First79vette

This has more than likley been :beatdeadhorse: to death but cant seem to find anything in archives about it... Ready to order a performer intake and next will be a carb..should I try a edelbrock or 650 Holley with vac secondarys :confused: What is the flow on the Edelbrock? I dont really like the plastic parts on the Holleys.. You guys have been a huge help on my rebuild and now I'm :banghead: on this one.

78 Vette

Holly :beatdeadhorse: :lolg:

page62

:beatdeadhorse: Edelbrock

Should have made this one a poll!!!

neverendingproject

i personally like edelbrock carbs. i have had my share of holleys. actually still have a 650 & 750 holley sitting on a shelf. but i just bought an edelbrock eps 800. holleys are just too tempermental for me. also , i think its much easier to tune an edelbrock. can change jets , rods , whatever and will not need a single gasket or spill a drop of fuel. took me 30 seconds to change the metering plunger springs( function like a holley power valve).


[Modified by neverendingproject, 8:12 PM 3/28/2004]

phxraptor

Demon 650 :beatdeadhorse:

cardo0

Inexpensive, simple, reliable, and fewer headaches: Edel Performer or even new AVS.

More applications, more power potential, well supported and most problems understood, simple too but can be messy to work on: Holley

Most sophisticated (complicated), most expensive, very responsive, great drivabilty, wide range of applications, requires most knowlege to master: Q-jet

Its really your choice here Bubba. :yesnod:

lars

Let me beat that dog a few times, too....

You have a lot of choices, much of it being personal preference and an evaluation of how you're going to be using the car.

First, there's really no such thing as an "Edelbrock" carb. Edelbrock is re-manufacturing a couple of carb designs:

The carb commonly known as the "Edelbrock Performer" is a re-pop of the old Carter AFB 600 cfm carb. This carb was used by GM as their "standard-duty" 4-barrel carb from about 1963 - 1966. It was used on Vettes, GTOs, Impalas, Catalinas, and other cars with moderate performance. There were some dual AFB engines produced - this because the AFB flows so poorly. Never considered to be a performance carb, it was abandoned by GM and replaced with the Q-Jet in 1967. GM quit using it for good reason... It's a great carb for a small block truck or Jeep, but a lot of guys run them on their Vettes....

The Q-Jet, also re-manufactured by Edelbrock under the "Performer" nameplate, is actually a very sophisticated carb. In base form, it flows 750 cfm, but it's essentially a variable-cfm carb due to the action of the secondary airvalve. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT a vacuum secondary carb - it's straight mechanical with the airvalve control. The Q-Jet is very responsive and highly reliable. It has a good choke system that operates well on a street-driven vehicle. It is resistant to vapor lock and fuel boiling issues. It is almost infinitely tunable, but the tuning variables are complex enough that many people find them difficult to "get right." The Edelbrock re-pops are tuned pretty good out of the box, but they are expensive.

Holley and BG offer competitive product lines. These carbs offer excellent performance out of the box (if properly adjusted) and are great for street/strip action. Since they're a square-bore design, they will not bolt up to a factory Q-Jet manifold without an adapter plate. Due to refinements in booster designs and provisions for additional tuning, the Holley/BG carbs offer great performance with easy setups and easy tuning with readily available parts. Due to the design of the carbs, these carbs are more prone to fuel boiling & vapor lock issues. They can often be a bit more "balky" than the Q-Jet or AFB, and can be finicky with regards to their tuning and setup.

I'm going to stay out of the cfm sizing debate - you guys all know my opinion and experience on this.

verskel

:iagree: ....Let me add that this is perhaps the only carb that you can let sit for months and it'll re-start without a hitch. It's perhaps the most reliable carb. on the market though the performance is a little on the 'weak' side ~ especially for drag racing. I used to run these on '67 & '68 small block Camaros which did fantastic for everyday driving. :steering:

markdtn

I say neither-go fuel injection. If you must have a carb-I would go Holley. Easy to tune, it is a bit messy. I have one on my boat (351 F#$%) and it sits usually early October to Early May. It always starts and runs fine.

First79vette

Thanks! Definitley learned a lot from Lars :yesnod: I think I'm trying a Edelbrock this time I've had Holleys before (years ago) worked alright but something plastic on it broke and it was a pain..cant remember what it was but it was a pain.. :mad Yep agree on fuel inj. would be nice but costley and I'm getting the itch to get this project done. :yesnod: :yesnod:

78 Vette

Fuel injection aint all that. been there done that. have to spend thousands to get the same tork and horse power.

thomar2k1

I have a Road Demon 650 - I absolutely love it. Used it to replace a Holley.

SanDiegoPaul

I use the Edlebrock Quadrajet. It looks, smells, and tastes like the original Rottenchester carb :yesnod: but is all new and trouble free.

Mine is model 1903 which is touted at 790 CFM

jimtreber

In the early '80's Carter came out with an aftermarket carb AFB style, the "Competition Series", choices of 650 or 750, choke or no choke. No, this was not ever an oem nor ever used as an oem carb. I got tired of the under the hood heat problems of the Holley and gave the Carter a chance. Great to work on and changing jetting mixtures took only a minute and no spill. I never had another heat related problem and the et's were at least equal to the holley 750 and for a minimal amout of money the "strip kit" actually made it outperform my Holley.

1976 406, TH400, 4.11

thebruce

I am currently running a Performer 600 on top of my AirGap RPM intake, but I'm going back to the stock intake and Q-jet because I prefer the look. I mention this because I am VERY glad I got the experience with the Performer-- I feel like I understand the basic concepts behind carburetor function now since the Edelbrock really is a simple carb to "play with " and tune. No matter how out of whack I got the rods/jets/springs/mixture screws/whatever, I always knew that in twenty minutes I could have it back to the out-of-the-box configuration.

Now I feel like I can step up to the more 'varsity' level and tune my Q-jet for max performance, and not feel like I need to break out the chicken bones and incense. Lars' tuning paper used to sound like black magic to me; now I actually understand it.
:cheers: