Time to dump the Holley

[lazarat]

Because the Holley is now dumping fuel all over the Edelbrock manifold turning it orange. I had finally got this thing dialed in perfectly, float adjustments, mixture, even replaced bad manifold and spacer gaskets which were causing idle problems.

Now, it is leaking fuel out of the accel pump on the front bottom. Is this an easy fix or should I go for the Edelbrock carb which seems to get good reviews?

I will pull this thing for the last time to either repair or replace. Thoughts on either?

 

[bob w]

My humble opinion is any carb can work good provided it is close to the right size for the application. It's just a matter of making sure it is not worn out and is assembled with care and adjusted properly.

 

[lazarat]

The carb is fine as stated, (sitting on a 79 305 SB) folks at a recent get together said dump it because of its design flaws. This is the first car I have had with a Holley 4bbl on it, despite the many I have owned.

 

[26Troadster]

i like a holley more then the afb styles carbs myself.

 

[lazarat]

I'm thinking of getting the kit, have you ever rebuilt one? I am going to see what is involved I guess. They say today's fuels eat these things up.

 

[Old Iron]

First off, which Holley do you have?
The accel pump is an easy fix, just replace the diaphragm.
I'm a Holley guy, I've done a few and not all are worth rebuilding.
Not everyone likes the same carbs so you need to make an educated decision for yourself.

 

[lazarat]

First off, which Holley do you have?
The accel pump is an easy fix, just replace the diaphragm.
I'm a Holley guy, I've done a few and not all are worth rebuilding.
Not everyone likes the same carbs so you need to make an educated decision for yourself.

Thanks Iron, I believe it to be the 600, similar to this w/manual choke:

HOLLEY 600

is this diaphragm a single part or is it available only in a kit? And it is easily access without tearing the whole thing apart, correct? If I can fix this wrinkle I will go that route instead of 300 bux for a new carb.

 

[26Troadster]

that reminds me of a 1850 600, one of the more common ones. i've built a bunch with good luck. as for the diaphragm i'm not sure if you can get it by itself.

 

[bob w]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MI_-CQwqnl2wIVh7XACh2ljwSrEAQYBCABEgKJP_D_BwE

Any carb shop would have them too.

 

[dutch]

if it`s toast ,it`s toast, but I wouldn`t replace that for an eddy.... Never plug & play no matter what.
As for nowadays fuel, it eats rubber so replace lines regular and I can imagine it eats diaphragms too, but that goes for any carb....
I really like Holleys...

 

[05snopro440]

The Holley style carbs are very tunable and easy to work on. I certainly wouldn't trade one for an Edelbrock, but that's my preference.

Either rebuild the Holley (or get someone that knows how to) and enjoy.

 

[lazarat]

Ok thanks all, I am going for the green/alcohol diaphragm at summit unless I can find one locally. Summit ships fast and I need a few other things also.

Like I said I have no qualms with the Holley now as I have it working great except for the leak just a minor repair. At our recent get together I did see a lot of Holleys on the performance cars.

Thanks again.

 

[Bamamav]

I'm going to throw out another option----the Summit Carbs. No gaskets below the fuel level, so no leaks. They are a copy of one of the old Holleys and a close copy of the Autolite carbs that Ford ran in the early 60's. Manual or vacuum secondary are available. I have my third one on my Lincoln just waiting to start it up before long. I'll never go back to a Holley. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, they use Holley jets and such. I have a 600 cfm one on a Ford 460 in a E350 motor home, it has no problems keeping up.

 

[lazarat]

Something to consider, thanks.

 

[donsrods]

There is an old saying that goes " A Holley will win on race day, but a Carter will get you back home again". I have never been a fan of Holley carbs on a street driven car, the Carter/Edelbrock design is so much more simple and reliable, IMO.

A friend of mine said he pulled the Holleys off of his engine, put two Edelbrocks on it, and when he started the engine he sat back in a chair and watched it idle and run like a clock, and he said to himself "What have I done wrong, I didn't even have to adjust these things"!

In my family, we are running 6 Edelbrocks, (3 cars with 2 x 4 setups) and we never have to adjust them or touch them in any way. The cars sit for months, and we turn the key and they fire right up and run as if we never parked the car.

I know everyone has their preferences, and that is just mine. However, on the race built 355 I have sitting in the shop for some future project, I do have a 750 DP, because I wanted as much HP as possible.

 

[lowbudget50]

The Holley style carbs are very tunable and easy to work on. I certainly wouldn't trade one for an Edelbrock, but that's my preference.

Either rebuild the Holley (or get someone that knows how to) and enjoy.

I second this. I wouldn't run anything edelbrock. I havnt had good luck with there parts or customer service

 

[smallfoot]

I haven't touched Holleys since I tried Edelbrocks...they'll all work properly tuned tho...right out of the box will run pretty good!

 

[BlueNorther]

The Holley carbs with the one piece "liftoff" tops aren't a copy of the 4100 ford autolite carbs, it was a Marine application, to pass inspections that the standard float bowl Holley's would fail.

the old days of Holley's being "leakers" is long gone, properly cleaned and assembled with the blue "teflon" gas proof gaskets, they will stay sealed up for many, many years.

If you can't make a Holley equipped engine run right, you need to study up on feeding fuel to a motor. they are about as simple as it gets.

 

[sneakysnake]

Holley's have a needle/seat in the acc jet that likes to stick from the "new" gas these days and causes the diaphragm in the acc pump to rupture. It's an easy fix just don't drop the screw. Lol

 

[bgbrktracer]

Holley for racing, Edelbrock for street.