If it were not for the fact that if gotten wrong it will quickly ruin the transmission, and the lack of funds to replace the transmission, plus fact that I'm clueless when it comes to getting it right...make it something that I'm not comfortable tackling. I'm all about experimenting when it's not a safety or budget-buster issue, otherwise I defer to those who are more capable than I.
Holley had the misfortune of being owned by Colt, the firearms mfgr, from 68 thru 98. Colt has a 150 yr history of being one of the most mismanaged ***********s of all US businesses. Were it not for $billions being pumped thru Colt in fat government contracts, they'd have been bankrupt and gone 50 years ago. As someone else mentioned, the aftermarket was a relatively small segment of Holley's business which had been built on supplying carbs to OEM's in automotive and all other types of equipment using gas engines. But, in 94 Colt sold all of the OEM business of Holley to Borg Warner in order to scoop up some more cash to keep Colt's blubbering idiot executives afloat for a while longer. In 98, the rest of Holley was sold off by Colt. At that point they owned no manufacturing rights or technology related to the OEM markets, and the capital requirements necessary to try to get back into that market and compete against the well established players would've likely put them under for good. Considering the fact that they were owned by a grossly mismanaged company for 30 yrs, and had a good portion of their basic business sold off during that time, they've actually done pretty well just to survive. The current street prices of Holley carbs is likely an accurate reflection of their manufacturing cost plus a reasonable profit, unlike the Colt days where they'd retail an 1850 for 50 bucks with no reason other than to generate more cash for the numbskulls at the head of the company.
do what I do comb the swaps or the craigslist or evil bay and you find some deals , you might have to rebuild them but they are half the price of new . as for looks a old carb is like Patina , as for the new polished ones I laugh as guys put them on BUT ***** about billet stuff ... and the old fuel stained grey ones say I am driven and not a garage or trailer queen ..
all the specifications are on line on the angles and distances needed one even made a print out diagram for laying it out , I know the tv bracket specs for the 700 is on line as I recently saw it googling for something else ..
Remember when ATMs first appeared? $20 withdrawals, $40 if it was a big night. Now I'm hittin' the $400 quick draw ****on with regularity.
I agree with Frenchtown Flyer, Autolite 2100's are good and pretty inexpensive. I bought a very nice rebuilt one with the jets I wanted for about a hundred.
Get yourself a Speedway catalog from the '70's. They have brand new AFB's to fit Pontiac GTO for 5 bucks on closeout. Better have them check stock before you order though......
I bought gas for 25 cents a gallon in high school, paid 10cents for a coffee, quit smoking when cigs went to 50 cents in the machine at work. The increase in carb prices seems pretty much in line with everything else. Used carbs are easy to get and a rebuild kit is about $30.
I'm just going to stick with carbs I can get off the shelf linkages for. Right now that's either the Holley 390 cfm, or a small base Rochester 2G as the fall-back. I have quite a while before I have to jump one way or the other. Hopefully I will run across an affordable 390 by then.
wraymen , most of colts firearms the designs were not there but bought from others , the 1911 was Brownings design and the M-16 was Eugene Stoners from Armalite . the old revolvers most of them were there own but copys with modifictions to prevent patent infringements ( like the odd cylinder release they use on the revolvers)
you do know Holley sells the brackets for the transmissions for use with there carbs they bolt right on which is real nice .
That's why I prefer a Holley 390...It's what Edelbrock recommends for their manifold. The drawback is they are oversized for the engine....and the price
The carbs we know were production engineered on the ***umption of somewhat greater production volumes than can be maintained today. The point where new small-scale manufacturing techniques might make for a cheaper carb has probably already been p***ed, especially in light of new techniques becoming cheaper. I'd really love to see an (albeit small) international community of carb gurus exchanging code for 3D-printing investment-casting patterns on the 'net. Even conventional techniques are becoming more accessible. There is a fellow somewhere in the Antipodes making 2¼" and 2½" SUs what never were, with dual float bowls if you want.
Stimpy Yes Browning was a very bright man but Colt did produce them. The Single action Army was truely a remarkable gun both back in the day and now. The price you pay for an original gun can come close to what some peole have paid for their hot rod. The Gun I was thinking about was the Python, smoothest action of any revolver I have ever owned. Diamond back, Annoconda, 1911, Cobra, Dectective etc. all very nice weapons. Except for a few rare exceptions copies do not hold their value and most old Colts have exceeded collectors expectations. So production must have something to do with it. A name can only go so far.
The Jalopy Journal
