Change the jet w/o a mess or fire hazard? Ok. Keep a 20 oz plastic drink bottle with the top cut off handy. Remove one fuel bowl bolt, which allows all the gas in that bowl to neatly drain right into the drink bottle. Remove bowl, change jets, replace bowl. Pour gas back into fuel tank/cell, and carry on with life. Or, alternatively: keep ordinary shop rag handy, remove bolt in same manner as above, letting rag catch the gas. The first method is preferred because you don't end up with a gasoline-soaked rag. How hard was that? I'm not saying you would feel this way, but if keeping the above-mentioned bottle handy is too much trouble for someone, they probably would be better off taking up another hobby.

That was a perfect example of my original point-to a non-holley person, changing jets in a holley is a somewhat big deal. The solution is so simple as to defy description, yet it's a notable problem to some people. I'm not knocking Carters-don't get me wrong. I bet if I started working on carters, I'd come up with a similar problem, for which you could then present me with an equally simple solution you had learned eons ago. Like I said, it's more in the eye of the beholder than in any huge difference in quality.

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Everyone driving slower than me is a moron. Everyone driving faster than me is an idiot. With all these morons and idiots on the road, I can't get anywhere!

Working on Carters is a joy. You really should try it sometime! You may end up throwing that drink bottle away

And you ARE correct... I've been in Idiot Auto Parts on numerous occasions where some chevy guy was bringing back a brand new Carter/Edelbrock carb because it was "no damn good". Being chevy guys, they've never even thought of anything besides a Holley before (I've no idea what led them to BUY a Carter in the first place), and they can't figure out how to get to jets or have any freakin idea what those dumb little rods and springs are for! And while every new Holley is calibrated WAY richer than it needs to be so that it will be an adequate fuel leak for a SBC, the new Carter usually needs a little tuning to run on their worn out 350.

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

Ah, that's funny! "What are those rod things for? I'll just throw them away." I've seen people like that before. I've done some tuning on quadrajets, and the only thing I dislike about metering rods is that it's hard to get them and everything else to line up as you drop the top back on. One carburetor I think actually has a design flaw is the edelbrock. I know they're supposed to be a copy of the AFB, but ask and you'll probably find an incredible number of people who have the same problem-stumbling off idle. People who understand basic carburetor theory and still can't get that particular problem to go away no matter how much tuning they do of the accelerator pump system. I would normally dismiss such complaints as griping from people who don't know how to tune them, but when you have enough people with the exact same problem who can't get rid of it even with the help of tech support, you kinda have to wonder.

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Everyone driving slower than me is a moron. Everyone driving faster than me is an idiot. With all these morons and idiots on the road, I can't get anywhere!

I too am no fan of holley, perfer a BBS over a 1920 any day. Main problem of the BBS is that 3 peice construction and warpage issues and sealing properly..Hows this for strange 2 Darts one 63 the other 66 both bone stock, 66 had severe problems traceable to the 1920, all symptons went away when a BBS was installed, likewise the BBS on the 63 was switched out for the 1920 prevoiusly on the 66 with no rebuilding, been running like a champ for over a year now-go figure..Dave

v8440, I don't doubt the idle-stumbling problem, but I think in a lot of cases, it's something other than the carburator that is causing the problem, where a rich-happy carb like the Holley would mask the problem. Still the stumble can usually be addressed quite easily (one of those eons-ago solutions you mentioned) with different pump shooters and pump arm settings, the second of which can be adjusted in less than 2 seconds.

By the way, a common urban legend is that there is some difference between an Edelbrock four-barrel and a Carter AFB. While there may be some proprietary calibration differences when they are new-in-box (I don't say they do, just don't know that they don't), they are the EXACT same carburetor beyond the nameplate. They are both manufactured under license by Weber. One goes in an Edelbrock box, the other in a Federal-Mogul (Carter) box.

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

The people I'm talking about have tried all the normal stuff to get rid of the stumble. They've called tech support and tried everything tech support said to try. The problem just simply would not go away.

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Everyone driving slower than me is a moron. Everyone driving faster than me is an idiot. With all these morons and idiots on the road, I can't get anywhere!

Next time you're witness to this, try the following: Make sure that the pump rod is in the outside hole for max pump travel. Some bending of the rod may be required if the pump plunger is over-extended in its travel. If that doesn't clear things up, go to the next smaller size pump shooter. It is a natural tendency for folks with a stumble to assume they need a bigger shooter (and sometimes, that is the case), but what the shooter really affects is pump shot timing, not overall volume. A big shooter dumps all the gas in at once, and often leaves a lean spot before the main metering system can pick things up. If that doesn't work, stiffer springs under the metering rods may. Changing metering rod spring tension is analogous to changing power valves on a Holley (and MUCH easier, I might add!);)

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

Okay so here's what's probably another silly question. Looking at the rebuilt I have, how the heck do you do it?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

I pulled the Holley 4160 off my LeMans to replace the Quadrajet on my truck (84 Silverado w/ 305) for more performance. Well, it does perform better, but God I hate this carb. Fuel leaks from the transfer tubes (finally solved with a ton of RTV sealant), occasional random backfires (started a fire once!! ), wavering idle (probably an air leak, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it), the list goes on. The extra performance is probably mostly due to the spacer/adapter I used to install the carb. Now that I'm finally home for good, I'll be swapping the Q-jet back on.

- what does it take to adapt the 2BBL if I have a Carter 1 barrel on my 63 Valiant now?

I don't have the cable linkage..

Joe

See the info on "super six" in the articles section. There you will find all you need to know. Finding a 2bbl eqipped six in a junkyard is still a fairly easy task.

I wouldn't even think of using an adapter to go from two barrels into one hole. If you cant find the commonly available 2bbl intake and linkage, I've heard of folks modifying their 1bbl intake by cutting off the 1bbl flange welding on a fabricated 2bbl plate. An advantage to this that you can orient the carb facing forwards or facing the head, which can simplify using existing linkage with slight modifications.

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

Due to Cali's Emissions laws, super sixes weren't readily available in that state then, the ones that are found now are either 'import' car (brought in and junked from other states), or from trucks(different kickdown linkage)...

There are some available, but in some areas they really have to hunt down there. I haven't seen one in a junkyard in my area in the last 2 years (and I got the last 3...).

The adaptor is sold by Proline, a few members have used this with the Weber carb and have increased their response and MPG by going 2 bores into one hole.

Personally, changing a set of floats in a BBD over any holley 2300 or 4160 is a real pain...

-D.Idiot

Good point on lack of Super Six cars in CA. I had heard that, but did not take that into consideration. An adapter just seems very cheesy to me.

On the BBD floats:

1. How often do you find yourself having to change FLOATS??

2. I'll bet I can change floats in a BBD as fast or faster than you can on a Holley, and no mess or collecting gas in drink bottles!

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

One of the reasons I run the 4160 is CFM rating...the 390 seems more suited to a mildly built engine. I would try a Carter/Edelbrock, but worry
that 500+ CFM 4V would be too much. Is this a misperception on my part or is the jetting more important than total CFM rating? My two Holleys have given me trouble-free performance so far, but I've always prefered the two barrel BBDs to their Holley counterparts.

So far my BBD was running good until three days ago, I'm rebuilding it and it has it's own twists compared to the Holley. So far out of 3 super six BBD's and one 318 BBD I have, all brass floats, the 3 super six ones have been compromised (they are at the bottom of my solvent tank right now...). I have a couple of new one's ordered, since the local yokel's only stock the foam/'nitrophyll' ones....

Oddly enough, when I ordered my Holley rebuild kit, it came with floats and everything, so the rebuild didn't take that long.

I could care less about the mess...at least my driveway doesn't look like Hanford compared to the Ford neighbors around the corner...

-D.Idiot