Without reigniting the debates over Holley vs. BG, I have some questions about some things I've read in other threads.

I have a 454 .030 over with about 8.75:1 compression, CC H280 cam, Merlin heads, and a performer RPM intake. On a recommendation from a friend, I got a Speed Demon 750 mechanical secondary dual inlet carb to top it off.After reading up, it sounds like a vacuum secondary is better for an auto transmission?

Anyway, my real question is, has anyone recently had the issue with metal shavings occur? I just got my carb yesterday. So, it's as new as they come (assuming it wasn't sitting on a shelf at Summit). I read that a lot has been done to remedy the problems and I was wondering if I still need to check it out? (I'm still kind of new to this stuff and really don't want to tear down a brand new carb right out of the box)

Another question, has anyone actually had any damage to their engine due to these shavings? I've seen a few people who were "concerned" about it, but I didn't see anyone actually say their cylinder walls were damaged.

Speaking of which, I keep reading these have a tendancy to run rich out of the box and there are a few people concerned that running too rich can damage rings? Is it something I need to be overly concerned with? Shouldn't I just be able to make the necessary adjustments (possibly after breaking in the cam)?

Also, should I use a spacer with this combo/carb?

I can offer some experience on some of your questions. I recently fired up my 540 with a 1000cfm Race Demon (my carb had been sitting around for a while and was not as "new" as yours I'm sure). I had heard about the metal shavings thing so I watched the carb to see if there were any problems. None. The only problems I had was that one of the snaprings for the sight plug wasn't seated all the way so there was a leak. Also, the bolts for the bowls were not tightened down causing a leak. After I got everything tightened up it worked flawlessly. I can't say for sure if it was too rich, I haven't gotten to that point yet. But I wouldn't be surprised. I don't think it caused any problems though.

Good luck!

Do not believe everything your read on the internet ;)
While I am sure BG, Holley, AFR, Brodix, EDE,,, the list goes on have had a few pieces get through with problems as no company is perfect the deal is if one person gets a problem you will hear about it from them & it will be repeated until every part sold is junk according to the "experts".
If 100 get perfect results you will usually hear about 5 of them :(

I have personally used about 15-20 Demons in the past few years & had no crap in the bowls, leaks, parts falling off,,, you get the idea,,,

Some have been rich, their instructions suck (they need to be more application specific for the carb in the box), their tech line has been both excellent & completely useless apparently depending on who answered the phone,,,, but they are in my opinion, an excellent carb as is the Holley HP series in the right application.

It is still a prudent plan to take the thing apart & check it but I honestly would not be afraid to bolt one on out of the box from what I have personally seen.

Now,,, all that said, you would probably be happier with a vacuum secondary for a street driven automatic deal ;)

I bought a Speed Demon 750, and have no problems with it at all. It did run a little rich at first but was easy to fix. I bought a book through Amazon for 16-17 bucks, "How to tune and win with Demon Carburation" and it has a hell of a lot of good info in it. Barry Grant wet flows all of their carbs, I would think that if there were any shavings in them that the wet flow process would eliminate them.
Steve

Raf and I just installed one on a 454 HO crate engine (RAFBO's ride), right outa the box. Checked the fasteners real quick and they were all tight. Filled it with fuel thru the vents and fired it up. The engine started on about the second time around and broke in fine. We fiddled around with the timing, but the carb runs great outa the box.
Jim