Thread: Edelbrock vs Holley

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One of the reasons I've set so many records and won so many races is I never ran an Edelbrock carb----

And when someone comes around for me to straighten out and tune there Holley/s , I look up in the book to see what jets and power valves it came with and go there for a starting point (out of the box?) and fine tune jetting, powervalves, accelerator pumps, cams, squirters as conditions warrant--

We have this conversation on a regular basis. I concur with most of what has been already said. GM used a 750CFM Quadrajet on everything from a 305 to a 400 cubic inch engine and they performed admirably. Often maligned, the “Q-Jet” is also a good choice and they sound really great when those large secondaries open up. The only reason I mention the Q-Jet is because they were 750CFM on the SBC and GM did not consider that to be “over carbureted”.

I don’t know which Summit 750 you have, but it may be a tuning issue rather than a size issue. Brodix make a great product and your 64cc heads could have anywhere from 180 to 225cc runners. You also didn’t say which Thumper cam you have – that will also have an effect on carburetor performance.

I like both Holley and Edelbrock carbs but as others have mentioned, I find the Edelbrock to be fat out of the box and inevitably lean them back a size or two and often change metering rods on stock (or near stock) engines.

In my opinion, the Edelbrock performer is a very “user friendly” carb and driveway tuning is possible without removing the carb from the engine. As with any carb, gaskets are important as is not dropping “little” parts down the throat!

I notice the OP has not responded since October so this may be a dead thread.

Regards All,
Glenn

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

One of the reasons I've set so many records and won so many races is I never ran an Edelbrock carb----

And when someone comes around for me to straighten out and tune there Holley/s , I look up in the book to see what jets and power valves it came with and go there for a starting point (out of the box?) and fine tune jetting, powervalves, accelerator pumps, cams, squirters as conditions warrant--

yeah but i think you'd have to admit that althought the Holley is a much better carb on the track that for the average Joe, the Edelbrock is much more easily maintained than the Holley which is probably why i see more edelbrocks installed on SBC's than anything, but performance id give the edge to Holley but they do require routine tuning for the street.

I don't know what you guys mean by routine tuning for the street--once your jetted for you altitude, and the power valves for the manifold vacume your cam allow, accerate pumps for your style driving--they don't need anything else

Updated post - I swaped out my carb, for a 600 cfm Edelbrock 1406 for my small block chevy. Starts right up when cold, doesn't flood, and runs great. Finally - - I made a good choice !

i don't know jerry, i've never owned a Holley i didn't have to adust with it being more adustable tuning than the edelbrocks you can do on the holley due to engine conditions, gas, winter or summer driving. all im saying is even if you have em fine tuned for a daily theres still adjustments you gotta make year round to keep em runnin at 100%. i know from runnin different setups on the street that each holley has it's finer points of adjustments that need to be made and i know im not the only one who has had the same experience with Holley's. i'll still run both though

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Either one right out of the box should work fine. IMHO, though, the Holley is a better choice as I believe they are easier to tune, but to use the Holley it will require a spacer/adapter since the Performer is a spread bore manifold and if the Holley is bolted directly to the manifold the fuel signal will be messed up.

The performer manifold comes in square bore and spread bore, mine is a square bore....!

Edelbrock square bore, with Holley 670, the only thing he`ll need do for clearance under rear bowl he will have to modify a vacuum fitting to sit lower under carb.

....again, and for me, Holley's, it's that cup or so of gas that you have to dump on your nice shiny new intake every time you make a change. And if you don't have multiple use gaskets ...... grrrrrrr. And if it isn't modified or fairly new, those power valves ...... . As a racing carb, can't beat a Holley though

Carb.JPG

My 1405 set up w/electric choke option

Not a perfect world, each has it's + and - Eddy decent carb all around take less messing with, but I think one on one performance the Holly wins. The nascar fans I am sure have noticed the absence of eddy on the top of those hotrods.

The Holly not so keen on the bowls, those need constant attention cause they always seem to ooze gas around the screws, not a big deal just sloppy looking, and not a real reason to not run them.

Then there is the Demon, that in their paper work they tell the owner to clean out the ports around the carb top regularly. Then my favorite the Predator animal carb. No matter what brand you run you need to fine tune them to get the most out of them.

As most know sooner or later they come to the conclusion, that bolts right on is a myth or industry inside joke.
BTW it takes a real man to run a manual choke ..... LOL!

like jerry once i set up an engine i don't touch it again . the holley is an extremely adjustable carb and once set it will stay . keep in mind that a rich carb will always start easy and fool you. it starts easy because the engine is full of gas fumes. if i set it up you will need to give it a couple of shots.

Originally Posted by angrystroker

BTW it takes a real man to run a manual choke ..... LOL!

Then I guess I either have a problem or finally got smart

I have never had or even seen a Holley bowl screw leaking gas---if it does, you haven't got the seal on it--and i might add, that these seals are easily dropped or more likely case some come off with the screw and some stick to the bowl and then you mix them up and put some back with no seal and some with 2 seals.

a lot of issues I see with customer holleys are related to base plates---throttle plates cranked way open to get something to idle that has a screwd up ignition advance urve or overly rich because the cam is too big, vacume leaks, exhaust leaks, too high pressure with float bowls running over---

Another area is an air cleaner that sets too close to the top of choke tower restricting air flow to primarys--

Originally Posted by IC2

Then I guess I either have a problem or finally got smart

got to be one or the other LOL means it is meant as a JOKE

Originally Posted by angrystroker

got to be one or the other LOL means it is meant as a JOKE

Yeah, I know that it was supposed to be a joke. If it wasn't, my response would have been more pithy(or something like that)