Carbs!whats the best outa the box hotrod carb?

Ok all now i have been wonderin this for a while and am a little confused.Some rate Edelbrock some holly and some Demon so come on whats the best out of the Box hotrod carb 4bbl money can buy power wise ?and why and what looks the best.................Marq

 

you already know the answer....it all depends.

otherwise there would only be one brand for sale.

 

For my money it's the Edelbrock. Just a personal preference.

 

i had nothing but trouble with the road demon i had . i switched to a edelbrock performer and every things cool so far.

 

listen to Squirrel.

Its a tough call. I like my Race Demon carb. I also liked my double pumper Holley. My Edelbrock never let me down either...

Its all in who you ask.

My honest answer... any of the above. Matched to your engine correctly, I don't think one would out perform the other. (between Holley and Barry Grant)

The problem is they are so mass produced now, the the big gamble is getting one that isn't junk right off the shelf.

 

Marq,
The Squirrel is right on this one.
I lean towards Holley carbs, but its just a personal preferance.

 

It is all so confusing but i want to get as much power as i can out of my slightly warmed hemi.................Marq

 

what can you get jets / metering valves for easily? cause it will need SOME adjusting to "get as much power as i can out of my slightly warmed hemi". It's all in the tune, timing, lean/fat, matched exhaust.
600 vacuum secondary Holley is easy to work on, or one of those high zoot jobs you can change the jets on w/o taking the bowls off.

 

a carb just mixes air and fuel and delivers it to the intake manifold for distribution. There isn't any one brand that will "give you the most horsepower", it's all about taking any carb and tuning it to the combination you've got. There is no future in putting a Rochester 2 bbl on a 426 Hemi to get gas milage and there is no future in putting an 850 double pumper on a Briggs and Stratton to make horsepower.
Pick a carb that has sufficient CFM to feed your engine at the RPM you need to run and tune it to work with your combination. It isn't rocket science, just a dose of common sense and some tuning will get you what you want.

Frank

 

Damn, I hate to say this...

Squirrel is right.

But the Edelbrock and AFB types are the most forgiving. Holley types just work. NOTHING makes power like a big honkin' Q-jet, short of a Dominator. Figure out what you need and your options will narrow.

 

My Street Demon is an abosolute POS. The only times it performs
decent is at idle and WOT. Beware, bro. Never again!

 

Best carb ever built is the Holley3310 even now. However the new 800 edelbrock for out of the box performance is right on the money. I did a 440 for a fellow for his restored 64 Dodge. He wanted to spare no expense but I picked all motor stuff (or I dont do the motor) I speced out a Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and a Edelbrock 800 CFM AFB . Once we got it running and the cam broke in he said he would bring it by for my final set up. I expected metering rod and jetting changes at least . We went for a ride and I told him to Wack it. Much to my surprise it was Perfect. No bog no hesitation just a instant leap frward as the tires fought for traction . For the first time in my career I looked at him and said "I think we will leave that just the way it is". It starts perfect it runs perfect and it is strong so i am giving my vote to Vic Edelbrock and his daughters for the best out of the box carb. That 800 was the best I have ever seen (I may get one myself!)
Don

 

I like Holleys for ease of jet and power valve changes. Adjust float level with out taking it apart.

 

Personal preference is a holley with an edelbrock manifold. Not a real fan of their carbs, sensitive to fuel pressure and volume.

Spoons

 

had a holly had the problems.....bought an edlbrock problem solved.. real easy to tune

 

The one that you understand the best.

 

For my money its Edelbrock. Put one on my T bucket with a 302 and fired it up, adjusted the idle and thats the last time Ive touched it. Ran a 104 at 12.9 in the 1/4 with a big ol air cleaner on it.

 

Put a Hilborn on it!

 

that spells it out as good as Ive ever seen! I like carter AFB carbs because I grew up with them but any good carb can do the job. Just make it the right size for the motor and dial it in. Well said frank!

 

Carbs are all personal preference. Some work well for people, and are headaches for others. I prefer Holley, but have encountered issues with them. I don't like Carter or Edelbrocks, but have seen them work great. My roomate loves them. My brother raves about Demons, but I've seen them start coughing and choking. The main problem is that most cheap asses try to get a POS carb tuned like a new one, or they don't have it jetted correctly, so they rant and yap about how bad that carb sucks. I've never had a problem with any carb out of the box, only used carbs.

 

what about the quadrajet? I dont claim to know much about these things but from what i heard is this is better than most aftermarket carbs such as edelbrock holley etc. but because of the complexity make it hard to work on.
Anyone care to comment?

 

Before there was a quadrajet GM used the rochester 4jet. I like those carbs when I can find them. A little tricky to set up for hot motors but they are cheap and run well. Look different too but you need an old factory manifold to mount them on.

 

i vote edelbrock. right out of the box they work great.

 

How about you give us a complete rundown on the car here, so we can help you decide? which hemi is it, what has been done to it, what intake does it have, cam, what transmission and rearend gearing, what does the car look like (pictures!), etc.

There are just too many variables to help you out of your confusion without knowing all the details.

also, do you have experience with any particular carbs?

 

quadrajet or carter afb non polished,the polished styles have a tendency to boil over and flood out in the hot summer months,but for reliable set it and forget it carbs there your choice.my.02

 

Right up front, one of the best things you can do regardless of which carb you spring for is to buy a brand new one.

Kinda hurts $$-wise, but it sure beats screwing around with a worn carb or one that's been "super-tuned" by the local hero.

What he needs - provided he really knows what he's doing - can be way different from what you need.

Both Holley and Carter/Edelbrocks come jetted/metered about 5% rich from what's desired for the engine size/type they're going on.
Pretty easy to go from there.


One small one you can stick in your mind, several years back, Holley used to run a small tent where they serviced carbs for racers at meets like the WinterNats and they found that most problems were cured by returning the carb to the base setup . . . which is the way they were when you bought one.

 

Thats a good point. when you think about it, the carb is the single most expensive part of your engine. You should drop the money to buy a good new one. Holley, edelbrock, demon whatever just buy it new. Used carbs are like used underwear, not a good idea!

 

I put a 600 Edelbrock on my slightly warmed over over SBC and I've had no problems. It's easy to adjust and only cost $200 down at my local Advanced Auto Parts.

 

I have had good luck with both Edlebrock(intake) and Holley(carb) setups, although, it seems as though, the Holley doesn't like to sit...like storage,(floats always get stuck) but for the most part worked great. Now, on this next project of mine I am running Empi's(Webbers). Some of our Calaveras club members work for 'Pierce Manifolds' in Gilroy,Ca, and put together this setup for my sbc. It's right out of the box and they work nicely on alot of our guy's cars. If you would like a setup like this..These are the guys to do it!! Give Stephen Wilson or Ralph Gonzales a call @ 408-842-6667. or you can visit their website @ www.hotrodwebers.com

 

Any brand of carburetor can be made to work OK. The main thing is getting the appropriate carburetor for the application. Regardless of what brand you decide to go with you need to talk to the manufacture to determine what is going to work best on your specific engine, in your car, how you drive. Take an engine out of a tow truck with a 2-spd, and put it in an 1800 lb T-bucket with a 5-spd and you’ll want a different carburetor for optimal performance. Another thing to keep in mind is that each brand, and style of carburetor is going to perform differently. This means that just because X size works best in one brand doesn’t necessarily mean that you need the same size in a different brand.