Which carb to buy?

[MikeB]

A lot of hardcore hotrodders on another forum really like the new Edelbrock AVS2. I have worked with and used a lot of 1405/1406 Edelbrock Performer carbs over the years as well as a few Holleys. Holleys are a heck of lot more tune-able than the Performer carbs, but I ever buy another street carb, it would be a 650cfm AVS2, model #1906.

 

[GTP51]

I have Holley Street Avengers 580 Vac Secs auto choke on two of my cars, never had an issue.
Presently in the process of fitting Holley Sniper EFI on the 87 Silverado replacing all the TBI and pollution crap

 

[dsteelejr]

If you want something simple and easy to tune go with an Edelbrock. The Holleys have more fine tuning features, which is great for really dialing it in for racing. But if you want something tunable, yet simple, I think is great for street / strip applications go with edelbrock. I run an Edelbrock 650 cfm AVS 2 #1906 on my 454 and I’m happy with it.

I follow this guy Uncle Tony’s Garage on YT. He’s a Mopar guy, but he has a lot of great advice and how to’s that apply to all these old school engines and carburetors. Check out his video on Edelbrock carbs.

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[Jerry phillion]

tried 2 new 600 cfm edelbrocks with elec choke on my 69 350 Camaro. both flooded over spilling gas all over intake. took them back to Advance auto parts . got a Holley 600 cfm with elec choke. perfect. no more problems. highly recommend.

 

[82sbshortbed]

The Edelbrock 1406 carb is flooding the **** outta my BBC so I'm gonna put the Quadrajet and spacer on it and see if that fixes it.

 

[Matt69olds]

Get a PROPERLY rebuilt Q-Jet. The people that complain about them are usually trying to rebuild a worn out 40 year old carb with a couple cans of carb cleaner and a cheap rebuild kit from AutoZone. Get a quality rebuild kit, that includes the parts to correctly calibrate the carb to your application. Cliffs QJet sells the kits, throttle bushings, etc for far less than the cost of a aftermarket carb.


As for Q-Jets being troublesome, they were expected to start in every weather condition, altitude, for everyone from gear heads to little old ladies going to church dressed in their Sunday best. The Q-Jet was used on millions of everyday grocery getters, and also used on millions of performance cars.

As for the argument “Holley make more power” , the ONLY way a Holley/demon/whatever carb will make more power than any other brand is, the original carb was way out of tube, or the engine in question requires more airflow than the original carb. Considering the factory Q-Jet is capable of at least 750cfm (the carbs on smaller engines are mechanically limited to less airflow, but can be easily modified to flow the maximum) you need a pretty stout big block, and a really rowdy small block to need more airflow than a q-jet can provide.

Just my opinion.

 

[TravisB]

If you want something simple and easy to tune go with an Edelbrock. The Holleys have more fine tuning features, which is great for really dialing it in for racing. But if you want something tunable, yet simple, I think is great for street / strip applications go with edelbrock. I run an Edelbrock 650 cfm AVS 2 #1906 on my 454 and I’m happy with it.

I follow this guy Uncle Tony’s Garage on YT. He’s a Mopar guy, but he has a lot of great advice and how to’s that apply to all these old school engines and carburetors. Check out his video on Edelbrock carbs.

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This guy does a great job explaining the basic tuning concepts on both the Holley and the Edelbrock! Thanks for sharing that video.

 

[TravisB]

tried 2 new 600 cfm edelbrocks with elec choke on my 69 350 Camaro. both flooded over spilling gas all over intake. took them back to Advance auto parts . got a Holley 600 cfm with elec choke. perfect. no more problems. highly recommend.

I had this same issue from the edelbrock I had. It worked fine for a couple of weeks but started that afterward. Do you have an electric fuel pump on it? I did and assumed it was making too much pressure for the floats to cut it off or my pressure regulator was failing. The cam was failing all while I was having issues with the carb so the whole thing got put in the corner for a later post mortem that turned into a decade of neglect.

 

[Matt69olds]

Also, the Q-Jet has one HUGE advantage over a Holley, the wonderful roar of the secondaries screaming at full throttle. Everyone knows that flipping the air cleaner lid is worth 50hp! Try that with a Holley!!!

 

[TravisB]

Also, the Q-Jet has one HUGE advantage over a Holley, the wonderful roar of the secondaries screaming at full throttle. Everyone knows that flipping the air cleaner lid is worth 50hp! Try that with a Holley!!!

My experience with that has been black smoke and coughing come with that roar

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

My vote starts with the letter Q. Everything that needs to be said about them has been, I think.

 

[Matt69olds]

My experience with that has been black smoke and coughing come with that roar

Nonsense!! Your confusing the black smoke coming from a Holley with a blown power valve!

 

[TravisB]

Nonsense!! Your confusing the black smoke coming from a Holley with a blown power valve!

In the Qjet's defense my knowledge of tuning a carb was 0. This was in my "gaining experience" phase that I am still wondering when I will come out of. This was in the early stages of it though

 

[Matt69olds]

In today’s LS swap mentality, guys who understand a carb (or who can even know a carb when they see one!) are getting far and few between. If you see a guy soaking his dentures in carb cleaner, listen to what he has to say!!

 

[Turbo4whl]

@Mudgunner

If you are going for a stock restoration, then Rusty has the correct answer, use the Quad.

You said restore
I say rebuild the correct Quadrajet.
It's a Faaaaaaaaar superior carb to an edelbrock / Carter piece of ****.

Or at least buy a Holley. SA670. .Best to rebuild your OE carb though. You won't find anything that will perform better. Imo.
Edelbrock carbs ******* suck.

Now if you want more performance without changing engine internals, like adding headers and a free flowing exhaust. Advancing the timing, the Quad will be too lean. Sure changes to the Quad can be done, if you know and understand.

I cannot speak on Edelbrocks, my many years of experience has been with Holley. Years ago you could go to most Chevy dealers and buy off the shelf the pieces you might need as @75gmck25 suggests. But if you didn't make a correct choice, back to the dealer and buy more.

Back during the same time you could buy jets and metering plates from the local speed shop. If you didn't like your choice, the speed shop (or where I dealt) would swap parts, no charge.

Also, the Q-Jet has one HUGE advantage over a Holley, the wonderful roar of the secondaries screaming at full throttle. ...

This is where a Holley Spread bore, like a 9895, is the my choice. Bolts right to the stock manifold and hooks up to everything just fine. This carb, out of the box, will flow enough fuel that the added headers, missing EGR and advanced timing needs. Plus, with a little tuning of the vacuum secondaries, the roar is even better than a Quad.