Carburator's

[LAFNATU]

Hi guys, what carburator are you guy's running on your small block's? When i bought my 62 it had a Holly 600 on it and it ran pretty good, but i wanted more out of the motor so i got a Quadrajet off of E-bay and i have had nothing but trouble at idel. But when i'm running down the road it screams just cant figure out what the problem is. I was thinking of going with a Eldebrock, what do you think? I'm having a hard parting with the sound of the 4's opening up with the Quadrajet, but i just want it to run right....

[gulfcoast66]

im running a eldebrock 750cfm and alum. high rise intake on a 305cid no problems so far?

[71chevylowrider]

this is going to open a whole new can of worms, it's like asking what's the best color? Who makes the best ribs? ect. ect.

I have an edelbrock performer rpm manifole & an edelbrock 1406 performer carb & I love it! I did try a Demon carb, but I could never get it to run right for me. I slapped the edlebrock on & dialed it in within 10 minutes & haven't touched it since, & my truck hauls a$$ with it, even though some people say edelbrocks arn't neccesarily a performance carb, but with alot of those so called performance carbs, you find your self constantly screwing with them, I just want to jump in & drive it no matter how cold, how hot, how humid, or whatever the weather is, & no matter what the altitude is. Good luck, I'm sure you will get many varied responses.

[rickf]

I just went through a rebuild of a Holley 4160, and in the process discovered that the original carb must have been a Quardajet. I have the factory stock cast iron 4bbl manifold (from 71 GMC C20 camper special), it has little primary ports and BIG secondary ports. That's a Quadrajet configuration, right? The Holley I have has the same size ports for all, at least they look that way on casual inspection, I didn't measure them.

I am wondering if the Quadrajet might give better gas mileage with those smaller primaries, assuming gentle light foot driving.

Any experience, opinions, facts?

[71chevylowrider]

You are correct, little holes in front/big holes in the back= quadrajet, & your assumption is also correct, if you can keep your foot out of it & just put around, gas mileage isn't too bad, but the fun is when it's setup right & you floor it & those big ol secondaries open up, hold on man! There's quite a few guys on here that still run em & love em!

[jchav62]

I'm running an Edelbrock Thunder Series 650 w/ Performer RPM intake on my 327. Runs great! I had a 750 on it for a while, but it was just too much carb for it. Also ran a Holley 600 for a while, but I just couldn't keep that thing adjusted for nothing. As for the Quadrajet, from what I've seen, when you get it right they are probably the most dependable carb you can get. I had a 1951 3100 that I converted to a 350...Ran a stock manifold and Quadrajet...Never had any problems...Started on the first try everytime, great response, installed in '97. I sold that truck to my brother and he still running the same stuff...still running great!

Quadrajets...You either love 'em or hate 'em...

[Dadsredwagon]

I have an older carter carb..... bought an edelbrock 1406? great off the line very crisp,

[rickf]

I had heard the term "spreadbore" but didn't know what it meant until this thread got me to looking. Now I see Holley makes some spreadbore type carbs too. Do these work as well, or does the Rochester stand above the rest as just one of those things someone got right, and the copies are good, but not quite as good?

[65 on 24's]

eldebrock 600 here and i love it

[62ChevyStep]

Edelbrock 1406 600cfm w/performer intake - outstanding combo, good crisp initial throttle response, pulls hard all the way through, easy calibration and setup - just my .02 worth

[LAFNATU]

Thanks for all of your input guy's i do believe i will go with the Eldebrock 600.... and retire the Quadrajet...

[baddawg65]

I tried a holley 650 double pumper on a 350, ended up to much fuel. I switched to the holley 450 economaster (direct bolt on replacement for quadrajet). Currently I'm running 390 Holley on a 292 Six and thinking oh trying a predator carb. Anyone have any onions on the predator?

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by baddawg65

I tried a holley 650 double pumper on a 350, ended up to much fuel. I switched to the holley 450 economaster (direct bolt on replacement for quadrajet). Currently I'm running 390 Holley on a 292 Six and thinking oh trying a predator carb. Anyone have any onions on the predator?

Want to sell the 390 ?

[Chevysdominate]

Originally Posted by baddawg65

I tried a holley 650 double pumper on a 350, ended up to much fuel. I switched to the holley 450 economaster (direct bolt on replacement for quadrajet). Currently I'm running 390 Holley on a 292 Six and thinking oh trying a predator carb. Anyone have any onions on the predator?

I've had more then a few Predator carbs in the past and i would advise you to stay away from them. Predators are not bad carburetors by any stretch, but they do operate differently then either holleys or edlebrocks. It took me a long time to understand the methodology and understand how to tune them. Theres no reason you can't get a 400-700cfm holley or edlebrock to run great on your combo. Just my .02$.

Originally Posted by slepysal

Want to sell the 390 ?

I have a 450cfm holley that im selling if your interested.

--Joe--

[Imperial Kustom]

I've ran Q-jets, Holleys, and Edelbrock/Carters. Of the three I prefer the AFB and the Q-jet for everyday street driving. The Q-jet cannot handle very much fuel pressure in stock form though. It hangs the needle open. I've run a 625 Carter for a few years now and it has treated me well on my not-so-mild 283.

[19GMC63]

edl 1406 here also.
I might jump to larger metering rods eventually, running a little rich.

I like it, has a neat sound to it too.

[bowtieguy61]

squarebore = 4 equal size holes spreadbore = 2 small and 2 big holes. you cant beat a well setup quadrajet for the street, even up to 400hp. summit racing sells a book on rebuilding and modifing quads that is excellent. you get good fuel economy while putting around and good power when you get on it. not to mention you can buy quads for $15 all day long and put a $20 rebuild kit and after reading the book i talked about you end up with a great carb for little money, and you will know almost everything about it and exactly how to adjust it. quadrajets are 650's and they made some that were 750's, not as many but you can still find them in the yards

[hewlett2002000]

im running a holley 600cfm and a edlebrock performer intake. i am very happy with it. i upgraded from a carter 2-barrel. im not really sure what kind of mileage im getting cause i really havent driven it much.

[Volvo_Matt]

I've ran an edelbrock 650cfm vacuum secondary, Holly 700cfm dbl-pumper, and a holly 600cfm vacuum secondary. These were all purchased new and I never had any problem setting base idle. Of all 3 the Holly 700cfm dbl-pumper out performed the other 2. The 600cfm Holly is a great all around performance carb. no matter what RPM range or load. I am running a 350, edelbrock rpm intake, 1.94/1.60 LT1 bow-tie heads, roller-tipped rocker arms, aluminum push rods, Z-28 valve springs, comp. RV cam, and stock Ram-horn exhaust manifolds.

[bowtieguy61]

Originally Posted by Volvo_Matt

I've ran an edelbrock 650cfm vacuum secondary, Holly 700cfm dbl-pumper, and a holly 600cfm vacuum secondary. These were all purchased new and I never had any problem setting base idle. Of all 3 the Holly 700cfm dbl-pumper out performed the other 2. The 600cfm Holly is a great all around performance carb. no matter what RPM range or load. I am running a 350, edelbrock rpm intake, 1.94/1.60 LT1 bow-tie heads, roller-tipped rocker arms, aluminum push rods, Z-28 valve springs, comp. RV cam, and stock Ram-horn exhaust manifolds.

Aluminum push rods? who makes those? i cant say ive ever seen aluminun push rods. i cant say id like to try them either

[Volvo_Matt]

Oops, I meant Comp cromemoly forged.

[Tomsriv]

On the Chevy I am running a 650 Edelbrock and I'm pretty happy with it. I might install an electric fuel pump so that it won't start and then immediatlely die in the morning. On my Buick Riviera 455 I run a 700 cfm Holley Commander 950 Fuel Injection system. If you want reliablilty and economy and you drive the truck a lot I would go with a fuel injection setup. Throttle body setups for Chevys start at about $670 and will improve mileage by at least 1/2 a mpg if not 1 or 2. Not to mention that the truck stops smelling like gas on a hot day.

[jwart]

running 327 with a edlebrock performer intake with qjet off 68-69 buick bblock. carb outfit says serial # - its supposed to be 850 cfm has oversized highend meter rods in it dbl hump heads are ported & polished with street cam. had to clean out good & rebuild kit. running with manual choke & no vac advance on hei distributor 32*. runs like raped ape but getting 18mpg if i stay out of it at the lites. smoke the tires in all three gears if i want to - been thru 2 sets already on rear. works for me good luck jw
www.art4urhog.com

[LAFNATU]

Thanks guy's, I put on a eldebrock 600 this weekend and it runs great...

[ClassicAutoResto]

650 Holley has always done well for me on my vehicles. Quadrajet is great when it is running right, when it's not......"QUADRAJUNK". Jerry