Carbs!whats the best outa the box hotrod carb?

I'm lucky, I guess - never had a bad carb. I love the new Edlebrocks but you MUST use a fuel pressure regulator. Too much pressure and you're runn'n way rich, blow'n black smoke out the pipes and wash'n down your cylinder walls. I set mine around 5 lbs. and the car ran strong, got decent mileage and started up immediately as soon as I touched the key. Been like that for 4 years for me and the guy that bought it hasn't touched in the year he owned it.

 

Holley is the best carburetor for performance while Edelbrock is the best user friendly carb. I ran a Carter AFB 750 (same as Edelbrock) on my 460 that started and idled great, but lacked the throttle response and WOT power I wanted. With the Holley street avenger, the engine seems a lot more "fire-breathing"... It's a little more finicky but the power is there. IMHO, for a stock or daily driver, Edelbrock is a go....If you want to get the power out of a modified mill, Holley is better.

One I always wanted to try was a Biggs, one of those tuned out of the box Holleys... They sound pretty good but the price hurts.

 

From my personal experience I've found the Edelbrocks to be much simpler, easier to work on and tune (i.e. changing metering rods, jets, etc)

 

I've got a mate at one of the big parts houses here that reckons just about every Barry Grant carb they get has to be cleaned out for metal filings and crap first. It's like they're put together by convicts! For that reason alone, I won't bother with them. Don't know many that do. Holley seems to be king here.

In saying that though....I hate my Holley. No end of problems, but then it was rebuilt when I got it, not new.

 

Peddro,

Does your buddy work at Victorian Performance by chance?

 

There's a reason Edelbrock sells Quadrajet styled Carbs as well as the old AFB style. The Quads work as good or better than any carb out there, when setup for the specific engine. and settingthem up is more time consuming. But if you bought a complete edelbrock RPM package then they can be preset at the factory close enough to make even the shadiest of shadetree's look good. Spread bores and over 800 CFM is the best of both world's in carb kingdom. Holley's are addored because they are simple. Very easy to change jets and tune. except they have to be tuned just about everytime you drive, and if you accidentally caause them to cough back at you then you'll be replacing the powervalve as well.

I haven't had or tried the AFB styled things but the 440 chrysler story makes me think I might. The AFB styled units seem to be somewhere in between. And they are cheaper than the Quadrajet stuff.

 

what else matters!?

 

I called Edelbrock's Tech Line and talked to a real person. Told him what I was running and then bought the carb he recommended. I'm very happy. I'd suggest that you go that route.

Everyone I know who has run the Demon has hated them.

 

I've seen Holleys work great if the floats are set perfectly and everything is tight. If not, they leak and are a pain. Quadrajets can be killer carbs if set up right. They're not pretty, however, and are fairly complex.

My Edelbrock looks good and is easy to tune. I have had issues with running overly rich, although I later found out it was due to fuel boiling and high fuel pressure (courtesy of a cheapo fuel pump).

 

Paul - I prefer Holley - there will be some tuning issues & the Holley parts will be easier to get & cheaper - especially in ol' blighty.

Having said that, the Edelbrock is a good carb, I just find their tuning to be a bit trickier (I know Holleys better, that's all) & more expensive. I had an Edelbrock on my A roadster over there & had a helluva time getting tuning bits - in the end, ordered from the states. Holley stuff, everyone has...

 

my trouble was the other way around.edelbrock looks nice but looking nice doesn't make it work right.I've had 3 edelbrocks and never had any luck out of em' I stick with the holley's now.

 

I hear ya, pal. I like those, too.

You know, I usually get a good core on the cheap and build me a carb when I need one. It's fun and a great diversion, like building a model or something... but far more functional.

~Jason

 

My experience has dictated that a Holley is better performance carb where as Edelbrock seems to be a more consistent, user friendly carb. My Holley (600 cfm, manual choke, vac secondaries) performed right on out of the box. However, with time and temperature change, it needed some tuning. All the new Holleys have power-valve protection, which will protect you once or twice, but the damn power valves still blow if the motor coughs a few times. I also bottomed out hard one time and knocked the floats out of adjustment. The Edelbrocks just have the metering rods and no other parts to really knock them out of adjustment. The problems I've seen witht he Edelbrocks are that once they start malfunctioning, the car won't run or will run so poorly the car can't be driven. With the Holley, even if it's way out of adjustment, it will still get you home even if you're way down on power. The Holleys are infinitely adjustable, and with so many aftermarket parts that you can buy for them, if you know what you're doing you can set up a carb that is super badass for your application. The Edelbrocks are much more straight-forward. That being said, I think the Edelbrocks look better, and while I run a single Holley now, this winter I'll likely be switching to 2 Edelbrock 500s.

 

I have sold and used every type of carburetor.Each and every carburetor has its application.I personally like the Edelbrock carbs on true street applications.It is recommended to use a fuel pressure regulator on them and run about 5-1/2 lbs of fuel pressure.I just came across a typical small block Chevy application with a stock $9.00 fuel pump that put out 10 lbs of pressure, so that argument is out the window.The Edelbrock is easy to tune in my opinion, but may not make the same peak HP as a Holley.

The Holley carbs are great when the correct size is utilized and the engine is a bit more radical than average.Also easy to tune, pretty much any gearhead has some Holley parts in his toolbox, as they do take some tinkering to optimize their performance.

I am with the majority on the Demon carburetor consensus.I have warrantied a ton of them, and also personally have seen the shavings in them that someone else referred to.

 

I Run 600 Holley,s On 2 Of My Cars Just Have Better Luck With Them Always Had Ploblems With Edelbrock Agian Just My Luck

 

My personal favorite is the line of Edelbrock performers, run good right out of the box and are easy to tune, parts are available every where, even at checkers/chucks/kragens. So they are exellent as a street carb. They are also a very vorgiving carb, they seem to run real good nomatter what you bolt them on, but with a little tunning you can make them really nice, for racing only applications I'd probably go with a Holly double pumper.
Just make sure you get a carb that fits what your engine needs, when it comes to carbs bigger isn't always better!!

 

go with edelbrock hands down out of the box built a lot of projects every one has ran great