Anyone ever see/have a Holley 3 barrel carb?

I'm now thinking this for my coupe. Anyone?

 

used to be in the JC Whitney catalog. Guys who still have their old race parts from the late 60s/70s have some. I'm thinking one would fit nice on the 427 going into my 61.

 

950 cfm. You need a thirsty motor to need that. Before double pumpers so you need a stiff spring on the secondaries or you'll have bog big time.

 

some early big block vettes had the 3 bbl carb, 2 primary barrels with a large oval secondary.

Tuner

 

I hear the three barrel works good with 4.88 gears, four speed, solid cam, and lotsa cubic inches...

 

Had one on a 454 LS6.............Screamed once you got past the boggggggggggggggggggg

 

what was the rest of the car like?

 

70 SS Chevelle.........................turbo 400, 4.11 gear

 

Depending on the intake, you may need to modify the plenum or divider, if that's a concern for you (vintage intake or rare).

As mentioned, the secondaries will need a fair amount of patience to properly dial in. They can be made to work pretty well & once were valued for the high cfm rating, but other, better options are available now. No particular reason not to use one if the price is right.

 

I just sold one a couple weeks ago; it was the 1050 cfm model, for maximum gas mileage. Edelbrock C3B intakes had the relief for the secondary plate in the plenum divider. The secondary was vacuum operated, and had a larger vacuum pod than the 4bbls did. I believe Holley had NASCAR in mind when they developed it. I've had three of them over the years, and none had an air horn. They had a spring loaded choke plate that was pulled down into closed position by an integral cable.

 

Had a 950 on a big valved, Z28 service package solid cam, 12.5 c.r., 336 sbc, 4 speed, 4.88 gears in my old '62 Vette back in '72. Good for 7500+ gear changes. Did major abuse to all sort of drive line parts. It sang. It loved Sunoco 105.

Charlie

 

I have one that someone removed the vacum secondary canister from and tried to make it open both togeather. I bet it didn't work very well. I would sell it to a good home, cheap. Make offer.

 

its right up your alley, man.

squirrel, i heard that too. we must talk to the same people.

 

my guess is these pics were taken "back in the day" when you couldn't get much more than 2200 rpm stall speed in an automatic...and that ain't enough to make a 3 bbl work right.

 

so thats what the C3B was for............i pulled one off of a customers car that had a regular holley 4bbl.

 

C3B stands for "C"hevy "3" "b"arrel. It was the same as a 4 barrel intake except a relief for the big, one piece secondary butterfly. Edelbrock made em simple to understand. My P4B...."P"ontiac "4" "b"arrel, etc

 

Actually, it was Ford who had Holley in mind and comissioned them to build the 3 bbl. for sale only to FoMoCo factory NASCAR racers in '67 or '68. Naturally Chrysler bitched because they wanted 'em for the Hemi, Ford said NO!, so the Boyz from Daytona banned them outright.

I remember seeing the Holley 3bbl.s deeply discouned in the go-fast catalogs in the mid '70s because nobody could completely tune out "the bog". They finally faded out of the scene and I hadn't thought of them for years until tonight..

Jan

 

HMMM, i wonder why the Chrysler guys complained. They had their "Thermoquad" haha

 

Well I'll be darned. Now I have to hunt down a 3bbl for my C3B. I really hate you guys sometimes, you know that

 

Cheap shot, Groucho, and not really applicable because the Thermoquad was released much later (first on the 1971 340 Mopar) as a OEM Quadajet spreadbore style STREET carburetor, and shortly after as an aftermarket spreadbore Q-jet replacement. In aftermarket guise this carburetor was available in a 1000 CFM model, more than the largest OEM quadajets (available on Pontiacs and Buicks) at 800 CFM, and more than aftermarket spreadbore Holleys (also intended for the street) 4165s at 850 CFM.
Because some of the early Thermoquads had problems (said to be warping problems with the thermoplastic floatbowls and although Carter quickly fixed the problem), it's reputation for reliability suffered, and the carburetor's production life was short lived making replacement parts somewhat difficult to find. Even so, it can be a strong performer.

Early in 1969 a friend of mine traded the fuel injection on his 63 split window for an aluminum high rise and 780 Holley. A little later in the summer he traded the 780 for a 950 3 barrel. He never did get it sorted out and eventually replaced it with another 4 barrel. I might add, I left my 2+2 with him about the same time he put the 3 barrel on, and because he couldn't get the Vette to run right, he started borrowing the 2+2 for "errands", resulting in the 421 taking a nearly 40 year sleep after the number 6 rod bearing spun. Although the 2+2 is long gone, I hope to get it (the 421) running soon, but that's a story for another time.

 

I have seen both the Edelbrock intakes and carbs on ebay.

Usually pricey.

 

I was just kidding. I guess it sounded funnier in my head than in actual print. HMMM, still sounds funny though

 

I've always been curious on the Holley 3 bbls.....all my late 60's-early 70's HOTROD mags are full of 'em.....never seen one at a swap or on a car.....would be cool on your coupe.....
I did have a SPREADBORE Holley double pumper on my 442.....screamin' when those BIG secondaries hit.....

 

I recently posted here that i had most of one of these minus the vacum secondary mechanicals for sale, make offer. Apparently "Make offer" means "How much do you want? to most buyers. Me too. So hows $50 picked up at my place in San Mateo sound? If it sounds to high, make offer.

 

I am currently running one on a 68 427 Camaro. It was easy to overhaul. A little trial and error with the jets and the power valve got it to work real good. It is on an open plenum manifold. It kicks in like a qjet. The 750 that it replaced didn't kick in near as good. It is very thirsty though.

 

i have one, havent tried it yet, its too big for anything i have i think!

 

I thought you asked my email address to send a picture? OK, how about $50 shipped to 91352?

 

I own a 1970 Baldwin Motion Chevelle with a Holley 1150 CFM carb.
on a GM aluminum highrise manifold.
Not verry street friendly, designed for the drags.

 

I remember that Joel Rosen of Motion Performance in NY used them on many of his " Supercars "

 

--------------------------------
Cool! Circa 1974-75, I ran a very similar combo
in a 4-speed '64 Chevelle - .030 over 327, 11.5
to 1 TRW pistons, RHS heads, Accel BEI, Scorpian
intake, and a similar 950 Holley 3-bbl and GM
"service package" cam . I ran it on the street with
9 inch M&H slicks and 5.13's <LOL>. I tore up a lot
of drive train parts, (I completely annihilated one
12-bolt rearend, on another ocassion, ripped the
rear upper control arms out of the frame and broke
3 Muncie 4-speeds - all in one 6 week period!), went
through an ungodly amount of Sunoco 260, and had
LOTS of fun! Thems was the days!!!

mart (who was 'young and foolish' then, but is
now much older )
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