My carb just returned from Holley after a complete restoration, Is the finish on this carb typical ? seems a little funky to me.:confused:

Looks about right. I think I have two of the exact same carbs on my work bench right now. I'm trying to figure out what is the cfm's and what type of carb it is. Can you help me out?? Also, can you send me more pictures of your restored carb???? Thanks.

My carb just returned from Holley after a complete restoration,

How much? Do you have a contact number/email DIRECTLY to the "rebuild" area? I have been thinking of doing this, but I have a few issues with my carb...

My friend just one rebuilt by Holley. On his carb it looked like the finish was from a spray can versus a plating? Is that what you mean by funky?

It sure doesn't look like what I remember a brand new Holley carb looking like. That does look like it came out of a spray can. Very disappointing if that's what Holley is doing these days :sad:

Mine was restored by Craig Woodruff. If I remember, I'll take a pic of it tonight and post it.

(For those here who don't know me, I do carb restorations as well, but I mainly post over at www.yenko.net )

Seb;

I've seen several carbs done by Holley that look like that. It appears to be a pretty standard finish for them.

I try to shoot for what I consider to be a more original "green/gold" finish as in the following pics:

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/79866-4555%209B1%20DS.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/79867-4555%209B1%20PS.jpg

(That was a 1970 List # 4555 carb I did a couple of years ago)

To be fair, there is no such thing as an "industry standard" when it comes to the finish that was on these carbs originally. I've seen everything from the super-gold as above to hardly any color at all on original carbs.

Every restorer has their own proprietary way of doing things and their own blends of chemicals, hence the wide range of finishes.

Hope that helps.

Eric

I had the carb for the L79 redone by Holley and I also own an original unused 3310 intended for a 425hp 396. The finish created by Holley on the restoration of the L79 carb looked perfectly even and consistant. The color was a bit more goldish and a bit less shiny than the original finish on my other untouched original carb. After the finish on the L79 carb aged a bit and got a little fuel on it, it had more of the uneven, slightly more shiny finish than the original finish.

I'm sure the plating on the restoration service is much more meticulous than the production line plating used on carbs back in the day. Given massive changes in EPA regulations, the plating itself may be different. I would expect that the more flat finish on the restored carbs is due to how they clean and prep the parts during the restoration process. The parts are no longer "fresh out of the mold" smooth.

I think the results of their restoration service are outstanding. If you think the new plating finish is just paint, simply spill a little gasoline on the finish and put the carb through a few heat cycles and you'll see the finish you may remember from "back in the day".

I've also seen some carbs come back more brown than gold, sometimes greenish gold, I think it depends on how fresh the plating chemical bath is when your carb is redone and the overall condition of the metal. A lot depends on how long the piece is left in the plating bath and the chemical composition of the bath as well. I'd venture a guess that Holley restoration services probably lays on the plating slightly heavier than they would in a purely mass production environment.

I can provide a side by side photo of my original untouched carb and my restored carb if anyone is interested.

I was talking more of the color than quality of the finish, the quality is fine I don't believe it is from a can but the color seems more goldish compared to the new aftermarket double pumper that came on the car.
They have two levels of carb service 1- rebuild, 2-full restoration
the full resto was about $425, a little pricey but I thought who better to rebuild a Holley than Holley.Will know if it was the right choice once it's on the car.
http://www.holley.com/CustomSpeedShop/
The carb is the original #3874898 ER list 3139 that came on My 396 325hp car.Heres a couple more pic's.

The only thing I had to do to mine was to correctly set the float levels and the curb idle.

Eric, I think yours looks closer to original.

EddieC67ss;

Thank you. I try very hard to stay true to the original finish(es) and to also avoid "over-restoring" them.

Eric

Eric knows his stuff, too!

In case you're wondering Eric...It's Xplantdad from the Y-net! :)

Eric knows his stuff, too!

In case you're wondering Eric...It's Xplantdad from the Y-net! :)

Hiyas :waving:

I knew that `66 in your sig looked familiar. :D

Thanks for the kind words.

Eric

Eric,
glad to see your bring some of your knowledge over here.:beers:

Donnie

I was talking more of the color than quality of the finish, the quality is fine I don't believe it is from a can but the color seems more goldish compared to the new aftermarket double pumper that came on the car.
They have two levels of carb service 1- rebuild, 2-full restoration
the full resto was about $425, a little pricey but I thought who better to rebuild a Holley than Holley.Will know if it was the right choice once it's on the car.
http://www.holley.com/CustomSpeedShop/
The carb is the original #3874898 ER list 3139 that came on My 396 325hp car.Heres a couple more pic's.

Did you try to contact Holley? What did they say?

Did you try to contact Holley? What did they say?

I'm going to give them a call on Monday ,overall I'm happy with the work ,just that color is a little annoying.There website shows a resto that looks very similar in color so it's probably there normal finish in the resto shop. Nothing a big ole air cleaner can't take care of. ;)

Seb

For what it's worth, here are some photos of my carb which was restored by Holley and a brand new, never yet used Holley carb with it's original finish. In my instance, the original one looks more gold (which surprised me actually).

Keep in mind that the restored carb, the one on the engine, was restored 7-8 years ago and has seen some use. As I mentioned above, putting it through a few heat cycles changed the color somewhat and time has changed it some too.

http://heartland.chevelles.net/RCstorage/carbcompare1.jpg

http://heartland.chevelles.net/RCstorage/carbcompare2.jpg

To try to compare the carbs on more of an even footing, this photo shows the restored carb how it looked when it arrived in the box (the one sitting on the black box) and the lower half shows the original untouched, unused carb.

http://heartland.chevelles.net/RCstorage/carbcompare3.jpg

Thanks Rich,
Looks very similar to mine, like you said probably just needs some time in use to dull the color down and bring back it's normal look.Thanks for the pic's, I'll just leave well enough alone.:thumbsup:
Seb