[impalamotion]

Howdy-doo.

I'm finally bumping my 1970 Impala up to a much needed 4 barrel carb, and I wanted some reflections from you folks on my choice. The car is a 2 bolt main 350 ci, still running single exhaust. I drive the bejeebers out of it every day, so I'm looking for reliability, power, and good mileage, in that order. I'd love to hear from anybody who drives daily with Holley, Edelbrock, Carter, or Quad. How often do you have to tune it? How much more gas does it drink than th old 2bbl? And so on.
Thanks for any help you send.

 

[edcroozer]

THE CHEAPO HOLLEY 600 IS A GOOD CHOICE, TUNE EASY, GOOD FUEL ECONOMY, CHEAP TO BUY, EASY JET CHANGE IF YOU WANT TO STEP UP A BIT. THE OTHERS ARE OK BUT A LITTLE PRICEY IF ITS CHEAP YOU WANT. JUST MY 2 CENTS...

 

[novass]

[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: novass ]

 

[impalamotion]

Thanks for the quotes so far. I've heard some nasty rumors about Holley maintenance. Of course, Ive met a few guys that swear by the big H, which is kind of why I posted here. Carter seems to be a resto look Edelbrock, and even as similar as they are, I'd probably break the ONE linkage you can't swap over. I'm sort of leaning to the 600 CFM Edlbrock with a matched performer intake. Course, you know, I'll have to paint the manifold Chevy orange so it doesn't draw attention. I'm waiting on Uncle Sam's Hotrodding allowance, er, refund check, so any comments are still welcome.

 

[quick68]

I like holly for performance but the edelbrock is easy.

 

[stinmar1]

I have tried all sorts of carbs and am playing the carb game on my 396 , one thing I will tell you , the eldelbrock carb based on the afb design is junk out of the box , the quad design eldelbrock works good , I would look at a quadrajet whether it was an eldelbrock version or a factory replacement due to the fact you are on basically a stock engine and brackets will be easier to find for a quad swap than an aftermarket swap , Holley 600 0r 650 vac secondary with electric choke would be my next choice . One thing to remember is that a 2bb engine has smaller intake valves for torque so dont put an open plain intake on that engine , stick with a stock 4bbl qjet or aluminum dual plain intake . The engine will have crisper throttel response with the dual plain and the holley but I bet better over all gas milage with the quad . another important thing ,, spend money on a good hei distributor and it will light it up better with any carb swap .

 

[philville]

For reliability, ease of maintainence, power, and mileage..I'd go with the Q-Jet. If set up properly, it should give you a 10 to 15% increase in mileage (If you can keep your foot out of it.)

[ August 29, 2001: Message edited by: philville ]

 

[novass]

Originally posted by quick68:
<STRONG>I like holly for performance but the edelbrock is easy.</STRONG>

I could not disagree more. I have a Edelbrock sitting on the workbench...I could not for the life of me get the idle screws to were I was happy. Mind you this is with a steep cam. And Holly, they have let me down also......BARRY GRANT makes some decent carbs. They cost a little more, but they have yet to let me or anyone I know using them down.
Carter makes a decent q-jet.
OR...you could always play with a GM quad.
My 2 cents.

[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: novass ]

 

[edcroozer]

THE BEST TO BE SAID ABOUT CARB CHOOSING IS YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONCIDERATION YOUR CAM, CUBIC INCHES, WEIGHT OF THE VEHICLE, MANIFOLD CHOICE, HEADERS. THERE IS ALMOST NEVER A CARB OUT OF THE BOX THAT WORKS. METERING RODS OR JETS NEED TO BE EXPERIMENTED WITH TO ACHEIVE WHAT YOU WANT. IF THAT IS OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE, THEN PURCHASE REBUILDING BOOKS ON YOUR PARTICULAR CHOICE OF CARB. THEY ARE PRETTY GOOD WITH ALL THE INFO YOU WILL NEED. YOU JUST HAVE TO GET AQUAINTED WITH THE CARB YOU CHOOSE TO USE. HAVE NO FEAR, IT`S ONLY A CHUNK OF METAL...IT CANT OUT THINK YOU. GOOD LUCK.

 

[impalamotion]

Ok, gonna be allright, Edcroozer says I just have to be smarter than the carb, I can do that. I think.

I guess any of them will run better than the beat-up bent 2BBL I've got. And it gets me around. As far as idle, one of the screws on the current carb doesn't even affect the idle when adjusted.

AND THE WINNER IS:
I think I'm going with the Edelbrock 600 electric choke. It may not make all the power of some of the others, but it's cheap and more reliable than some. Besides, it will match the performer intake easily. I'd love to have a Road Demon, but they're a little out of my price range. I'll let you guys know how this all works out when I get started. Thanks for all the input.