Edelbrock straight out of the box , no adjustment 600 on daily/light build sbc. 3 different cars, NEVER let me down.👍🏻 Special applications, then special carbs. I’m with you UT for reliability.
@user-wv1pj6wh4h holley too finicky for me but I’m lazy in my old age. 😏usually was replacing q-jets. Again, too lazy to rebuild, but when done properly they are resilient carb.
I've had three Holley carburetors on my street cars and all of them were JUNK in one way or another. In every case, the stock carburetors were more "driveable".
You nailed it, Tony. I agree 100%, especially with regard to the gaskets! For street use, the Edelbrock is the easy recommendation. Yes, easier to work on on the side of the road, but also less likely to need to be worked on on the side of the road.
I’ve had engines with Quadrajets that have not run in 25-30 years, fire right up, idle perfectly, & never leak a drop. Try that with a Holley & see what happens!
I agree 100% Edelbrock is the carb for putting it on a engine and closing the hood and will never have to play with it and the Holley are for Performance cars the ones your playing with all the time and have to babysit if they sat over the winter.
I've always been an Edelbrock person. I like the fact that the float bowls leak less, the simplicity of the carburetor for rebuilding, and they're pretty easy to adjust as well. I maybe biased because my '69 Dodge Charger R/T had a Carter AVS as a stock carburetor which is pretty much an Edelbrock.
The Edelbrock bought the design off Carter but the AVS and AFB carbs were Carter before Edelbrock got them and when Carter closed up in the 80's Edelbrock to them over
When i learned more about the carters some years back i started leaning towards those. Now that i know the edelbrock is just a newer version of the carter i'm learning to like those now.
@@MeLoNHeAd00except according to uncle tony and others the carb will provide more top end hp than a efi system. I think it was frieburger and dulsich on engine masters that said that too.
Love the knowledge. As a squarebody guy whos only every had edlebrock and thought about getting a holley just to see the difference now i dont need to waste my money! Nothin i got needs those problems!
I know the Holley very well and I can make them run smooth as silk. The trick is knowing what it's doing and how to set it up. I take it a step further and make my own air bleeds and pump cams. For Holley You need to know your idle adjustment affects your primary jetting. I tune with a power valve plug. For smaller motors the idle air bleeds might need to be swapped. The idle air bleeds helps maintain AFR for idle and light throttle. If the engine is going slightly lean or rich with light throttle as rpm change its air bleeds. This is checked by using the brakes to simulate load. You can not measure this immediately after throttle input do to the pump cam. Very important that the throttle blade is in position with the transfer slot. Some motors I have to modify and extend the transfer slot. Big motors with cam you have to drill the blade to get the transfer slot position. Once idle is good you work primary jetting and you'll have to adjust idle and jetting together until it correct. 2nd jets just floor it. I use wide band and vacuum gauge for tuning. I make my own air bleeds, pump cams and know how to modify the main body to work with any engine. I also prefer dbl step boosters. These mods are key to butter smooth engine performance from a Holley, on any engine. You bring me an edle broc and ask for advanced tuning or blow through and I'll tell you to buy a Holley.
Excellent vidja, I'Ve been using Holley's for 50 years, recent convert to AVS-2 Edelbrockc on two tunnel ram small blocks, one a Blueprint strocker. I went from 450 Holley tunnel ram carbs, which required much tuning and a steap learning curve, not to mention special tools, to 2 500 Edelbrock T-R carbs. They required no tuning, and to qoute David Vizard, rivel fuel injection in total driveability. Mileage also jumped from 5 to 6.5!! I'm convinced, Tony 😊
I have used your video to help me tune my first edelbrock and I am so happy with the result. I can't wait for the blow trough application edelbrock video!
For most people, that makes sense, but you may be missing out. That said, Holley have a much greater range of carbies, so sometimes there just isn't another alternative to them, or another after-market variant of them.
Hey Tony, Tim here, yea, my neighbor had an Edelbrock on his 5.0......but a lumpy camshaft, he complained about idle, and drivability......i had him get a new 650 Holley (the new ones not the older 600's)......i told him the Edelbrock card does NOT like lumpy cams, the idle circuit isnt programed for that.......we put it on.....he was estatic, it idled better, had better drivability, and WFO was VASTLY improved.....that motor is NOT a daily driver, its a lumpy cam hot rod motor, needed a Holley....all fixed now!!
The one thing I've learned after 60 years, Holley equals fire more often then not. The burnt hoods I've seen over the years, nudging owners and saying man I love me a Holley! Ah the memories!
One of my high school friends lost his '70 Camaro from a Holley float bowl O-ring that just started spraying gas. He thought he got the leak stopped and tried to limp it home. It went about another 40 feet before it burned to the ground. I really tried to like Holleys after that, but I always had power valve trouble (at the worst times) and the speed shops never had the right power valve in stock to replace it. That was pre internet days where you could either buy what was on the shelf, or go kick rocks. The speed shops didn't care at all which one you did.
@@Freedomquest08i put a holley 600 on my new '80 f150 4x4 never a single problem. I bought a '78f250 w/460 in 2014 and never had a problem with the holley 670 that was on it when i got the truck. The butterflys had a little slop so when i had to have the engine rebuilt i bought a new holley 600 and the engine never ran right so i put the 670 back on. I will say that the more ive learned over the last 15 years that i am leaning more to the edelbrocks. Oh i bought a '76 f150 4x4 w/390 this april and it had a edelbrock carb already on it. She starts right up. I just wish the seller had mentioned about the smoke coming out of the exhaust due to messed up valves.
Nothing leaks more than a quadrajet. late 70s thru 90s whenever i saw a toasted Ford product in the yard it had a 460 with a quadrajet .Heard the carter built ones were lower quality than the rochester ones due to cheaper castings . same thing with the 80s 360 barrel Mopars since they were feedback 3C equipted . I still remember Hygrade Standard ignition made a foam plug to stick in the base of quads to stop the lead plugs from leaking .We had them on cards of 10 to display at the parts counter and pushed them with every rebuild kit or whenever somebody asked why their GM was hard to start.
Absolutely right, I ran Holley's for 40 years and they always messed up on their metering and don't get me started on the power valves. I ran a Q-jet on a D Stock Camaro in the 80's and it really sold me on the GM mixer. On the street they performed much better than the Holley's and then came the Edelbrock. A take off on the AFB it just performed right out of the box, when sized right I've never had to touch one, the stock calibrations have been spot on, the Holley's were always super rich. I just built a 4.8 LS that I swapped into a '88 S10, I put a 570 Holley Truck Avenger on it because it was just sitting around, big fail. Bought a 600 Edelbrock off Ebay for 50 bucks, added a Quick Fuel kit to freshen it up and it not only performed better but ran much smoother around town. Holley's have their place but for the average guy, IMHO you can do better.
Me and Qjets are good friends. havent had one for a while. Those vacuum secondaries are LEGIT....we used to get the rods from a Cadillac 500 from Snake a part....put them in the secondaries and it would move out on a small block. Which is the easiest engine to build back in the day. I built small blocks that would Rip all over Mopar stuff with used and snake a part parts. Just swap stuff around and go out and get some tail. No I am not talking about beating a 383 or 440. But My big block GMs would do that
I fought a brand new holley on my 65 283 and then finally swapped to an Edelbrock AVS2 , hands down better carb , smooth power. Just swapped out orange pop up springs to silvers yesterday. Retimed, readjusted mixture with vac gauge attached. Solid 19hg . Thanks for all your help uncle tony
You said it in the previous 5 videos with that same content. CARTER, ROCHESTER AND LATER Edelbrock Are the all around best Carb. I listened to your wisdom. BTW, I took my Thermoquad that was stored for 10 years on the shelf and put it on my daily 360ci. Boom, ran like when I parked it back them. No leaks, no vaccum problem. 😊
I really loved Thermoquads. Early ones without all the emissions stuff. I used to get all I needed for free because they were almost universally hated. Primary main mixture is a screwdriver slot unless its a big enough change to need a different needle. No below fuel level gaskets. Adjustable secondary air valve. 900+ CFM. Spread bore for easier take off with a manual trans. AVS and AFB share SOME of these strengths.
So glad you posted this information. Having used Holley, Carter and Edelbrock for nearly 50 years, I totally concur with you .The Carter/Edelbrock holds a tune much better because of the issues you highlighted. Afterall , Mopar used the Carter/Edelbrock type carburetor to feed some of the baddest engines in history. MaxWedge 413 and 426 offerings and the Hemi.
Gave you the thumbs up but it's Q-jet an i been running them probably almost as long as you been alive , had one on pretty much every sbc and have one on my 307 with 400 crank in it been daily driver ever since i retired 12 years ago , can't go wrong
I'm in the Edelbrock camp... The biggest problem I've had when them is vacuum leaks around the throttle shaft, a steel shaft through an aluminum body will loosen up those passages!
I seriously thank you for your knowledge on the Edelbrock carb. and how to work on/tune them, as well as how to set/tune ignition timing. My friend went from having a barely running 318 4x4, 4 speed Ramcharger, to one that started with a bump of the key and idled beautifully hot or cold because of your help. That same friend is currently 5.7 Hemi and 6 speed manual swapping his Ramcharger. Turned out to be a more cost effective swap than his original 440 swap. I am sad to see the carb. go, but I was able to stun him at how good a carburetor and basic distributor style electronic ignition system could run and how easy the Edelbrock made tuning for better cruising.
My last days with a resto project, was a 1978 ford E-350 non-dully that came in a huge basket One of the problems was there were two 460 blocks, and four heads, and two c-6s in the bed. Had two carbs, well..one was completely seized, the other, the butterflies were seized. I lived on a houseboat in a marina in the Keys. The marina had a chain fall that I could use occasionally. I had no excess of funds and worked a job full time!!!!!! Looking ahead, I got the damn thing running and driving, but poorly. In my even younger years I had worked on , well say put a kit or two on friends smaller holleys, but this thing totally stumped me. I don't recall the cfm, but this thing was huge. I ended up with a box of holly parts, but was well worth it. I loved it when I pulled up to the stop sigh at the four lane highway, pulled in my red, white, and grey old truck and see oncoming traffic slow and change lanes. With a tap on the gas they never got close to my bumper. I mean not even a quarter throttle!. It was a ranger camper special, must have weighed 5K lbs, and probably had 4:10 or lower rear gear. I had to let it go, but wish I had it back now! Thank-you for all the memories. Your friend, Mark!
I couldn't agree with you anymore uncle Tony. im in my early 40's and have been playing with Hot Rods since I was a kid with my dad. I absolutely love Holley for pumping some serious fuel. but for my street cars and light play I go with edlebrock all day. such a super friendly and reliable carburetor.
I live in Rochester and I agree that Rochester products is a great carb . The thing I see is that AMC GM ,FORD and Chrysler all have one thing in common - Holley carbs . FORD even chose the Quadrajet on some of the 70's performance vehicles imagine that? We didn't even get into Autoliteand Motocraft carbs yet . Arby's were used in the early 60's and on some later Mopar engines .
The 429 Cobra Jet used the Rochester quadrajet but that was for emissions reasons is why they had to use it. Personally I like quadrajets but I just wanted to clarify why Ford used the quadrajet on the 429 Cobra Jet. The Super Cobra Jet still used the Holley
all the manufacturers used GM parts, like power steering pumps, AC pumps and transmissions. GM had considerably more market share at one time, including capita.
Holley double pumper for me, instant throttle response, easy to tune to your needs, adjust floats, change jets, and most importantly to me the ability to quickly change accelerator pump nozzles, I've seen many people chasing hard acceleration misfires that they thought were ignition related only to find out it was a lean misfire that could easily be fixed by upping the accelerator pump nozzle size on a Holley, or quickly fixing a bog by lowering accelerator pump nozzle size. With just a small box with a few different jets and pump nozzles I can quickly tune a Holley double pumper to work on any of my engines and different rpm needs. In my opinion Viton o rings have solved all of the o ring problems of the past.
Tony I agree, but if I can I choose the Q Jet Over the Edelbrock on the street. If I have a choice between Holley or Edelbrock. Its Edelbrock All day!!
I would rather watch Luke’s videos/knowledge TBH Sure edelbrock work. You can pull them out the box and just drive yes. They are more forgiving of sitting and not being used yes. But you can fine tune a Holley far beyond what en edelbrock will do. I ran an edelbrock for years. Always ran richer than Elon musk regardless of what I did. The heat soak was also real on that carb after parking on a hot summer day. Throttle shaft got sloppy real fast (even then still ran rich) Dropped a Quick fuel on and it was jetted perfect out the box. Just had to put a different power valve in to make it perfect coming off idle. I spent a lot more time trying to actually tune the edelbrok than I care to admit and tuning it always proved to do nothing. It ran fine yes but it wouldn’t tune worth a 💩
The rubbers are why I got rid of Holley. I care more about not having issues and so many things that hold fuel are sealed from the outside with rubber that always goes bad soon.
As someone who only works on carbs I have to agree with you! The issues you point out on holleys is what keeps me in business so I am not one to complain 😂. However nowadays I see more carbs perishing through lack of use than anything else! Also many carbs get clogged up when cars get parked and there is corrosion in the tank and lines and the users just start them up and run them. Couple of things tho the blue gaskets are “reusable” according to holley (not really) it’s the red ones that are the “non stick”. Also if you convert a holley with a Weber power plate you do away with the issue of disassembling the fuel bowl for jet changes, but it is only applicable for pure racing.
what I hate is when I read an article of a mopar engine build, they start off using a carter carb and when they start modifying the engine, they go to the holley "for sake of time". and it was the carter carb that got me interested in the article. Uncle Tony, maybe do a vid on tuning a carter. one thing I really like about the Qjet is the better metering rods.
The one problem I've seen with several Edelbrocks is they flood very easily after a short hot soak. I think uncle Tony has a video about dropping the float level some to help. Next time I rebuild one I'll try that and see.
I agree. I ran Holley's for many years but for a daily driver the Edelbrock AVS 2 just runs fine. Just bolt on and go. I had to clean the idle circuit out a few times, but it only takes a few minutes to do and away you go.
THANK YOU for saying what I have been preaching for years - for everyday street use the Edelbrock/Carter is way better and explaining that you need to go 50 CFM higher if you go that route. I personally also have been able to tune a Carter way easier than a Holley but that's probably just me! Great video!👍
@@davepotanko5514 Yup! 850 cfm. Small primaries for quick smooth driving and gas mileage. Three step metering rods for precise air/fuel at part throttle. Phenoliic resin base too keep the fuel cool (but they can crack cause its old) and monster 2 1/4 inch secondaries that will give as much fuel as the engine wants and has a spring adjustment. Badass. Most advanced 4 barrel ever made👍
Hey Tony,! I'vehad many people come to me with complaints with the edelbrock and I've been given several of them but never messed with them. i Figure that if it's that bad something has been tampered with to the point of them being useless.Your points with the holley are completely valid. There's always the issue of fuel going pouring out of the float boals qhen makinf pv and jet changes. I'm a q-jet fan but the linkages are a hassle. I'm reconsidering the edelbrock for mild street now that I've seen this video. Thanks Tony!
Just bought a brand new edelbrock for my 360. Every morning you gotta turn it over for several seconds while frantically pumping tge gas. Same as it was 20 years ago when I swore off of them. You always say they are better for daily drivers so I bought it. Nothing but trouble. Cold start 440 with Holley street avenger, 1 pump and the motor starts so fast I cant let go of the key soon enough.
Holley has always been a leak looking for a place to happen. The Carter/ Edelbrock is great street performance, economy and reliable. Easy to tune as well. As time went on Carter, starting with AFB then the AVS and Ultimately the Thermoquad, produced a line of street carbs that are really hard to beat. I know some will not agree about the TQ but for economy and shear performance it could not be beat by any other street performance carb. It's adjustments can be a bit confusing for those not familiar with it but cruising on those small primary's produced awesome fuel economy while the monster 2 1/4 " secondary's produced awesome performance on demand. An 800 cfm that was equally at home on the 318, 340, 360 or 400. the 440 got the 850 version. The Q-JET could be made into a great street carb with a few mods especially to the severly restricted idle circuit. I started working on carbs in the late 60's and made a career of it in 1970's to the end of the carb era. As always UT you give practical, useful advice for the many. Keep up the great work.
@@jamessharp9790I have an 800 Spreadbore Holley on my 455 Buick. It works pretty good, I gave up about 1-2mpg highway cruising, but it hits instantly from a stop when floored and there’s not delay with the secondaries.
Agreed. The AVS2 has noticeably better off-idle performance with its annular boosters than the AFB/AVS. Above about 3,500 rpm though, it doesn't make much of a difference. But the AVS2 can also be better tuned for fuel mileage if that's the goal as well. Below 3,500 rpm is where the annular boosters give better atomization and better fuel milage that the down-leg boosters of the older design just can't match. Which is not only better for highway mileage, but also during acceleration, which is when the most fuel is consumed. It's just a more efficient design. When tuned right, it delivers both better throttle response and fuel mileage. 👍
OMG I thought my Holley was super glued together. I was worried I was gonna break it trying to take it apart! On my 750 dual feed I replaced the fuel bowls with ones you can remove plugs and a special screw driver to remove the jets. I put an Edelbrock on my 429 because I was tired of screwing around with the Holley every time the weather changed. The Edelbrock started every time....summer 90 degrees or winter 0 degrees. The new Edelbrock should make the Holley obsolete.
I love qjets but as far as edelbrocks go The Edelbrock AVS2 is my pick. The adjustable air door and annular boosters make a nice carb for a mild street engine. The adjustable air door solves a lot of issues that came with the weighted air door.
Carter/Edelbrocks are better if you like consistent idle quality. The designs are not prone to leakage and fires compared to Holley. If you're at the strip and launching at 3000+ rpm go with a Holley but on the street theres no match for an AVS.
Ive had 2 edelbrock carbs, 1 purchased new and one used. The throttle shafts wore out on both on 2 different engines. They drove nice but i prefer going the holley route for longevity.
Amen, finally someone else who realizes the practical use of an edelbrock carb. I agree with this guy 100% having driven them all this is truth. Even in marine applications the edelbrock/carter carb is leak free and simple. For max performance you need a Holley. Excellent video uncle Tony.
You got my blood pressure up there for a second but like always you had me agreeing pretty quickly. Yeah a Edelbrock is a pretty solid set it and forget it carburetor but they just can't flow the air some of us need without moving into multiple carbs.
Thanks UT, I’m working on my ‘62 Pontiac GP that has a 389 with a Carter AFB. Just finished the brakes (8 lugs) and harmonic balancer rebuild but the carby is a bit of an unknown as I’ve never worked on one but I can now tackle it with some confidence. Timing couldn’t be better as the Pontiac is due to drive 300 miles to our new home but the old girl hasn’t been driven for seven years.
Been running Edelbrocks for 20+ years. My 76 ford has had the same carburetor for 16 years and only rebuilt it once due to the truck sitting for 3 years and it gummed up. Love to see a video on his opinion on the AVS2 series
That's not even enough to get a sandwich on a hard roll(not sub) at the new Fancy Pants Italian deli up the street. You'll need 14 dollars sir. The place was just fine when they were on the other side of town it was just a normal Italian deli and a sandwich on a roll and a can of soda got ya some change from a 10 spot for the workin guy at lunch.
I build hot rods. I'm actually working on a project right now that's going to have a SBC with a .560 lift cam. 200 shot of nitrous, single plane intake and a Holley double pumper style ATM 750 carb. BUT!!!!! And I will say this till I die. If you have a stock or mild V8 engine and you want a carb to just put it on, set the idle and just drive it around and not have to worry about it ever again. The Edelbrock is 100% the way to go. Hands down.
Good job. I have been telling people that for years and they won't listen. One person spend 6 months trying to tune their Holley for street (part throttle skip)
I drove mine from Idaho to Ohio and couldn't get it tuned before I left and the car ran like 💩 the whole trip. Spent another month trying to get that Holley to run right after the trip and finally took it off and put a Carter on - world of difference!
Very hard to beat the newer AVS2 carbs with the annular boosters. I went from a Quickfuel 780 VS to an AVS2 650 on my 440 and could not be happier. Off-idle throttle response is amazing.
I like AFB/Carter/Edelbrocks on cars with decent idle manifold vacuum. The metering rod system is finicky with less than maybe 12"hg at idle, in my experience. I did make a Thermoquad work on a 440 with the venerable .509" hydraulic, and a Street Dominator intake (before the M1 single plane came out!) with 3.91 gears. I didn't have much stall converter, which I changed later, and it helped greatly. A Holley 850 worked much better, which taught me a lesson for sure.
Remember back in the ‘80s when you could go to the junkyards and score big ‘ole 850cfm 4-barrel Quadrajets under the hoods of big old Oldsmobile 455 powered monsters and 350 rockets, 400s and all kinds of stuff. Treasure hunting boneyards back in the day was something special.
Holleys were always flooding or leaking.. when the AFB style carb came out on Pontiacs in the early 60s they were a mechanic’s dream. The main difference from those and later ones was a large air screw between the mixture screws to adjust idle speed. It was never a problem. For drag racing purposes, the floats are positioned in such a way so that the inertia under acceleration tends to help open the needle and seat avoiding fuel starvation.
I just watched your video from 2 years ago, when you were talking to #MeetTheRuster, after your Slant 6 run with him. I knew quite a bit in general about cars most of my life, before I started binging on your videos (me born 1957), but was amazed that after #UncleTonyRants, I could follow that conversation & not miss a beat. Thank You #UncleTony
Ma Mopar started to replace Holley's in 71 because of the fire issue. I have a Carter AVS on my 71 Bee w/383 and it cruises fine and will step up nicely when called on. Would love to find an early Thermoquad.
I have a 71 Super Bee 383 too. It has a Holley 4160 750cfm dual feed on it. It sits for 2 weeks between drives. Been doing that for 3.5 years with no problems. I had a Holley 4160 600cfm, on a 71 Challenger, for 12 years. During that time, I only needed to rebuild it once. When I bought the Challenger it had a Carter AVS on it and the engine ran poorly. That is why I put the Holly 600 on it. Never had a fire on any of my Holleys..
@@thethrottlecracker right up there with Carters WCFB cast iron carbs found on early Hemis. Takes two grown men and a trained gorilla to lift those things off that big ass intake!
Yep. Got one on my 440. 850 cfm, the big one, Runs soooo perfect in a 4700lb 86 Ramcharger. came out of a 75 Motorhome, it`s one of the simple ones, no emissions stuff whatsoever.
Unfortunately most people don't understand how to work on or tune the Thermoquad and they end up with it falling flat on its face, but if they know how to work on them they are fantastic
Holley on my Mustang in the 70's was awesome ran a 351 Cleveland with 650 double pump dual feed just have to know how to tune it drove it daily,also better looking carb
E10 gas wreaks havoc on my Holley ,I have it down too 25 minutes full tear down , one can of brake cleaner and I'm back on the road. I was thinking about a q jet or Edelbrock.
Tony, for mild builds & stock daily drivers, I have had great success with the Rochester spread bore 4 barrel carb. Every one that I had was a good product. I've used Holley's also. It all depends on what you use it for. Carter carbs. NO. None were good. Don't see them much anymore but the Predator carbs work good with tunnel rams or on blowers. P.S. When I was using Holley carbs, I always had 2-3 rebuild kits plus lots of gaskets for on the roadside repair. Had them in a Army ammo can of metal/not the plastic crap. And yes, I did drive race cars on the street lots of times back then. This is a great subject Tony.
Holley carburetors are good carburetors but they are known for several issues. 1: power valves rupture the diaphragm the first time you backfire the engine. but Holley makes a check valve that you can install in the passage for the power valve. to eliminate that issue. 2: is the needle and seats are sensitive, especially on side drop float bowls. they don't like a lot of fuel pressure. too much fuel pressure will blow the needle seat open. and you will need to use a fuel pressure regulator on them. 3: if a Holley carburetor sits without fuel in it for any length of time. the gaskets between the metering plates and the body of the carburetor. and the float bowls and the metering plates. will shrink and when you go ues the carburetor it will leak like a siv. especially the ones with the cork gaskets. and once in while the accelerator diagram will rupture. but once a person gets to know these things about Holley carburetors. and what to expect from them they are great carburetors. I also like Quadrajet carburetors for their small primary's and giant secondaries. because if a person stays out of secondaries they can get good fuel mileage. and they need to get into the secondaries they can offer blistering performance. but it's like flushing a toilet opening the secondaries. the Qjet and the AFB are quite similar. in that they use the same style brass power valve and metering rods. and they usually require very little maintenance. which makes them great for daily drivers.
Very informative mate! I run an edelbrock 500 on my mild 318,too small? Dunno 🤷♂️ but it’s been tuned professionally and it’s never given me an issue since it was done in 2019! Runs great. From now on I shall always run edelbrock carbs. Simplicity
I always hated Carter/Edlebrock carbs VS Holley but didn't know why until I watched this video. I was always building the ultimate performance with Holley/Quick-fuel carburetors and was told the Edlebrock sucked! This video is very enlightening and I appreciate the info. I think I will go buy one for my 71Pinto....just kidding
Only problem I have with Edlebrocks is that they will run dry when sitting in storage. I can tune the best driving performance from an Eddy, freehandedly as a daily driver. As I have never raced on one, though, I have no horse in this race. I've only raced on Holleys, because that is what I had when I was racing. So I could say I agree with you... Except that I have no experiences to refute it, and don't care to, so I'm sort of 'accidentally' on the same side. I've worked on the secondaries on an Eddy, but mainly because I didn't like how it drove from the factory, and I yanked the weighted air door, because I felt it was consuming too much fuel at highway speeds. Completely took it off.
I've heard it said the Edelbrock/AFB style carburetor is crude, simple and reliable like an AK-47. That's why I went that way. 100% agree with you Tony, I mainly do cruising and don't care about peak HP to Edelbrockworks great for me. I want something that'll get me home, and I can do roadside repairs. Not to mention they're ubiquitous, so parts are cheap and plentiful.
Spread bore Ford...love it. I had friends with hollies, and an older mechanic told them to always carry a can of WD40, for vacuum leaks to get you home.
Edelbrock for me! -40 Alberta winters, 79 Bronco, 1 pump, breathe on the key and shes running evrery time... unless i forget to plug in my block heater! I have been running Carter's/edelbrock carbs for 25 years and have only ever had trouble when some dirt gets through the filter.
Great comparison video with lots of useful information. That's why we love ya Uncle T! Food for thought...ever since you did the introductory video on the VRS style Edelbrocks I've been fascinated by them to the point where I replaced my Holly with one on my 408 stroker. Runs absolutely beautiful with no noticeable bog, soft spots, fat spots, anything. My question and perhaps another video topic to explore, do you see the VRS carbs suffering from the same issues as the Holly or do you feel that they have taken those into account in the re-engineering process and corrected them, and if so (or not) perhaps another comparison showing your thoughts? I can safely say from my own experience I seriously doubt I'll ever go back to another Holly now that the VRS carbs are out there. For my street/strip Duster and all around drivability they can't be beat. Just something else for you to consider for future topic/discussions...
Agree 100%, right out of the box, on to the engine, and your running good enough were most people wouldn't even know it could be jetted to run even better. Try doing that with a Holly and you will know what I'm talking about.
I love my QFT / Holley 650 cfm double pumper carb - placed on my Vortec headed Chevy small block! 25 mpg, 400 hp 6 speed manual T56. Engine pulls strong from 900 rpm's and up - uphills. 34 Ford Roadster. Reliability? The carb was bought new around 2005, and have been in use since 2013 without any issues.
I agree, I put a Holley on my built Challenger, but I never could get it dialed in right. 🤨 Then I sold another vehicle and pulled the Edelbrock of it and put it on my Challenger. 🚙➡️🚗 It made a big difference, it became a much better driver and was easy to dial in. 👍🏻
Totally agree with UT though I've bought several mopars that came to me with Edelbrock AFBs. Replaced them both with rebuilt original Carters (AVS and a TQ) and sold the Edelbrocks on Marketplace. Eddy's are good but I'll take original carters.
Edelbrock straight out of the box , no adjustment 600 on daily/light build sbc. 3 different cars, NEVER let me down.👍🏻 Special applications, then special carbs. I’m with you UT for reliability.
@user-wv1pj6wh4h holley too finicky for me but I’m lazy in my old age. 😏usually was replacing q-jets. Again, too lazy to rebuild, but when done properly they are resilient carb.
I've had three Holley carburetors on my street cars and all of them were JUNK in one way or another. In every case, the stock carburetors were more "driveable".
Ditto on an 88 stock 360.
@user-wv1pj6wh4h you can't even talkhow do you expect to build a carburetor let alone know anything about one and every circuit in it
What if you 350 sbc cammed?
You nailed it, Tony. I agree 100%, especially with regard to the gaskets! For street use, the Edelbrock is the easy recommendation. Yes, easier to work on on the side of the road, but also less likely to need to be worked on on the side of the road.
Agree. Maintenance isnt usually something that should need to be done often on a good carb
I’ve had engines with Quadrajets that have not run in 25-30 years, fire right up, idle perfectly, & never leak a drop. Try that with a Holley & see what happens!
When a Holley sits for 25-30 days it needs to be rebuilt...
@@mattycampbell4709 😆
@@mattycampbell4709 that is short time
Im running one on my 350 sbc in a 85 cutlass supreme brougham. Love it, need to tweak it though. Were getting to that point real soon
@@mattycampbell4709it's called Embellishment when you do that .
Q-Jet, hands down the best street carb ever!
Agreed ! So easy to just throw on and tuning is remedial. Street underdog champion!
In the factory application, sure. A lot more difficult to tune than an Edelbrock if you make any changes to your setup.
Yes! Rochester for the win!
😆😆😆😆😆
I'm a Q-jet junkie myself. 👍
I agree 100% Edelbrock is the carb for putting it on a engine and closing the hood and will never have to play with it and the Holley are for Performance cars the ones your playing with all the time and have to babysit if they sat over the winter.
Used to be. They started outsourcing to China and they need rebuilding twice a year now and the rebuild kits are garbage now.
I've always been an Edelbrock person. I like the fact that the float bowls leak less, the simplicity of the carburetor for rebuilding, and they're pretty easy to adjust as well. I maybe biased because my '69 Dodge Charger R/T had a Carter AVS as a stock carburetor which is pretty much an Edelbrock.
EDLEBROCK AND CARTER AVS FAN FOREVER 👍👍
The Edelbrock bought the design off Carter but the AVS and AFB carbs were Carter before Edelbrock got them and when Carter closed up in the 80's Edelbrock to them over
Eddy's are my fav but uncle is right ! You drag race get a Holley or even better a good EFI system.
When i learned more about the carters some years back i started leaning towards those. Now that i know the edelbrock is just a newer version of the carter i'm learning to like those now.
@@MeLoNHeAd00except according to uncle tony and others the carb will provide more top end hp than a efi system. I think it was frieburger and dulsich on engine masters that said that too.
Love the knowledge. As a squarebody guy whos only every had edlebrock and thought about getting a holley just to see the difference now i dont need to waste my money! Nothin i got needs those problems!
I know the Holley very well and I can make them run smooth as silk.
The trick is knowing what it's doing and how to set it up. I take it a step further and make my own air bleeds and pump cams.
For Holley
You need to know your idle adjustment affects your primary jetting. I tune with a power valve plug. For smaller motors the idle air bleeds might need to be swapped. The idle air bleeds helps maintain AFR for idle and light throttle. If the engine is going slightly lean or rich with light throttle as rpm change its air bleeds. This is checked by using the brakes to simulate load. You can not measure this immediately after throttle input do to the pump cam.
Very important that the throttle blade is in position with the transfer slot. Some motors I have to modify and extend the transfer slot. Big motors with cam you have to drill the blade to get the transfer slot position.
Once idle is good you work primary jetting and you'll have to adjust idle and jetting together until it correct.
2nd jets just floor it.
I use wide band and vacuum gauge for tuning.
I make my own air bleeds, pump cams and know how to modify the main body to work with any engine. I also prefer dbl step boosters. These mods are key to butter smooth engine performance from a Holley, on any engine.
You bring me an edle broc and ask for advanced tuning or blow through and I'll tell you to buy a Holley.
Excellent vidja, I'Ve been using Holley's for 50 years, recent convert to AVS-2 Edelbrockc on two tunnel ram small blocks, one a Blueprint strocker. I went from 450 Holley tunnel ram carbs, which required much tuning and a steap learning curve, not to mention special tools, to 2 500 Edelbrock T-R carbs. They required no tuning, and to qoute David Vizard, rivel fuel injection in total driveability. Mileage also jumped from 5 to 6.5!! I'm convinced, Tony 😊
I agree, my name is Holley too! I prefer the AVS2 for a nice daily/cruiser.
I have used your video to help me tune my first edelbrock and I am so happy with the result. I can't wait for the blow trough application edelbrock video!
This
The truth as handed down by our Uncle Tony. Your right on this mate. Cheers 🇨🇦
I've only ran Holley on my cars all my life. It's what i know and I'm sticking with it.
Still wear those old fruit of the loom too.....................
@@egSmith-sp9gl Yeah your mom loves me in them. GFY
@@egSmith-sp9glI know what ever you use is far superior. You win 🏆
For most people, that makes sense, but you may be missing out.
That said, Holley have a much greater range of carbies, so sometimes there just isn't another alternative to them, or another after-market variant of them.
You should try an AVS2. They are absolutely the gold standard for streetability and ease of use.
Hey Tony,
Tim here, yea, my neighbor had an Edelbrock on his 5.0......but a lumpy camshaft, he complained about idle, and drivability......i had him get a new 650 Holley (the new ones not the older 600's)......i told him the Edelbrock card does NOT like lumpy cams, the idle circuit isnt programed for that.......we put it on.....he was estatic, it idled better, had better drivability, and WFO was VASTLY improved.....that motor is NOT a daily driver, its a lumpy cam hot rod motor, needed a Holley....all fixed now!!
The one thing I've learned after 60 years, Holley equals fire more often then not. The burnt hoods I've seen over the years, nudging owners and saying man I love me a Holley! Ah the memories!
One of my high school friends lost his '70 Camaro from a Holley float bowl O-ring that just started spraying gas. He thought he got the leak stopped and tried to limp it home. It went about another 40 feet before it burned to the ground.
I really tried to like Holleys after that, but I always had power valve trouble (at the worst times) and the speed shops never had the right power valve in stock to replace it. That was pre internet days where you could either buy what was on the shelf, or go kick rocks. The speed shops didn't care at all which one you did.
@@Freedomquest08i put a holley 600 on my new '80 f150 4x4 never a single problem. I bought a '78f250 w/460 in 2014 and never had a problem with the holley 670 that was on it when i got the truck. The butterflys had a little slop so when i had to have the engine rebuilt i bought a new holley 600 and the engine never ran right so i put the 670 back on. I will say that the more ive learned over the last 15 years that i am leaning more to the edelbrocks. Oh i bought a '76 f150 4x4 w/390 this april and it had a edelbrock carb already on it. She starts right up. I just wish the seller had mentioned about the smoke coming out of the exhaust due to messed up valves.
Nothing leaks more than a quadrajet. late 70s thru 90s whenever i saw a toasted Ford product in the yard it had a 460 with a quadrajet .Heard the carter built ones were lower quality than the rochester ones due to cheaper castings . same thing with the 80s 360 barrel Mopars since they were feedback 3C equipted . I still remember Hygrade Standard ignition made a foam plug to stick in the base of quads to stop the lead plugs from leaking .We had them on cards of 10 to display at the parts counter and pushed them with every rebuild kit or whenever somebody asked why their GM was hard to start.
Holley should give out free hot dogs to roast with a carb purchase
Used Holley carbs since the 70's and usually picked up the ones that someone threw away.... once I go through it, never had a problem.
Absolutely right, I ran Holley's for 40 years and they always messed up on their metering and don't get me started on the power valves. I ran a Q-jet on a D Stock Camaro in the 80's and it really sold me on the GM mixer. On the street they performed much better than the Holley's and then came the Edelbrock. A take off on the AFB it just performed right out of the box, when sized right I've never had to touch one, the stock calibrations have been spot on, the Holley's were always super rich. I just built a 4.8 LS that I swapped into a '88 S10, I put a 570 Holley Truck Avenger on it because it was just sitting around, big fail. Bought a 600 Edelbrock off Ebay for 50 bucks, added a Quick Fuel kit to freshen it up and it not only performed better but ran much smoother around town. Holley's have their place but for the average guy, IMHO you can do better.
I prefer a quadrajet over either for a daily driver classic V8 car
Me and Qjets are good friends. havent had one for a while. Those vacuum secondaries are LEGIT....we used to get the rods from a Cadillac 500 from Snake a part....put them in the secondaries and it would move out on a small block. Which is the easiest engine to build back in the day. I built small blocks that would Rip all over Mopar stuff with used and snake a part parts. Just swap stuff around and go out and get some tail. No I am not talking about beating a 383 or 440. But My big block GMs would do that
@user-wv1pj6wh4h
I like 20 of em.
Granted,plumbing fuel lines and throttle linkage takes about 5 minutes but it's worth it.
@user-wv1pj6wh4h tri power
I fought a brand new holley on my 65 283 and then finally swapped to an Edelbrock AVS2 , hands down better carb , smooth power.
Just swapped out orange pop up springs to silvers yesterday. Retimed, readjusted mixture with vac gauge attached. Solid 19hg . Thanks for all your help uncle tony
Got an Edelbrock AVS2 on the crate motor of my 87 Firechicken and it’s made me a believer! 🦅
You said it in the previous 5 videos with that same content. CARTER, ROCHESTER AND LATER Edelbrock Are the all around best Carb.
I listened to your wisdom.
BTW, I took my Thermoquad that was stored for 10 years on the shelf and put it on my daily 360ci. Boom, ran like when I parked it back them. No leaks, no vaccum problem. 😊
I'd say the Carter AFB/Edelbrock is more user friendly than the Holley carb. At least for beginners anyway.
I really loved Thermoquads. Early ones without all the emissions stuff. I used to get all I needed for free because they were almost universally hated. Primary main mixture is a screwdriver slot unless its a big enough change to need a different needle. No below fuel level gaskets. Adjustable secondary air valve. 900+ CFM. Spread bore for easier take off with a manual trans. AVS and AFB share SOME of these strengths.
Theroquad is big brother to quadrajet
So glad you posted this information. Having used Holley, Carter and Edelbrock for nearly 50 years, I totally concur with you .The Carter/Edelbrock holds a tune much better because of the issues you highlighted. Afterall , Mopar used the Carter/Edelbrock type carburetor to feed some of the baddest engines in history. MaxWedge 413 and 426 offerings and the Hemi.
Gave you the thumbs up but it's Q-jet an i been running them probably almost as long as you been alive , had one on pretty much every sbc and have one on my 307 with 400 crank in it been daily driver ever since i retired 12 years ago , can't go wrong
I'm in the Edelbrock camp... The biggest problem I've had when them is vacuum leaks around the throttle shaft, a steel shaft through an aluminum body will loosen up those passages!
That's the death of those, run a spring opposite of each other helps.
@@karlsracing8422 When that happens I pull out the throttle shaft and put an o-ring on each end and it cures the leak.
I seriously thank you for your knowledge on the Edelbrock carb. and how to work on/tune them, as well as how to set/tune ignition timing. My friend went from having a barely running 318 4x4, 4 speed Ramcharger, to one that started with a bump of the key and idled beautifully hot or cold because of your help. That same friend is currently 5.7 Hemi and 6 speed manual swapping his Ramcharger. Turned out to be a more cost effective swap than his original 440 swap. I am sad to see the carb. go, but I was able to stun him at how good a carburetor and basic distributor style electronic ignition system could run and how easy the Edelbrock made tuning for better cruising.
My last days with a resto project, was a 1978 ford E-350 non-dully that came in a huge basket One of the problems was there were two 460 blocks, and four heads, and two c-6s in the bed. Had two carbs, well..one was completely seized, the other, the butterflies were seized. I lived on a houseboat in a marina in the Keys. The marina had a chain fall that I could use occasionally. I had no excess of funds and worked a job full time!!!!!! Looking ahead, I got the damn thing running and driving, but poorly. In my even younger years I had worked on , well say put a kit or two on friends smaller holleys, but this thing totally stumped me. I don't recall the cfm, but this thing was huge. I ended up with a box of holly parts, but was well worth it. I loved it when I pulled up to the stop sigh at the four lane highway, pulled in my red, white, and grey old truck and see oncoming traffic slow and change lanes. With a tap on the gas they never got close to my bumper. I mean not even a quarter throttle!. It was a ranger camper special, must have weighed 5K lbs, and probably had 4:10 or lower rear gear. I had to let it go, but wish I had it back now! Thank-you for all the memories. Your friend, Mark!
I couldn't agree with you anymore uncle Tony. im in my early 40's and have been playing with Hot Rods since I was a kid with my dad. I absolutely love Holley for pumping some serious fuel. but for my street cars and light play I go with edlebrock all day. such a super friendly and reliable carburetor.
I've used QuadraJet for decades.
I live in Rochester and I agree that Rochester products is a great carb . The thing I see is that AMC GM ,FORD and Chrysler all have one thing in common - Holley carbs . FORD even chose the Quadrajet on some of the 70's performance vehicles imagine that? We didn't even get into Autoliteand Motocraft carbs yet . Arby's were used in the early 60's and on some later Mopar engines .
The 429 Cobra Jet used the Rochester quadrajet but that was for emissions reasons is why they had to use it. Personally I like quadrajets but I just wanted to clarify why Ford used the quadrajet on the 429 Cobra Jet. The Super Cobra Jet still used the Holley
Motorcraft carbs blow balls
all the manufacturers used GM parts, like power steering pumps, AC pumps and transmissions. GM had considerably more market share at one time, including capita.
@@yurimodin7333 I have a 2 bbl Motorcraft carb on my 83 ford F100 with the 5.0L v8 and runs great .
Im sorry I think in a mopar channel people are going to pounce on you unless they love their 86 emissions dodge pickup
Holley double pumper for me, instant throttle response, easy to tune to your needs, adjust floats, change jets, and most importantly to me the ability to quickly change accelerator pump nozzles, I've seen many people chasing hard acceleration misfires that they thought were ignition related only to find out it was a lean misfire that could easily be fixed by upping the accelerator pump nozzle size on a Holley, or quickly fixing a bog by lowering accelerator pump nozzle size. With just a small box with a few different jets and pump nozzles I can quickly tune a Holley double pumper to work on any of my engines and different rpm needs. In my opinion Viton o rings have solved all of the o ring problems of the past.
Holy crap I've never had the need to constantly adjust and change crap on my Eddie....
Tony I agree, but if I can I choose the Q Jet Over the Edelbrock on the street. If I have a choice between Holley or Edelbrock. Its Edelbrock All day!!
I've always trusted you on this question, Tony. :) Especially since I'm not actually any kind of drag racer it really simplifies things. :)
Uncle Tony is King of Carbs. 🤠 CarbCheater vid???!!! Big potential there, fellas a genius.
@thunderhead289
Yes please. @Thunderhead289
I would rather watch Luke’s videos/knowledge TBH
Sure edelbrock work. You can pull them out the box and just drive yes. They are more forgiving of sitting and not being used yes.
But you can fine tune a Holley far beyond what en edelbrock will do. I ran an edelbrock for years. Always ran richer than Elon musk regardless of what I did. The heat soak was also real on that carb after parking on a hot summer day. Throttle shaft got sloppy real fast (even then still ran rich)
Dropped a Quick fuel on and it was jetted perfect out the box. Just had to put a different power valve in to make it perfect coming off idle.
I spent a lot more time trying to actually tune the edelbrok than I care to admit and tuning it always proved to do nothing. It ran fine yes but it wouldn’t tune worth a 💩
@@jeremybennett5547 git gud
I still love the old Carter AFB and my fave the Rochester Quadrajet!
The rubbers are why I got rid of Holley. I care more about not having issues and so many things that hold fuel are sealed from the outside with rubber that always goes bad soon.
I agree with you, mostly! I daily drove a 406 with a 244 252 cam 331 gears and 3000 stall for 2 1/2years with a 800 dp 8mpg and 12teens
I've always loved Thermoquads on Chtysler daily drivers and Quadrajets on GM stuff.
Thanks for the advice Uncle Tony. Picked Edelbrock on your advice years ago. I've ran an Edelbrock for four years on my daily. Never lets me down.
I agree. As long as you have the fuel pressure regulated to 5 psi. Wish they had some kind of float sight glass though.
You nailed it! My mild 350 has an eddy on it and its amazing but .. my 77 camaro with nasty 383 hated the eddy and prefered the holley.
We see Kathy's Roadrunner since you started this cannel.I would like to see the roadrunner start and drive.With Kathy driving her car.
As someone who only works on carbs I have to agree with you! The issues you point out on holleys is what keeps me in business so I am not one to complain 😂. However nowadays I see more carbs perishing through lack of use than anything else! Also many carbs get clogged up when cars get parked and there is corrosion in the tank and lines and the users just start them up and run them. Couple of things tho the blue gaskets are “reusable” according to holley (not really) it’s the red ones that are the “non stick”. Also if you convert a holley with a Weber power plate you do away with the issue of disassembling the fuel bowl for jet changes, but it is only applicable for pure racing.
I always knew these characteristics of each but didn't know exactly why until now. Thanks for the details.
what I hate is when I read an article of a mopar engine build, they start off using a carter carb and when they start modifying the engine, they go to the holley "for sake of time". and it was the carter carb that got me interested in the article. Uncle Tony, maybe do a vid on tuning a carter. one thing I really like about the Qjet is the better metering rods.
The one problem I've seen with several Edelbrocks is they flood very easily after a short hot soak. I think uncle Tony has a video about dropping the float level some to help. Next time I rebuild one I'll try that and see.
Yes the Q-Jet. But also the Dual Jet! Great street carb good throttle response.
I agree. I ran Holley's for many years but for a daily driver the Edelbrock AVS 2 just runs fine. Just bolt on and go. I had to clean the idle circuit out a few times, but it only takes a few minutes to do and away you go.
THANK YOU for saying what I have been preaching for years - for everyday street use the Edelbrock/Carter is way better and explaining that you need to go 50 CFM higher if you go that route. I personally also have been able to tune a Carter way easier than a Holley but that's probably just me! Great video!👍
Carter Thermoquad myself...
Greatest and most misunderstood street carburetor ever. Drives like fuel injection, and makes a howl at WOT that will turn heads.
@@davepotanko5514 Yup! 850 cfm. Small primaries for quick smooth driving and gas mileage. Three step metering rods for precise air/fuel at part throttle. Phenoliic resin base too keep the fuel cool (but they can crack cause its old) and monster 2 1/4 inch secondaries that will give as much fuel as the engine wants and has a spring adjustment. Badass. Most advanced 4 barrel ever made👍
Hey Tony,! I'vehad many people come to me with complaints with the edelbrock and I've been given several of them but never messed with them. i Figure that if it's that bad something has been tampered with to the point of them being useless.Your points with the holley are completely valid. There's always the issue of fuel going pouring out of the float boals qhen makinf pv and jet changes. I'm a q-jet fan but the linkages are a hassle. I'm reconsidering the edelbrock for mild street now that I've seen this video. Thanks Tony!
Thank you! That is the best carb video I've watched in a couple years.
Just bought a brand new edelbrock for my 360. Every morning you gotta turn it over for several seconds while frantically pumping tge gas. Same as it was 20 years ago when I swore off of them. You always say they are better for daily drivers so I bought it. Nothing but trouble. Cold start 440 with Holley street avenger, 1 pump and the motor starts so fast I cant let go of the key soon enough.
Another good video Tony and valuable information for those guys that slap a big holley on a small v8 and put the stickers in the windows. 👍
Holley has always been a leak looking for a place to happen. The Carter/ Edelbrock is great street performance, economy and reliable. Easy to tune as well. As time went on Carter, starting with AFB then the AVS and Ultimately the Thermoquad, produced a line of street carbs that are really hard to beat. I know some will not agree about the TQ but for economy and shear performance it could not be beat by any other street performance carb. It's adjustments can be a bit confusing for those not familiar with it but cruising on those small primary's produced awesome fuel economy while the monster 2 1/4 " secondary's produced awesome performance on demand. An 800 cfm that was equally at home on the 318, 340, 360 or 400. the 440 got the 850 version. The Q-JET could be made into a great street carb with a few mods especially to the severly restricted idle circuit.
I started working on carbs in the late 60's and made a career of it in 1970's to the end of the carb era. As always UT you give practical, useful advice for the many. Keep up the great work.
Thanks UT ;-)
I have always liked the old holley 4011 spreadbore carb for the street. They are now summit carbs but they dont offer the spreadbore.
I use the 4010 and 4011 Holleys myself. I like them
Used to be a 650 cfm and an 800 cfm spead bore double pumper - good on the BOP Gm stuff and the square bore 4150 on Chevy
Is that the one they came out with in the 80s? Didn't it have the fuel bowl in the body like the AFB? I think I still have one in the basement.
@@jamessharp9790I have an 800 Spreadbore Holley on my 455 Buick. It works pretty good, I gave up about 1-2mpg highway cruising, but it hits instantly from a stop when floored and there’s not delay with the secondaries.
@@craigbenz4835 yep that’s them. They built them until the early to mid 1990’s.
Try the Edelbrock AVS2 .
Agreed. The AVS2 has noticeably better off-idle performance with its annular boosters than the AFB/AVS. Above about 3,500 rpm though, it doesn't make much of a difference. But the AVS2 can also be better tuned for fuel mileage if that's the goal as well. Below 3,500 rpm is where the annular boosters give better atomization and better fuel milage that the down-leg boosters of the older design just can't match. Which is not only better for highway mileage, but also during acceleration, which is when the most fuel is consumed. It's just a more efficient design. When tuned right, it delivers both better throttle response and fuel mileage. 👍
@@Plumcraziness plus the boosters act like fuel injection, car starts way better even with no throttle applied.
OMG I thought my Holley was super glued together. I was worried I was gonna break it trying to take it apart! On my 750 dual feed I replaced the fuel bowls with ones you can remove plugs and a special screw driver to remove the jets. I put an Edelbrock on my 429 because I was tired of screwing around with the Holley every time the weather changed. The Edelbrock started every time....summer 90 degrees or winter 0 degrees. The new Edelbrock should make the Holley obsolete.
I love qjets but as far as edelbrocks go The Edelbrock AVS2 is my pick. The adjustable air door and annular boosters make a nice carb for a mild street engine. The adjustable air door solves a lot of issues that came with the weighted air door.
Carter/Edelbrocks are better if you like consistent idle quality. The designs are not prone to leakage and fires compared to Holley. If you're at the strip and launching at 3000+ rpm go with a Holley but on the street theres no match for an AVS.
Ive had 2 edelbrock carbs, 1 purchased new and one used. The throttle shafts wore out on both on 2 different engines. They drove nice but i prefer going the holley route for longevity.
Amen, finally someone else who realizes the practical use of an edelbrock carb. I agree with this guy 100% having driven them all this is truth. Even in marine applications the edelbrock/carter carb is leak free and simple. For max performance you need a Holley. Excellent video uncle Tony.
You got my blood pressure up there for a second but like always you had me agreeing pretty quickly. Yeah a Edelbrock is a pretty solid set it and forget it carburetor but they just can't flow the air some of us need without moving into multiple carbs.
Thanks UT, I’m working on my ‘62 Pontiac GP that has a 389 with a Carter AFB. Just finished the brakes (8 lugs) and harmonic balancer rebuild but the carby is a bit of an unknown as I’ve never worked on one but I can now tackle it with some confidence. Timing couldn’t be better as the Pontiac is due to drive 300 miles to our new home but the old girl hasn’t been driven for seven years.
Been running Edelbrocks for 20+ years. My 76 ford has had the same carburetor for 16 years and only rebuilt it once due to the truck sitting for 3 years and it gummed up. Love to see a video on his opinion on the AVS2 series
Do an edelbrock vs quadrajet comparison for a daily driver!
THERMQUAD set up,gave me 19 mpg with a 383 mag in a 1970 ebody challenger,THE Q JET is next then the afb,the holley is for power,for cruising you mpg
Same Eddy 600 electric choke on my 396 for 18 years. I fattened it up and changed the metering rod springs. Never an issue.
Buying a factory refurbished Edelbrock carburetor used to yield a nice savings. But now you save like $13.
That's not even enough to get a sandwich on a hard roll(not sub) at the new Fancy Pants Italian deli up the street.
You'll need 14 dollars sir.
The place was just fine when they were on the other side of town it was just a normal Italian deli and a sandwich on a roll and a can of soda got ya some change from a 10 spot for the workin guy at lunch.
I build hot rods. I'm actually working on a project right now that's going to have a SBC with a .560 lift cam. 200 shot of nitrous, single plane intake and a Holley double pumper style ATM 750 carb. BUT!!!!! And I will say this till I die. If you have a stock or mild V8 engine and you want a carb to just put it on, set the idle and just drive it around and not have to worry about it ever again. The Edelbrock is 100% the way to go. Hands down.
Good job. I have been telling people that for years and they won't listen. One person spend 6 months trying to tune their Holley for street (part throttle skip)
I drove mine from Idaho to Ohio and couldn't get it tuned before I left and the car ran like 💩 the whole trip. Spent another month trying to get that Holley to run right after the trip and finally took it off and put a Carter on - world of difference!
Very hard to beat the newer AVS2 carbs with the annular boosters. I went from a Quickfuel 780 VS to an AVS2 650 on my 440 and could not be happier. Off-idle throttle response is amazing.
I like AFB/Carter/Edelbrocks on cars with decent idle manifold vacuum. The metering rod system is finicky with less than maybe 12"hg at idle, in my experience. I did make a Thermoquad work on a 440 with the venerable .509" hydraulic, and a Street Dominator intake (before the M1 single plane came out!) with 3.91 gears. I didn't have much stall converter, which I changed later, and it helped greatly. A Holley 850 worked much better, which taught me a lesson for sure.
Remember back in the ‘80s when you could go to the junkyards and score big ‘ole 850cfm 4-barrel Quadrajets under the hoods of big old Oldsmobile 455 powered monsters and 350 rockets, 400s and all kinds of stuff. Treasure hunting boneyards back in the day was something special.
Ah, the good ole days...
It sure was buddy ❤️
Now it's like "hey this one is rear wheel drive!"
@@rotaxtwin hahaha yeah
One of my favourite pastimes, "Back in the Day"!
Holleys were always flooding or leaking.. when the AFB style carb came out on Pontiacs in the early 60s they were a mechanic’s dream. The main difference from those and later ones was a large air screw between the mixture screws to adjust idle speed. It was never a problem.
For drag racing purposes, the floats are positioned in such a way so that the inertia under acceleration tends to help open the needle and seat avoiding fuel starvation.
I just watched your video from 2 years ago, when you were talking to #MeetTheRuster, after your Slant 6 run with him. I knew quite a bit in general about cars most of my life, before I started binging on your videos (me born 1957), but was amazed that after #UncleTonyRants, I could follow that conversation & not miss a beat. Thank You #UncleTony
PS: Was that #DryerHose he had hooked up to the Carb air intake ?
Ma Mopar started to replace Holley's in 71 because of the fire issue. I have a Carter AVS on my 71 Bee w/383 and it cruises fine and will step up nicely when called on. Would love to find an early Thermoquad.
I have a 71 Super Bee 383 too. It has a Holley 4160 750cfm dual feed on it. It sits for 2 weeks between drives. Been doing that for 3.5 years with no problems. I had a Holley 4160 600cfm, on a 71 Challenger, for 12 years. During that time, I only needed to rebuild it once. When I bought the Challenger it had a Carter AVS on it and the engine ran poorly. That is why I put the Holly 600 on it. Never had a fire on any of my Holleys..
Thermoquad hello!!!??? EASILY the best carb for anything street related. NHRA penalties for running one is proof enough.
@@thethrottlecracker right up there with Carters WCFB cast iron carbs found on early Hemis. Takes two grown men and a trained gorilla to lift those things off that big ass intake!
Yep. Got one on my 440. 850 cfm, the big one, Runs soooo perfect in a 4700lb 86 Ramcharger. came out of a 75 Motorhome, it`s one of the simple ones, no emissions stuff whatsoever.
Unfortunately most people don't understand how to work on or tune the Thermoquad and they end up with it falling flat on its face, but if they know how to work on them they are fantastic
Ive been daily using a holley 650 cfm carb on my camaro and its been fine! Its not always perfect but it works.
The people at Holley are going "Damn that Tony", Great job Tony!
Holley on my Mustang in the 70's was awesome ran a 351 Cleveland with 650 double pump dual feed just have to know how to tune it drove it daily,also better looking carb
Great video, I have an Edelbrock 4bbl for my Cuda, but I need to rebuild it!
E10 gas wreaks havoc on my Holley ,I have it down too 25 minutes full tear down , one can of brake cleaner and I'm back on the road. I was thinking about a q jet or Edelbrock.
Tony, for mild builds & stock daily drivers, I have had great success with the Rochester spread bore 4 barrel carb. Every one that I had was a good product. I've used Holley's also. It all depends on what you use it for. Carter carbs. NO. None were good. Don't see them much anymore but the Predator carbs work good with tunnel rams or on blowers. P.S. When I was using Holley carbs, I always had 2-3 rebuild kits plus lots of gaskets for on the roadside repair. Had them in a Army ammo can of metal/not the plastic crap. And yes, I did drive race cars on the street lots of times back then. This is a great subject Tony.
Holley carburetors are good carburetors but they are known for several issues. 1: power valves rupture the diaphragm the first time you backfire the engine. but Holley makes a check valve that you can install in the passage for the power valve. to eliminate that issue. 2: is the needle and seats are sensitive, especially on side drop float bowls. they don't like a lot of fuel pressure. too much fuel pressure will blow the needle seat open. and you will need to use a fuel pressure regulator on them. 3: if a Holley carburetor sits without fuel in it for any length of time. the gaskets between the metering plates and the body of the carburetor. and the float bowls and the metering plates. will shrink and when you go ues the carburetor it will leak like a siv. especially the ones with the cork gaskets. and once in while the accelerator diagram will rupture. but once a person gets to know these things about Holley carburetors. and what to expect from them they are great carburetors.
I also like Quadrajet carburetors for their small primary's and giant secondaries. because if a person stays out of secondaries they can get good fuel mileage. and they need to get into the secondaries they can offer blistering performance. but it's like flushing a toilet opening the secondaries. the Qjet and the AFB are quite similar. in that they use the same style brass power valve and metering rods. and they usually require very little maintenance. which makes them great for daily drivers.
Very informative mate!
I run an edelbrock 500 on my mild 318,too small? Dunno 🤷♂️ but it’s been tuned professionally and it’s never given me an issue since it was done in 2019!
Runs great. From now on I shall always run edelbrock carbs. Simplicity
I always hated Carter/Edlebrock carbs VS Holley but didn't know why until I watched this video. I was always building the ultimate performance with Holley/Quick-fuel carburetors and was told the Edlebrock sucked! This video is very enlightening and I appreciate the info. I think I will go buy one for my 71Pinto....just kidding
Only problem I have with Edlebrocks is that they will run dry when sitting in storage.
I can tune the best driving performance from an Eddy, freehandedly as a daily driver.
As I have never raced on one, though, I have no horse in this race.
I've only raced on Holleys, because that is what I had when I was racing.
So I could say I agree with you...
Except that I have no experiences to refute it, and don't care to, so I'm sort of 'accidentally' on the same side.
I've worked on the secondaries on an Eddy, but mainly because I didn't like how it drove from the factory, and I yanked the weighted air door, because I felt it was consuming too much fuel at highway speeds.
Completely took it off.
I've heard it said the Edelbrock/AFB style carburetor is crude, simple and reliable like an AK-47. That's why I went that way. 100% agree with you Tony, I mainly do cruising and don't care about peak HP to Edelbrockworks great for me. I want something that'll get me home, and I can do roadside repairs. Not to mention they're ubiquitous, so parts are cheap and plentiful.
Spread bore Ford...love it. I had friends with hollies, and an older mechanic told them to always carry a can of WD40, for vacuum leaks to get you home.
Edelbrock for me! -40 Alberta winters, 79 Bronco, 1 pump, breathe on the key and shes running evrery time... unless i forget to plug in my block heater! I have been running Carter's/edelbrock carbs for 25 years and have only ever had trouble when some dirt gets through the filter.
Great comparison video with lots of useful information. That's why we love ya Uncle T! Food for thought...ever since you did the introductory video on the VRS style Edelbrocks I've been fascinated by them to the point where I replaced my Holly with one on my 408 stroker. Runs absolutely beautiful with no noticeable bog, soft spots, fat spots, anything. My question and perhaps another video topic to explore, do you see the VRS carbs suffering from the same issues as the Holly or do you feel that they have taken those into account in the re-engineering process and corrected them, and if so (or not) perhaps another comparison showing your thoughts? I can safely say from my own experience I seriously doubt I'll ever go back to another Holly now that the VRS carbs are out there. For my street/strip Duster and all around drivability they can't be beat. Just something else for you to consider for future topic/discussions...
Agree 100%, right out of the box, on to the engine, and your running good enough were most people wouldn't even know it could be jetted to run even better. Try doing that with a Holly and you will know what I'm talking about.
I love my QFT / Holley 650 cfm double pumper carb - placed on my Vortec headed Chevy small block!
25 mpg,
400 hp
6 speed manual T56.
Engine pulls strong from 900 rpm's and up - uphills.
34 Ford Roadster.
Reliability?
The carb was bought new around 2005, and have been in use since 2013 without any issues.
I totally agree bud!
I agree, I put a Holley on my built Challenger, but I never could get it dialed in right. 🤨
Then I sold another vehicle and pulled the Edelbrock of it and put it on my Challenger. 🚙➡️🚗
It made a big difference, it became a much better driver and was easy to dial in. 👍🏻
Quadrajet FTW! Tony sounds like another episode is needed. IMO
Totally agree with UT though I've bought several mopars that came to me with Edelbrock AFBs. Replaced them both with rebuilt original Carters (AVS and a TQ) and sold the Edelbrocks on Marketplace. Eddy's are good but I'll take original carters.
Good video Tony, I'd like to see a discussion about CFM requirements as well.