Edlebrock vs holley Carb

[Nima]

Well, I need to change my intake and Carb. I already bought and Edlebrock performer series intake and I was about to get Edlebrock 1406 carb.Now, I am reading some posts about Edlebrock carb whcich state these carb do funny things at idle. Some memebers were happier with Holley. Since My knowledge is very basic, Please give me your opinion/experiences with these two carbs. Which one you prefer if you have to change yours? Thanks

[stepside454]

Your likely to get 50/50 answers on this, alot of people say the Edelbrock is more simple to tune & that they stay in tune. Others say a properly tuned Holley will out perform a Edelbrock, & that Holleys stay in tune,
I use to like Edelbrock carbs , but for some reason...in my opinion & my experiances, there quality has gone bad. & holleys have dramatically improved.
Ive gone back to Holley. John

[Tx Firefighter]

I used to run only Holleys until I got my first Edelbrock carb. Now I'm strictly an Edelbrock guy.

I don't really get off on playing with carbs. Swapping jets and power valves and stuff really annoys me. Holley guys seem to get a kick out of tinkering with them to make them just right. Every Edelbrock carb I've ever had was a bolt on and slam the hood type thing. They run well, give good mileage, and don't really have any quirks that I know of.

[Longhorn Man]

I have had 3 Holly carbs, and I have hated all of them. I'll never buy another one, and the last one I had was given to me, (damn near new) and I traded it for an Edelbrock.
The therad you are thinking of is easily cured with a carb spacer made of plastic or wood. After that, they are awsome.
I don't know the numbers on them anymore...I suffer from CRS, but what ever one youn get, spend the extra for the electric choke. They are tuned leaner out of the box and seem to be a slam dunk...the manual ones are so rich that your eyes burn.

[Longhorn Man]

Being that your profile has no location, I will add that if you have to do a smog check in your area, then you need to go ask them what carb you can get away with installing on your particular year/engine/class of truck.
Once you install the carb, the parts store won't take it back, so you'd be out a few ben franklins.

[1972C10]

I have ran edelbrocks for several years and was one of those people who would say stuff like " Quadrajunk" and how junky holleys were Once i learned how they worked and got a basic understanding on carbs in general I quit haveing a preferance.

Holleys IMO will run better when custom tuned to that paticular vehicle and sometimes they dont run right out of the box and require some this and that.

And edelbrock can be tuned up but the most i have ever done is a spring / metering rod change. Althou i have rebuilt them i never jetted them out

They are basic bolt on most of the time only requiring the idle to be adjusted And they will run forever without messing with them .

IMO Holley are good if you know how to work on them And when there right there right But they sure suck when there not tuned right.

[CHEVYE]

i`ve had a few of each. holley`s were a little more tempermental but when you open them up it seems to deliver more power. edelbrocks are a lot easier to set up and seem to stay that way longer. when you are on a steep incline the edelbrocks will always flood up. also when you stop for a minute with the edelbrocks it seems they have a hard time starting back up, you always have to floor it to get it to start. like longhorn says emissions is a big part too. i believe the edel. is 50 state legal and wouldn`t think the same of the holleys, depending on the model. i prefer the edel. for daily driving and would keep a holley on the track.

[1972C10]

Edelbrocks will also act funny around Really sharp backroad corners At least mine did

[68w/sbc406]

my friend had an edelbrock starve the motor of gas around a corner and the motor died. not good with P/S and P/B and he isnt a quick enough thinker to put it in neutral to start it. i had a old holley and i couldnt get it to seal up with a rebuild kit but i also dont know carbs

[1BadSS]

Originally Posted by 1972C10

Edelbrocks will also act funny around Really sharp backroad corners At least mine did

The 1406 in my cutlass works fine when i'm going sideways around backroads

[RON WOODGEARD]

We went through this conversation a year or so ago, And yes it's probably 50/50..

Holley was designed for DRAG USE ONLY !!! and of course if it works at the strip that's what we want on the street, Right ???!!!

Holley has no metering rods, just jets, so no matter what you do, You are at the mercy of the jet sizes to designate how much fuel is being delivered. You can tune a Holley for basically a certain RPM, But it won't change it's fuel need/consumption with different rpm needs of the vehicle at different RPM ranges. It gets it's varied fuel delivery requirements with vacuum, The same as a two stroke motorcycle or Briggs and Stratton engine does. It sunctions the fuel through the metering jets and lines, as the air pulls through the venturies stronger.. The jets in a Holley carb. are at a 90 Degree angle to ground level. so if at any time the fuel is sloshed so as Not to be covering the jet, A lean condition occurs. This happens under high "G" cornering, or in a off Camber position( Hill) in off roading. There are no Factory Anti Slosh plates in a stock Holley Carb. ( Unless there are in the new ones supposedly designed for Off Roading.) Also if you want to change jets in the older Models of Holleys, You have to remove the Fuel Float Bowls, With this you loose a lot of Gas all over the engine. Or as I do, A RAG...( There are catchers you can buy for this, But how many of us will Buy and use them ??)

The Edelbrock, and Carters have jets That are at the bottom of the bowl. and Metering needles, These needles are varied thicknesses, With one, two, three and even four different varied thicknesses on one needle.. This needle is controlled by engine vacuum, as the engine pulls less vacuum under load, the needle is moved (released) by this vacuum, opening up the jet more for more fuel to flow through the Jet ON DEMAND..( A spring is also involved in this process) and at Idle, when the engine is pulling the most Vacuum, the needle is pulled into the Jet further closing the Jet Opening so to allow less fuel to enter the Jet at an Idle and directly off an Idle. The needle has varying thicknesses on the shaft to allow tuning of the fuel delivery as to again the needs of the engine, at Different engine RPMs.

To me, There is no other tunable Carb except the Carter/AFB/Edelbrock style Carbs. ( Note, I said Carb. not Fuel injection) Yep a Holley can run very Good, dependable, and strong, I have ran them for lots of years... But if you want to tune with a Fuel Ratio Gauge and get the Knatts ass tune, It's the adjustability of the Carter that'll do it.
By the way,,, I'm running an Edelbrock 1406 on my 350 now, but have two holley 390 CFMs that go on the Tunnel Ram when it gets it's turn for install..( Edelbrock/Carter doesn't make anything smaller than 500 CFM..)

[Nima]

Well, I guess I am going toward edlebrock since this is my undrestanding that they are easier to work with for somebody like me. I am n Ca/La and I don't have to smog my 67 truck beside the fact I know edlebrock 1406 (The one in my mind)is 50 state legal. I am a little wory about the electric choke though. I guess we'll see.
Thanks for all the info.

[RON WOODGEARD]

Originally Posted by 1BadSS

The 1406 in my cutlass works fine when i'm going sideways around backroads

If an Edelbrock isn't getting fuel in the corner then something is way out of adjustment.. ( Maybe floats)
With the Jets being at the lowest point in the Fuel Bowl, There is NO WAY to starve an ADJUSTED Carter/Edelbrock... It would be a plugged fuel filter, bad fuel pump, crimped line Etc..

[72C203503ONTHETREE]

I have never had any problems with Holleys, but I always used 4150 double pumpers or the 3310 vacuum secondary carbs with the center hung float bowl. The square bowl Holleys are crap, worse than an Edelbrock/Carter. I have had three Edelbrock/Carters and have had good luck with them but they all have problems with flooding if they sit on a warm engine. I bought two brand new ones to, both had it out of the box. Installing a plastic(phenolic) or wood spacer does fix it to a point. Holleys never did that at all. I never ran chokes on my Holleys either, I removed them all. I also removed them on the Edelbrocks and Carters. The Holleys would start and run better without a choke than Edelbrocks did with a choke. Once I set up a Holley(very little time) they never lost tune. Holleys suck in one way, to change jets you have to drain the fuel bowls which makes a mess. There are kits to fix that though.

I like both types, but Holley would be my brand of choice. I am now running a Carter 600 cfm on my 72 since I got it so cheap used. It runs great but is starting to do the heat soak flooding thing once in a while, but its not bad. If you get a Holley stay away from a 4160 universal carb. Get the 4150 center hung float bowl, list number 3310 is the vacuum secondary carb.