.
But as I said, I don’t know squat about carbs and therefore I have lots of uncertainty/questions when it comes to carbs.
So why the lack of respect?

I'm with you, my fellow 68 BLKBRD, I don't know much about carbs either, except I have an Edelbrock 750 on my 'bird, have had for over 3 years and haven't had to do anything to it except lean/richen to suit my taste. Smokes the tires just fine, just ask Bjorn :p
Kelly

I am basically running slicks at this point, so I know about tire smoke. Keep smokin em!!!
Still wondering about why they get no respect though?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Keep smokin em!!! </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yep, smoke 'em if ya got 'em........whoops, wrong website
Kelly

And then there are Demon carbs...

68 Blackbird and 68 blkbrd - carburetion is defined as the mixing of fuel and air. How well it is mixed depends on many issues.

Probably the low end of the scale (assuming you have a car old enough to have running boards) is to hire a 15-year old to stand on the running board and pour gas into the engine out of a boot!

The high end will have different answers, depending of who you ask, but any carb guy I know would say Carter, or Holley, or Rochester (at least for a USA V-8, might get a Weber answer for an import).

Personally, my answer would be a Carter TQ (I have 150,000 carbs and I placed a TQ on my own personal Pontiac high performance engine). I also placed one on my best friend's vehicle (and we are still friends!!!).

As in my previous post, if you stay with one of the three aforementioned brands; the size and style of the carburetor are more important than the brand (although the Holley does have a reputation for being more thirsty than the other 2). Get the brand with which you (or your mechanic) has the most experience.

Jon.

68 Blackbird. I have an Edlebrock 750 on my 400 and have no issues with it either. Look at the casting on the side and you will see the name Carter. That should answer your question. I think Edelbrock just does some minor tweaking and puts their name plate on it.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> hire a 15-year old to stand on the running board and pour gas into the engine out of a boot!
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ouch!! That hurt Oh well, that is the way my car came, and it is running good, and since I have "stuff" to do on my Vette, and a couple little projects for the 'bird, I'll live with it for now, maybe go with something better later.........guess I'll drive my Ranchero for a while..



Kel

does it matter what kind of boot?

Maybe a 10 gallon hat would work too?
Very funny way of carbureting an engine don’t you think?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Maybe a 10 gallon hat would work too? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'd want more than a 10 gallon hat......that would only get me about 140 miles

Kelly

Sixstarved - if you have to burn ethanol, don't use a rubber boot; it might disolve in your hand

Jon.

Crap, if we start talking about alcohol fuels then we are going to have to start talking about DaVinci carbs and that is too many to focus on.
I quit, Im buying a 05 mustang!

Sorry, sorry, the devil made me say that! I love the FGF, I really, really do!
Just a moment of weakness brought on by confusion! I deeply apologize.

I really need to do some work today!

Sorry - you can't buy an '05 Mustang unless you take one off the lot

(Ford cut off orders on GT's this month due to huge demand despite announcing going to overtime at the plant)

I think it's again, personal experience, personal preference, and then outside influences, and then cost and availablity.

Much like the Camaro and Mustang, most people know of them, know that lots of people like them so they must be the car to get? Same with Holley.

I like the Q-jet (always like the underdog) and like the spread bore for both performance and for economy sake.

Then Edelbrock, easy to work with, and have always had good luck with them.

And then Holley... good over all carb, but I like what the others have to offer better.

For me it all comes down to cost. I can't afford to go out and buy the Q-jet I want, so I got the only thing I could find and afford, a 3310 Holley 750 that was almost new from a friend... it works, but I had to do a lot of tuning to get it set to run. I'm trading a few things to get an Edelbrock 750 soon, and will try that for a while... (right there with you Kel!) but probably will eventually get a Q-Jet...

I'm building another motor, so I'll need another carb at some point anyway! Lol...

But Like I said, I think as far as carbs go, you'll get as many opinions as the number of people you ask.

So go with what works for your needs like Jon mentioned, which sounds like a Q-Jet, Carter or an Edelbrock and not the Holley you are now running? Do some more homework and hunt for the best deals on what your comfortable with and you'll be happy!

Good luck - Brett - 67 Drop Top 455!

You can get a quadrajet from recarbco.com and it will have been tested on a live engine before sending it off to you. They will also tune it for economy or performance if you want itset up a bit different from stock.

All good information... thank you everyone. My next question is where do I go shopping for carbs? And what are the pros/cons of rebuilt vs. new?

Steven

as listed above , Recarbco is a good place...

web page
check it out...

Kel, 10 gallons will get you 140 miles??
Lucky guy, you! I'm paying about 2.50 a gallon now for 6-8 miles per bucket! Or is it boot?

Man, the only way I could get gas mileage that poor gas would be with the pedal down all the time ... ah, never mind!

When 101 octane was cheap at $3.99 a gallon, it was costin' me a dollar per mile to drive my GTO.

PMI, no wonder you told me to stay w 88CC, etc...I get 14.5 mpg at 85 and use "plus" gas, not premium!
thanks!