The motor thats in my 54 has a Holley 650 carb on her. I have never used Holley before and have heard they are great if you tune them correctly- and also that they arent the best. Is it a keeper or should I look towards getting something else?
Probably depends on a lot of stuff that you haven't told us about....picking the right carb requires knowing all about the engine/drivetrain/vehicle use, and also what particular carb you have. I've had the same two Holley 650 double pumpers on my blown 454 for a couple decades, they work fine. They do require maintenance every 5 years. I could probably get a bit better mileage with something else. But you can do a lot of things with holleys that you can't with other carbs....
I have had many Holleys in my days . they are good carbs once you get the bugs out and enjoy messing with them all the time . I would rather use anything else before a Holley . What size engine do you have and has the engine been up graded at all ? RetroJim
So far the previous owner threw on a new breather- the holley, edelbrock performer intake, and come flame covers. I plan to do a complete rebuild and maybe bore it out. Starting on frame for now, but plan to atleast get it up a bit. I am still learning when it comes to engines with muscle. I am used to honda engines... daily driver and such. I dont know anything other than its a 650 holley from the previous owner. What do I need to look for on it and I can check it out tonight or in the morning while I am out there?
There should be a LIST number on it, usually on the top on the front of the choke housing, that number will tell what it is if you look it up (or post it). A mild 350ish engine in a normal mild street car works fine with a 600-650 cfm vacuum secondary carb. Holley or Edelbrck would be fine, they are the most common.
First of all, look for the list number (basically an ID number). If you remove the air cleaner, look at the front face of the air horn (where the choke is) for the number, then look it up just to verify it is what he says it is. Here's a good source of info; http://www.tgsperformance.com/holley.htm then let us know what you find and we can help a little further. As far as which carb is best, I've used Holleys, Rochesters, Autolites, Webers and Edelbrocks and don't have a problem with any of them. Then some people will swear by one over the others. My suggestion is this, if it's a reasonable size and type for your engine, rebuild it when you do the engine and see how you like it, then decide.
Right, Carter/Weber/Edelbrock "AFB". Easy carb to work on, some minor differences between the different "manufacturers", and generally speaking, they don't like a lot of fuel pump pressure, so limit it to LESS than 6 lbs. You should be happy with it. Be thankful it's NOT a Holley, unless it's a NEW Holley, purchased by you. You'll see a lot more of the AFB type carbs these days than the Holleys; but some people are starting to go with the Demon carbs. Butch/56sedandelivery.
It says Holley 65-1406 Remanufactured on a barcoded sticker that I cant get my camera to focus on. It does say 1406 on the front near the choke though. I just ran out and grabbed a few pics... sorry they arent that great- lights in my shop need replacing.
Why the big rush to rebuild? Does it need rebuilding or is it just something you think you need to do? Run it and see what you think. A little swapping of metering rod springs may be warranted if you're running a cam. Depending on al***ude where you live, some re-jetting could be required, but even if it did it'll run just fine until you find the tune-up you want. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reason I ask about rebuilding, seems to be a lot of guys lately who've been rebuilding carbs that probably didn't need it and painting themselves into a corner.
I am tearing down the complete motor as it looks like it was put together last minute. I keep finding things that need to be done "right" as I am tearing her down. I am mainly rebuilding the engine but if the carb needs it then I will as I build the whole thing up. I live in southeast texas so I am not high al***ude whatsoever. I am mainly trying to find out if it is a decent carb as there are a few things that were stretched past truth. I am still happy with the car though.
I've always had a rule that said "if it isn't broke, don't fix it just to be fixing it". You might be on the right path though if the previous owner thought that that carb was a Holley there may be a lot of other things he didn't know or do right. On the carb Here is a link to the online manual. http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/misc/tech_center/install/1000/1406_manual.pdf It has a pretty good intro into how the systems of a carb work along with info on the carb. I've got friends who love them but I can make Holleys work where I have a hell of a time with these or Qjets.
Well I googled the edelbrock 1406 and it looks the same- but its got that holley reman sticker and I looked it up and Jegs and a few other placed have them. So how well do you think it will hold up? Thanks for the link!
holley will rebuild any carb, all makes, looks like you have an edelbrock that was rebuilt by holley, you have an edelbrock 1406 carb, heres the link to there rebuild shop, http://www.holley.com/CustomSpeedShop/Rebuild.asp
haha! someone finally stumped the squirrel! seriously though i do remember them advertizing in summit at the tail end of the 90's. i just didnt think they did it anymore.
I hadn't seen it, but it doesn't surprise me. I know that Holley has been in the carb rebuilding business for a long time, but I thought they only did OEM (and Holley) carbs. Now I know better.
What I've been told at work is that Holley is the only company that is still in the carb rebuilding business. If you buy a rebuilt carb from an auto parts store it will probably have a Holley sticker on it unless its been on the shelf somewhere for a while.
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