i got an old predator carb in with a box of junk and was wondering about it. when did they start ? i remeber the moster trucks from the '80's having them . dont hear much about them any more. i did find the web page and can still get rebuild kits for them. anyone got any experience with them?
not much in them to rebuild.they were a swedish design i think orig name kendig .. i had a pair on a blown small block.worked good
I think they were a variable-venturi design, tailoring the fuel metering to the volume of airflow. A couple of "air doors" made it happen, and I understand repair kits for those were available. As far as I know, there wasn't any special choke/cold start equipment on these, unless available seperately. At one time I wanted to try a Predator on a Dodge 360, but got a Holley instead.
You still see a number of them around here on pulling trucks. Back in the 80's would see a few at the drag strip, but don't anymore. I don't recall ever seeing one on a street car.
Being in the performance engine and speedshop bizz I've sold a few of these. The last one I sold the dude drove it for a week and brought it back to me. He told me I could have it back for free because he couldn't afford to put gas in it. This was about 14 years ago when gas was a bit cheaper!!! He gave me a 450.00$$$ carb to throw in the **** can!!! Enough said>>>>.
Mine was the best piece of after-market speed equipment I ever owned. Throttle response was quicker than any of my Hilborns. I ran it on a 350 Chevy in the supermod in this photo. They would be best in a wide open throttle situation....probably not a great street setup IMO.
I've ran Predators before......I liked 'em. Throttle response was QUICK....pretty easy to setup. There were two different one's, one with an additional idle circuit for street use and one without. And the fuel metering is changed via a cam inside the fuel bowl. They've been around since the late 60's at least, as I've seen 'em in old CAR CRAFT and HOT ROD mags....
i had a customers car that 2 of them on a tunnel rammed 460 ford...wasn't too terrible to drive... it didn't have that double pumper hit like a holley , which probably helped , as the car was a tubbed metro... you might do a search on scott kendig ... brandon
My brother and I put one on a 302 in a '64 Ranchero.... We rebuilt it (cheap!) and just used it to made sure it ran... Never drove it. I was going to put one on my 460 in my truck but it wouldn't clear the hood! They were fun to work with.
I ran one on big cude super/gas, super/pro BBC with EPD heads & intake....they where said to meter up to 930 depending on demand. I think they were trying to challenge the holley 'dominator" carb. No choke & no idle circuit kinda made it more of a "off-road" carb. When my cubic money ran out I ran car on the street with detuned engine & hand marginal success. Replaced with std. holley carb. eventually. With all the new carbs out today, holley, demon. RFI. etc. it would not be my first pick!! Carb was very simple to goober with.... not many parts (springs, balls, etc.). Good luck. Paco
Look at the 1963 patent in this old thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248143&highlight=carburetor+patent I think that has to be in the family tree somewhere... go to google patents and search any patent numbers that are on the carb, then look at the patents referenced in the newr patent
http://www.google.com/patents?id=iQ...&as_miny_is=2008&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=2008 http://www.google.com/patents?id=iQ...&as_miny_is=2008&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=2008 http://www.google.com/patents?id=fJ...&as_miny_is=2008&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=2008
Dale Wilch had a similar carb (said to be the fore runner) that came off a Koreon War era tank. I don't remember seeing an actual Predator before the later '60s or maybe the earlier '70s but hat time period is a kind of a Blur for me if you comprehend what I'm endevoring to convey[if you dig it]. I have seen 'em on streeters but I don't remember anyone running one that worked all that well. Variable venturi seems like a good idea but I don't think they ever really worked all the bugs out of 'em. That said if you're going to toss it toss I my way I'd love to have one to play with to see if I can make one really work well. Almost anything can be refined.
You can probably track forerunners by going to the first of the 3 Kendig patents I posted (1972 vintage) and then clicking on the patents in the description that the '72 patent referred to...
I have 3 of the predators and they are ok carbs. not as hard and quick off the line as a Holley or a BG , but decent carbs all and all , especially when you consider the price difference. The only real problems I have had is with what I call the fuel metering block . It sits under and is operated by the fuel cam and these, being built of a bakelite type material will sometimes warp , causing all sorts of problems , but most common is a very rich condition. If the block were machined from br*** or something on that order the carb would be very dependable and almost trouble free . They are impressive looking and different , when you look into it and see a 3inch square hole( more or less ) to feed the fuel to the engine --it just looks like it will do the job ! The --or should say another problem with the carb is the tuning -It works opposite of what we are normally used to -the fuel adjustmet screw ( one , because it is basically a 1 barrel carb ) "out" is to lean the idle mixture and "in" richens it . Most people don't get that part and that also is part of what gives the carb a bad name . No I am not running them right now , because I have to have 2- 1150's to feed my "ugly " 460 based 605 cu in Ford .
Just a quick search at Google gave me this result. http://www.predatorcarb.com/ http://carburetorsandmore.com/predator_carb.htm
Just to bring this thread up to date a bit: https://www.sema.org/sema-enews/2011/19/creator-of-the-kendig-carbuertor-willard-kendig-p***es-away
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