have'nt on here in a while, looking at winter upgrades, Carb. right now have a eldebrock, dont like it. been looking at a holley, they have a holley demon going on sale for $327. havent done enough research yet. also want to upgrade the dist. got rid of the points and went with petronix, but i think the bushing are bad in the distributor, liitle loose, thought about going with a MSD dist. have a hei new one but cant adjust timing enough because the vacuum canister hits, no mater which way i put it in and turn it... last the steering box, would like to replace it.. taking all sugestions on this matter..
have a 68, 350 engine, turbo 350 trans. all rebuilt. engine has a mild edlebrock cam and intake. headers.. thanks.. now will explore on here more..

Hi, on the dist. are you talking about play in the advance weights or the main shaft? If the main shaft you can test if it is within acceptable limits by testing with a dwell meter and seeing how much variance you have and maybe save yourself some money. That's a shame about the hei you have, I haven't done that mod in years but never had any problems using stock manifolds. If the problem is not getting enough initial advance you could always change your vacuum from ported to manifold and redo your curve. On the steering box the best and cheapest option back in the day was a 2nd gen trans am box. If I remember right I would look for the ws6 option because it had even less turns stop to stop then the standard setup. I believe it was a direct bolt in just needed to swap pitman arms. I know today there are other options from newer vehicles including jeeps and others I would only caution you to do your research (like your doing) and don't get taken in by some ebayer selling something as a direct bolt in and finding out you need new hoses or adapters or more which is not the end of the world unless your not prepared for it.

I believe the play is in the bushings, have to check it out a little more, I know when i get on it sometimes is cut out a bit, or even when i do a steady speed up i hear it cutting out a little. just got my headers replaced and new exhaust and I can hear the engine a little better now. no more leaky exhaust.. as for the steering, I see there is a lot of options out there, but dont want to get the wrong one.. have seen a lot of talk about the 2nd gen trans am box.. thanks for the info

A few years ago I replaced my original 17.5:1 ratio (~4 turns) power steering gear with a rebuilt 15.25:1 (~3 turns) steering gear from Napa Auto. Relatively inexpensive compared the other stuff out there, direct bolt in. I've been very happy with it. Not sure what's available today. Would check out their rebuilt offering if looking for something more along upgraded stock. Some of the gear boxes for sale now can be very quick. Napa also has high quality hoses.

If running a taller rear axle gear consider the addition of a power steering fluid cooler. The taller gear raises engine RPM causing the hydraulic system to bypass or "return the oil" to the tank quicker building more heat.

I found the enclosed procedure years ago on the web somewhere and it works well. Also recommend the GM power steering fluid.

I also used Napa for a re-built steering box. I believe the one I got is 2 1/2 turns lock to lock. I just told the counter guy what I was putting it into and it was a simple bolt in (after getting the pitman arm off). Just remember to install the box before putting the pitman arm back on.
As for the distributor advance can hitting the manifold, there are multiple ways it can be installed. It is just finding a position that works and installing the wires in respect to that position.

Bear, make sure you match up any carb change with the manifold of course. As for the steering GB, I replaced mine a few years ago with a tighter turn-ratio one from Classic. Bolt-in project that was easier than I suspected. Replace Rag joint and all related hardware as well of course. Very happy with its performance. See attached.

so sounds like napa is a easy way to go on the steering box, so original is 4 turns or 3, how you like the 2 1/2 turns. I like the idea of cooler on power steering box, makes sense. anything to keep the temps down.. i have used classic before, seems to be good stuff.. napa is nice since it is close and easier to deal with if something is wrong. finally figured out how to post a pic of my car on top.. thanks guys.

I like the 2 1/2. It’s not so fast that it’s twitchy or anything like that.
My car has rebuilt stock front suspension with a little heavier springs that I cut one coil off of and a 1 1/8” sway bar. Rear springs are Hotchkis 2” drop. While certainly not a track car by today’s standards, the Improvement from stock was totally worth the effort. Decent shocks and Wilwood disc brakes make confident street driving possible.

I don't know about all that steering ratio talk... i'm happy the car turn when I turn the wheel! But my winter project is to put on 10lbs of beer weight. Then my spring project is to lose it. Repeat cycle.

Your lucky, I ride snowmobiles and 10 lbs. makes a big difference in a sled drag race. Oh well no rest for the wicked I guess.

so doing a little research, on holley site. kinda looking at a holley demon, size wise 625 or 650, doublepumper? not sure which would be better , i dont think my original motor was a H.O, when i rebuilt it i did put in a edlebrock 2156 performer intake and 2157 performer plus cam, headman headers.. and 1806 650 avs carb. the demon looks pretty good for a mild build. and some good sales going on..

If you are intent on going aftermarket I did not research the numbers you gave but for your size motor and setup in my opinion You do not need a double pumper on a well set up carb or mechanical secondary's you would just drown and bog that motor when you stomped on it. so single pump and vacuum secondary's.

Agree with Barnbird. Out of the Demons series, either the Street 1900 or Road 650-VS would be the best choices.

Another option would be the Summit M2008 which is based on the Holley Marine 4010 series (sold the tooling to Summit) and has annular boosters.

dang the choices. the demon series are on sale right now, and they look like a good choice. holley got back to me and said my 1806 should be just fine, not sure i like it tho. they suggested the Holley 0-80555C, but im trusting my thoughts towards you guys more.. the demon 1900 looks pretty simple.. dang, which one....??

Beardog, You never actually stated why you don't like the carb. What a lot of non professionals do is guess what problems their having and just replace parts to see if it fixes it. The only thing it usually does is scratch their itch to buy parts when it usually wasn't even the parts fault for the perceived condition in the beginning. I am not saying your diagnosing and technical skills are not good hell they could be excellent just to be careful because we all tend to fall down that rabbit hole from time to time and it can be a time wasting and costly endeavor. Straightening out certain runability problems can be very challenging in person for even the best techs. Over the internet it becomes a guessing game unless there is a lot of back and forth and testing in between. What I usually suggest is to find a local club and network to find a fellow enthusiast whos good at diagnoses and setup and pay him in beer or whatever. The absolute best way to setup an engine to be it's best self is to find a good race and tune machine or speed shop who does dyno tunes. On the dyno you can see most everything you need to set a motor up good including timing events and air fuel ratios. I have seen huge seat of the pants gains in motors with just those 2 things. Even when buying the best matched parts for the intended target power # without the the proper tune and setup you will leave all kinds of power on the table as well as the possibility of runability problems.

Ya, well I guess the problem I have is starting when warmed up, seems like an old tractor trying to start, slow to start you can say.. when its cold it fires right up. also, when you put your foot into it, would like to hear more secondarys and that deep growl kicking in the 4bbl. the teck from holley says the carb i have and the setup should work good. maybe check to see if there is a spacer plate under carb. dont remember. have to look. was told fuel may be getting too hot and not firing up good.. been looking for a good speed shop in my area but not too much success yet.. thanks for your input..

took the bird for a spin today, had to go to work for a couple of hours.. nice day tho, anyway, after driving it i do notice when i hit 3500 rpm that is when i start getting a little missing going on.. so im thinking electrical issue, I still wish i could get a little more performance out of the carb when i kick in the 4 bbl. But, I think I need to go back and fix a little tranny issues, like up grade to a better torque converter and have pressures checked, I did rebuilt the tranny about a year ago, forgot to check pressures. and I think it use to have a more aggressive torque converter and mabe shift kit..