[jakester]

I'd like to replace the Holly 750 vac secondary (borrowed from buddy) on my 70 SS454. I'm running an LS6 cam, solid lifters, Weiand Stealth dual plane intake, M21, 373 12 bolt posi. My car is a daily driver (I know, quite a beast for a driver!) so I'm looking for a carb that will keep its tune, be somewhat fuel efficient, yet also perform.
I'm leaning toward the Edelbrock Performer 1411 (AFB clone) 750 vac sec. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[mark67ss]

I gotta tell ya I would stick with a holly carb. They are by far the easiest carbs to modify and rebuild. I use a 750 double pump on my 454 and am very happy with the results. Any bigger than a 780 and I would question fuel consumption as well as driveability. Remeber bigger isn't always better, especially when it comes to carbs.Just my two cents take it for what its worth.

 

[ACES-70]

Quadrajet, gets my vote, but buy new NOT remanufactured, through my years I have had the best luck going this path, I have had to use Holleys on my 375 HP cars and for street use found them to be a pain in the behind, just my cents worth ,Later L89SEDAN

 

[StingrayL82]

Quadrajunk! Quadrajunk!....oh, I mean Quadrajet! Quadrajet! Seriously, though, I am partial to the Rochesters just because you don't have to screw around with tuning them all the time, but that's if you're taking it to the track. For some reason every Holley I've owned goes out of whack every time I romp down on it. The Quadrajet is a pain in the butt when it comes time for a rebuild, though. Both carbs are okay, depending what you want to do with them. If you want to save money, get a new Holley...a new Rochester 795cfm Quadrajet will run you in the neighborhood of $450....of course I have a Vette, so the price is probably jacked up because of that. The Holley 750cfm with vacuum secondaries that's in my 69 Malibu 350 is okay, but a little big. I'd rather have a 600 or 650cfm.

StingrayL82

 

[Joe Harrison]

I would look into a Barry grant sports claw. I have never owned one but was reading a post a few weeks back and every one really liked it I think it was under "perfromance" and the title of the post was Holly or Q-Jet not sure you may have to look around for it. For the money (around $450.00) it seems to be a very nice carb. It is a brand new carb and not a reworked holly they look very nice in the summit book. I will most likly stay with the Q-Jet on my 69 SS396 mainly for the stock appearance. If I had a car like yours I would step up to the Barry Grant and give it a try evry one has such good things to say about it, if you can maybe you can barrow one from someone, or put up post asking about them.

------------------
CRUISER

 

[von]

If you want a
reliable, economical carb, you can't beat a good used Quadrajet. Set 'em and forget 'em. You can buy a used one for $20-$40 and put a rebuild kit in for another $30 and you're set. They really aren't that complicated. Get a book on Rochester carburetors to help with the setup and get jets and metering rods at a carb shop (used). The small primraries give good fuel mileage (relatively) with the large secondaries still providing 700-750 CFM at W.O.T. The only problem is the manifold. You'll have to get an adapter or different manifold. It may not give the highest HP, but it won't be that far off if set up right. Just try to keep your right foot out of the secondaries and the gas mileage will be decent. von

 

[Kyle_H]

id just have to say this, why worry about fuel economy and if it will "hold" its settings, when you have a solid lift cam witch you should have to at least pull the valve covers every two weeks? if you want something that will be drivable get rid of the solid cam and get a dual feed vacum secondary 750 holley. For the engine you have now, which in my opinion is a little much for what you want to do, get a manual secondary double pumper 750 holley.

do or say what you wish but I have a '70 LS6 chevelle that i drove to school everyday (my only vehicle) i ended up putting a hydrolic cam and a carb much like the one you borrowed on it so it would be "drivable". now that I have bought a truck to drive a bigger cam & carb are going back on it.

either way you go, good luck

Kyle

 

[RCBach]

I'd also say Q-Jet. I have a similar combination on my '71. Great throttle response, nice idle, a little lacking on the top end but the automatic choke is great.

 

[Steve S]

Can someone pleas tell me who started the rumor that all solid cams have to be adjusted monthly? This is just not true. It doesn't matter if the cam is solid or hydraulic. If your rocker nuts don't stay put you will have to adjust them constantly. Don't change the cam change to poly locks.
As far as carbs for the street. I like the 750cfm Holley q-jet replacement. All the advantages of both carbs. Direct bolt on for q-jet (including divorced choke hook up), small primaries and huge secondaries, Holley internals and tunability.

 

[john e]

Carter AFB is a good carb right out the box, i bolted mine on 2yrs ago set the idle and havent touched it since, by the way its the same as those edelbrock carbs(they're all made by weber), and less than $200 for a 750.

 

[Bob Tiley]

I can highly recommend the Barry Grant Sports Claw. The 750cfm version would run nicely on your 454. My buddy just installed a 650 Sports claw on his 69 camaro small block with bow tie heads and the driveability improvement was phenominal.

 

[jakester]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and suggestions! I've heard so many good things about the BG SportsClaw that I am definitely considering and researching it. Any other info or experience with the SportsClaw will be appreciated! Jake.

 

[Kevin]

Another vote for the Sports Claw. A drag racer friend of mine who's tried every type of carb just splurged ($399 - Jegs) for his 440 Mopar (yeah I know) and the difference is amazing. Driveability (sp?) and power at the same time. There's no choke available 'til Jan '99 though.

 

[Pete 70SS]

I posted a question on this site recently to seek carb advice. After careful thought and much deliberation I ordered a Sports Claw.
Oh not such a good choice. No choke, barely ran cold and was never able to get the "bog" adjusted out of it. Maybe way to much carb for my engine/combo, Barry Grant people were FIRST CLASS !! Offered to have me send them the carb and they would dial in/dyno it for me. They are a "class act". Primarily due to the obvious they arranged to have me return it !! Now I'm back to square 1....The only Q-Jet we could find new was for a 69 with air injection..not correct either. So far I'm finding out that generally I should have listened better to some of the good advice here and not have been greedy looking for that elusive performance "edge". leaning heavily toward an AFB or simply rebuilding the ever needing adjustment holley. Sorry that this is so lengthy but I say be careful as the Sports Claw is apparently very high performance oriented..

 

[Cameano]

I have to put in a word here for the Edelbrock/Weber/AFB carb. I like it. I have a 600cfm Edelbrock on my 71 C/10, with a 309" sbc, and it's great. Quarter throttle squirt in the morning, turn the key, and it fires up immediately, and stays running, with no choke, and no gassing it. (Okay, so I live in Hawaii, I have the ceiling fan on right now). Still, it's a great carb, for a really decent price. This is my daily driver, which regularly tows a 2000lb trailer. Very forgiving carb, due to it's spreadbore design. Even if I really need to shift down, while towing, I can still just give it some more gas, and it'll keep pulling. And this with a Torquer2, single plane intake! I recommend them to my friends, if I'm building an engine for them, for performance. Very easy to tune, too. Can get everything you need to tune one in one complete kit, for a decent price. Much easier than tracking down jets and rods for the Quadrajet at the junkyard.

When I used to hang out at the local speedshop, (my good friend happened to be the manager), I used to see at least once a month, an unsatisfied customer walk in with a just-purchased Holley 750 vaccum, and say it's not working right, that something was wrong with the carb. Most of the time, there was no improvement in the vehicle's running, i.e., the miss was still there, when you jump on the throttle, or something to that effect. Most of these guys failed to see the big picture, in my opinion, and were blaming the carb for some problem the ignition or a mechanical defect was causing. Sad, but true.

BTW, I'm waiting for my BG 850 SportsClaw, and a few other goodies from Summit for my 468 I'm building, for my 64 El Camino. I'll post my opinion about it when I get the car on the road, probably around February or March (it's a mess right now, still waitin' for a chance to pull the body off the frame, to detail the frame).
Just my .02. Darren

[This message has been edited by Cameano (edited 11-25-98).]

 

[COPO]

The best quad carb if you can find one is from a 1968 BB Chevelle.

Mark

 

[c502cid]

Nothing personal guys, but get out of the dark ages. It sounds like a serious daily driver, and it doesn't need a carb. Put on Electronic Fuel Injection and all your wants will be met. Yes it is expensive and it will take some time to dial in, but the results will be well worth it.

 

[Dave66]

I am also running an Edelbrock 600 CFM carb on my '66 ZZ4 daily driver, which sees about 350 miles per week. Car starts, idles, and runs great, and the only thing you may need to keep up with is the idle mixture and speed and the choke setting. After that, if you have the jets and rods and springs the way you want you don't have to do anything to it for months (maybe years). The rods and step-up springs can be changed in five minutes. The jets can be changed in ten minutes. It's really simple.

As far as fuel injection, give me $2000 and maybe I'll consider it.

 

[Jimmy P]

OK, here's my 2 cents worth. I've been a Holly guy for years. Buy em, modify em, rebuild em, change jets, bla bla bla, bla bla bla. After seeing so many friends run the new Edelbrocks, I tried one. I love it. It's first class from the get go. You get a full owners manual in the box. It explains tuning and modifications very well. Although, hardly any fiddling is needed. It runs better than any Holley out of the box. They are priced well. I just wouldn't use one on anything over 500 horsepower out of the box. I believe a modified 750 can support up to 600 or so horse power.