Hey gang,
I have a chance to buy a 1050 # 8896-1 and a Victor 454R # 2907 for a very good price. The combo was on a buddies 499 where it ran 10.2 @ 130. So I know it works.
The carb is nearly new, an HP model and is untouched.
My engine guy thinks there might have been problems with the new HP dominators? Something about the design team at Holley leaving the company before the carbs were perfected.
Any thoughts?
We do feel that my combo would like a dominator over the 950.
Ron

What is your motor combo?

070 over 454 with a 4.25" stroke.
Scat crank, manley rods SRP pistons. Approx 10:1 CR
AFR 305 CNC chamber heads.
Comp XR292R Extreme Energy Roller 254/260 .660/.666 110 cam.

Ron

It is my understanding that the drag strip will like it (ie more power) but street driving will be difficult do to bad idle characteristics. Not speaking from experience though....

I think the victor manifold is more of a problem on a street car than the Dominator. I ran a Dominator on the street with a dual plane manifold and it worked ok. The idle was fine even with a ZL-1 cam the problem is the pri. throttles are so big that metering can be a problem at part throttle. The large single plane victor will only make the problem worse.

Although this is a street car, sort of, it doesn't really get driven much more than to and from the drag strip.

some of the dominators have an intermediate circuit, does this help?

Ron

Well,
After a discussion with Quick Fuel Technology, it seems that the new HP Dominators don't have a very decent fuel curve as delivered. And, without substantial rework, it can't be fixed. i'm really not into buying a carb for $400 and then spending another $600 on it to make it correct.
So I'll be passing on a dominator for now. Maybe some time down the road.
I'll stick with my trusty 900HP, one of the ones Holley got right.
Ron

One more thing....Quick fuel is owned and operated by former Holley Engineers.
Ron

Personally I wouldn't run a Dominator on a street car but remember the people you talked to are trying to sell you a product. You must take anything they say with a grain of salt.

I've run my 496 with an older style 8896 Dominator on a taper spacer to a Victor Jr intake. My cam is just one step down from what you have, idles great and is easy to drive around town.

Thomas

Dominators can be great street carbs. You either have to start with the right one, or modify it. I've been using a "home modified" 9375 annular for about 9-10 years now and it's great. We all know Dominators are great at WOT, and they do good at idle, but typically they are dead fat in the midrange which just doesn't work on the street.

The trick IMHO is to make sure it has power valves, at least on the primary. There are carb builders who swear thay can make it perfectly streetable without them, but I've seen/ridden in several and it just ain't so, even from some of the "top names". I drilled and added a PV to the primary of mine. This allowed jetting to come way down to allow for a decent part throttle. I also played with the intermediate circuit at length and ended up killing it off on the primary side. The issue is that during part throttle cruising you will get enough throttle opening/vacuum signal to activate fuel flow through it and it will go very rich. Not good. The intermediate is needed primarily with an auto car that comes up hard on the converter at the line. It allows fuel to be added at the relatively small throttle opening so that there will be plenty of pump shot left as you transistion ot full throttle.

I've received comments from several different chassis and engine dyno operators over the years about the smoothness of my carb and the ease with which we make tuning adjustments. It only takes a few simple mods to make them near perfect.

For what it's worth, I originally used it on a 427 with a Holley Strip Dominator intake and spacer/adapter. .725 rollers etc. Next that engine was detuned with a Comp 288 street roller and it was on a Team G single plane. Worked perfect on the street with 3.36 gears and a Doug Nash 5 speed and got 14 mpg. It's since been on several versions of my 540" and has made 825HP on pump gas as well as make crosscountry trips (Houston to Bowling Green Ky.) and gets right at 13 mpg with 3.07 gears!

Look for the version with 2 circuits and PV's. It can be a perfect starting point for a street carb.


JIM

I've got a 8896 Dominator and it seems to work pretty darn good. I can idle it down if need be, no problems there but I usually have it at 1200rpm or so idle. Get one and give it a try, I'd bet you'll be happy with it on your 496.

Ron,
Pretty sure the 8896-1 is a three circuit with no power valve but the block is machined for one so possibly Jim could help you modify it without much trouble. ;)
Should give you the option of trying it both with & without the intermediate circuit & power valve.

The 8896 comes with a front and rear power valve from the factory and yeah it's a 3 circuit

Originally posted by 505Nova:
The 8896 comes with a front and rear power valve from the factory and yeah it's a 3 circuit =
Shows what I know :D
I thought they came machined for a power valve with a plug in them??
The only ones I have seen had plugs & 88 jets in them as I recall??

OK, since the Dom's seem to be a street ride pain, what's wrong with using an old 950 or 1050 cfm Holley three barrel and be done with it??

Might have to do some hunting...

pdq67

Originally posted by pdq67:
OK, since the Dom's seem to be a street ride pain, what's wrong with using an old 950 or 1050 cfm Holley three barrel and be done with it??

Might have to do some hunting...

pdq67 =
Paul,
These were pretty fair "back in the day",,, you know, back when men were men & sheep were nervous :D

But they just won't compare to the newer HP series & Dominators when it comes to power.

I had one of the 950's on a 460 & a 482 & never could get it right.
Went back to the old 850 mechanical 3418 I think it was & it always ran faster??

Yeah Mike they should have plugs in them, but Holley ships them with 88's and 6.5" PV's in them for some reason - at least they did when I got mine over a year ago. Makes it pretty rich out of the box you might say. 88's w/no PV's is about right at least on my car.

I still have an old 1050 3BBL....neat to play with but anything double pumper will do better. I used a 9375 with annulars because I was using it on such a small engine with a huge cam. Hoped it would help streetability. It did well after the few tweeks. It came with 92's all the way around and no PV's. My typical street jetting is 81-82s's in the front on the street depending on time of year along with PV.

Annulars probably aren't needed with it's current combo, but I think they help with street driveability with a stick in it. No converter to allow it to "rev" easily...has to be dead on with a stick.

Interstingly, during the last dyno session it was showing 1173 cfm moving through it but was still pulling 1.8"+ of vaccum above 7000 rpm. I tried a 1400cfm mega $$ carb ( I mean like SERIOUS borrowed from a very well know ProStock racer) to try just for the heck of it. It only picked up 6 HP over my homebuilt piece, but I gotta admit his fuel curve was much prettier than mine! It looked like you hit the "copy" button and just kept printing the A/F and BSFC columns all the way down the page!

Anyway, don't be scared of a Dominator if you get a good deal on it. They can work great. Otherwise a nice modified 1000+cfm 4150 model will also make serious power and you can tell everyone it's a 850!!


JIM

My uncle just got 1 1150, 1 700, and 1 1250 at a court ordered auction (wife taking half the man's stuff) for $250 last week. He's restoring my '70 Chevelle, and I started wondering how I could make one of them work for street use. What a deal though. He and the others there "let" the guy buy back the parts he wanted, just so he could "split" the money with his wife (of 6 months). Anyway, glad to hear some are making them work on the street.

Kinda like my Buddy that loaned me the cherry-picker...

We got ta ya-ya'in about wives and he said his second turned 180 degrees after he married her in 6 months!! He said she had a 180 degree face that she NEVER showed him while dating.. Turned into a REAL WITCH no less!!!

Needless ta say they stayed married about a year!!! My friend has recently married again AND I'm pulling for him this time...

Sorry to hear about your Uncles friend's lack of wife material judgement...

pdq67

Well, this is all pretty confusing. I don't know how to modify carbs, at least not like this. I know my 950HP works fine on the street. And I do have drive to and from the track. One track is 40 miles away, all freeway. And if the thing goes down the freeway dead rich, that won't be a good thing.
Ron

Get the setup from your buddy and try it, that 8896 is a good carb. Depending on what he's already done with it, you might have to jet the front down and plug the back powervalve. He's probably already done all that. If you don't like that carb I doubt you would have much trouble selling it.

Good point, I'll buy it and try it on the dyno. Not so hard to swap manifolds there.
Ron

So,
It turns out theis is actually a 9375-1 carb. Holley says this is for dual quad applications.
So this would not be right on a single 4 manifold.......right?
Ron

Ron454,

I am running that exact carb. on my 454 +.030" BBC, 11.5:1 compression. Dart 310cc Rect. Heads. A lot have commented that the carburetor is too big, but it has run a 10.30 @ 129mph on a mild tune in a 3700# chevelle. I really like the carb., initial concerns because of a problem with getting it to idle. I took it to Dave Lang at Fuel Curve West in Upland, CA. Told him what I was running, he did his "tune-up" and all I have had to do is change the high speed air-bleeds for tuning. I love it!

9375 is what I started with. It has annular boosters, no PV's and 3 circuits. I added a PV to primary side and down jetted it for street use as well as added the "super soft" progressive linkage to make it very driveable. Also killed primary intermediate circuit. Not hard to set up...just takes a little tweeking.


Jim

Thanks for all the comments folks!
I appreciate it.
Jim,
How hard was it to add the front PV?
Ron

Originally posted by Ron454:
Thanks for all the comments folks!
I appreciate it.
Jim,
How hard was it to add the front PV?
Ron =
Ron,
On the 8896 it is very difficult & you will no doubt need professional help & very special tools,,,,,,, you have to unscrew the plug & screw a power valve in it's place & change the jets which also takes more special tooling :D :D

Just kidding, it should really be that simple.
This is assuming it doesn't already have power valves in it.

Ha!
You had me going.......
The car was supposed to be an8896, turns out it's a 9375.

And HotRod540 said "The trick IMHO is to make sure it has power valves, at least on the primary. There are carb builders who swear thay can make it perfectly streetable without them, but I've seen/ridden in several and it just ain't so, even from some of the "top names". I drilled and added a PV to the primary of mine. This allowed jetting to come way down to allow for a decent part throttle."

So that was the part I was refering to.....

Ron

For what its worth I love my 1050!! (with the progressive linkage and PV in primary and secondary from Summit).

Milan

Anyone running an old #6464 1050??? :rolleyes: