Not trying to start a war, but I'm looking to pick up a new carb for my 57 Chevy wagon. Nothing crazy just a street cruiser. It has a 283 with a Quadrajet right now. Looking at something like a Holley 4160 or a Edelbrock performer, electric choke and not a lot of hassle. Any suggestions?
I have an edelbrock on one of my cars. before it had an edelbrock it had a holley....go edelbrock. it will be ready to go when you bolt it up. if you want to sit there and tune it all day then go holley. for a street cruiser, edelbrock hands down
I like edelbrocks but I'm probably in the minority on that. For all out performance Holleys are probably better but for a mild street motor I prefer the Manual choke Edelbrocks.
Yes you are! If you're looking for performance as in racing, go with a Holley or stay on the porch. There's a reason why they call Edelbrock carb... Edelbroke! However for street use the Edelbrock is a very reliable carb that starts easy and very good on fuel economy.
Find someone who can go through the quadrajet for you; you'll be much happier. Plus, you won't have to change the intake manifold (unless it's already for a squarebore, which would negate everything I just said).
Or shell out money for a different carb. I do not like the Holley Spread bore carb, I have used them on Q-Jet intakes before and I just don't care for them. So if I was changing carbs and not intakes for a street cruiser I would go with an edelbroke carb.
I was talking Rochester Q-Jets here. I have heard from several reliable sources that Holley replacement spreadbores are some of the worst carbs out there, combining the worst aspects of a Q-Jet with those of a Holley. Don't know about Carter spreadbores; never had one.
I was as well. Rebuild an existing carb or buy another carb the price is going to be way different, and no carb is out of the box, period. Well maybe once in a blue moon.
Personally for regular street driving a Qjet done right is hard to beat. Edelbrock is fine for the street if you buy a new one. Mine is two years old and I'm thinking it really needs a kit in it. It worked great right out of the box and I'm thinking about buying another new one and selling it on Craigslist and being done with it. My hands don't work well enough with small delicate stuff anymore to want to rebuild it myself and the cost of having my friend rebuild it right would be close to what a new carb runs. I need to check into that though. I ran Holleys for years on end when my buddies were running AFB's or the AFB knockoff Edelbrocks. I liked being able to swap jets easily and the simplicity of the Holleys but they definitely are not for everyone. I ran a used when I got it spreadbore for a lot of years on my son's 307 powered 70 C-10 and my 48 and then my 71 GMC with a 350. I rebuilt it a couple of times over the years and finally wore it out beyond reasonable rebuilding and it's hanging on the wall in the shed now. Carb choice is still one's personal preference, what works best for them and what they are doing with it. For ease of driving I'd run a well set up Quadrojet, for low bucks that works I'd run an Edelbrock and if I intended to race it I'd run a Holley as each seems to have it's advantages and disadvantages.
Owned both....many times. I've even run one of the old "Three barrel" monstrosities. Never had a bad experience with either brand, from dual Holley quads on Shelby FEs to dual Edelbrock 500s on sbcs and other engines. Several years ago, if you didn't run a Holley 3310 on a rumpity-rump street engine, you weren't going to prevail light-to-light or even on the 1320. Both are great carbs made by great longtime companies. And, I agree emphatically - most carbs are not 'good to go - out of the box'. Too many engine/intake/cam variables.
I have a Holley sitting on top of the Weiand 142 on the 350 in my '58 Apache and really like it. Having said that I also have an Edelbrock performer / carb setup on the 283 that we just pulled out of the truck in September that has over 50K trouble free miles on it. I am pleased with both setups and would recommend either carb but prefer the Edelbrock for general street driving. I would not pick up a quadrajunk except to throw it in an aluminum recycle bin. I've never liked them, not even the new ones that came on my '69 Camaro and Chevelle. To me it would be worth a manifold change to get rid of the quadrajet.
The old saying is "Holley will win at the race track but Edelbrock will get you home." That has been my experience too. Holleys make more HP because the Edelbrocks are a little detuned out of the box, but Holleys do not like even a spec of dirt. Just a piece you can't even see will hold the needles open and they will flood. I only run Edelbrocks and buy refurbished ones from All Amerian Carburetor. They look and perfrom like new and cost around $ 200. I have two of them on my 27 now and had one on my 23 and on the 5.0 in my Jeep pickup. Gave me years and years of troublefree service. However, I do have a 355 Chevy race motor I am going to put together and it will have a Holley 750 DP on it. The quadrajets really are not a bad carb at all. The small primaries give good fuel economy and the big secondaries let you know when they kick in. Thousands and thousands of Mercruiser, Volvo, and OMC boat motors came off the assembly line with them and they work great. Like everything else, we all have our favorites and preferences. Don
edelbrock are nice, but as said you'll want a smaller one for a 283. i do agree that Qjets are an able carb. i've run all three and wasn't crazy for the holley.
I also agree with rebuilding the quadrajet. just did it the other day and was very simple. also a whole heck of a lot cheaper
Coke or Pepsi? Paper or plastic? Baked or fried? Left or right? Cake or pie? Pen or pencil? Ketchup or mustard? You'll get arguments here for both options, plus some you didn't include... And I often wonder how many guys are speaking from actual experience or just regurgitating what they've heard from others. It usually comes down to personal experiences... There isn't one 'right' answer (although some guys seem to think theirs is). Anyway, from my own personal actual real-world experiences I've always had better good luck with Edelbrocks. I have a 500 cfm on the 305 in my daily driver '55 Chevy pickup and a600 cfm on the 350 in my '55 BelAir. But, Holley, Edelbrock, Q-jet, etc properly tuned and in the correct size ones as good as the next on the street IMHO
I've been a diehard Holley guy for years... couple of years ago I did buy and Eddy 600 1405 carb for my OT musclecar..... it is a great carb.. the tuning was just about spot on right out of the box, and the engine starts easy, runs super hard, and gets pretty decent mileage for a "built" motor, it is staying on the car... On my truck i wanted a Holley as you can "see" the engine... so I bought a 670 Street avenger... it is an OK, so-so carb... I've been tuning on it for about 500 miles, and while it is OK, I'm not really impressed.....probably should have bought a standard 4160 and been done with it..... Tom
Ive got seven of the carter/edelbrock carbs. You can get them real cheap at swap meets and then just get rebuild kits. Ive had one on the same car for 15 years and it still works great and doesnt leak.
I have a freshly rebuilt quadrajet for sale. Got tired of screwing with it. Bought an Edlebrock... bolted it on... cruised away a few minutes later. Edlebrock
Altitude matters. People at sea level who just bolt on and go have different experiences than us at 4000+ feet.
Ran 2 edelbrock 500 carbs on my tunnel ram for over 10 years. Even after being down all winter it would start right up EVERY time and ran great (with no leaks I might add)! Edelbrock is all I will ever run. Just my 2 cents but what do I know.
I have had all three and I prefer a Q-jet for the street with Edlebrock running a close second, I wouldn't have another Holley on anything.
Not to do a total hijack but, what is the Edlebrock equivalent to a Holley 390? I was planning on a 390 for the top of my clifford intake, on a 250 chevy inline 6.
I like Manual choke Edelbrocks. I have two Manual choke Edelbrocks of two cars and two Manual choke Holley's on two other cars. Given a choice I'd go with Edelbrock. I don't trust the electric chokes. I have ran them years ago but didn't like them.
I was running an Edelbrock on our OT 68 Cutlass and was having problems with it cutting out in corners, when Edelbrock had techs in town for a car show they offered free tuning and support. They drove the car around and told me to switch to a Holley carb because I was pushing the car harder in a turn than the their carb liked. They told me the Holley would do better. So I had a friend that builds Holley carbs for a living build me one for the car, and it runs better on the Holley than it ever did with the Edelbrock or the Demon we also tried. But I wish we had done a manual choke.
Sounds like they need some new techs. I have auto crossed with an Edlebrock carb and it never missed a beat.
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