A question for the V8 Guru's: Holley vs Edelbrock

[dangerous doug]

14 minutes ago, Soren Frimodt said:

Geebus!  And all of that to make 300HP I bet? 

Having just bought a yank truck i can say that 300bhp will be massive torque but not much in the way of rpm. mine is TBI and squirts about the same only in a SLIGHTLY more controlled manor

[FridgeFreezer]

Probably right - we had  6.8 V10 F350 in Alaska and I swear that was slower than a fully laden 200TDi 110 I floored it once trying to overtake and nothing whatsoever happened.

[Soren Frimodt]

I suppose when fuel is that cheap, efficiency isn't the main concern?

[Cynic-al]

You tend to find that there is such a range of climates and altitudes in the US and with being out of phone signal being common a big, low stressed engine is traditionally preferred. It's just a shame they insist on coupling that to a big old lazy auto box. 

Efficient smaller cars are very common over there, you see a lot of minis or small toyotas and kias. Although to us the fuel is cheap to them its ever increasing 

 

[FridgeFreezer]

We got a Kia on a trip to Portland and I ended up getting a refund from the petrol station as I completely failed to squeeze $20 worth of fuel in despite having driven hundreds of miles that was a gutless piece of cr&p too although no-one would expect otherwise!

Isn't their standard fuel lower octane or something like that?

[RedLineMike]

us regular is 89 octane IIRC, premium is about 95

[FridgeFreezer]

So they're just rubbish then?

[elbekko]

IIRC it's a slightly different octane rating (but of course), their 89 is 93 ish for us I think.

[Cynic-al]

Yeah the little kia engines with the miserable auto boxes don't make for a fun drive. Lots of noise and no progression. They also seem to fit Tigger soft suspension which seems to lead of the tail wagging the dog.  Their endless sets of traffic lights and stupidly low speed limits make things frustrating too. But yeah I've done it before where I've pre paid $40 for fuel then had to go back in and ask for a refund   

[qwakers]

if you think all kia's are carp come drive mine,  youll be Very surprised.

 

their cheap end are like all econoboxes, cheap fuel efficient and not very nice to drive.

 

their more expensive models though? ive driven a lot of land rovers premium products, id still rather drive my sorento......

[Cynic-al]

I've had 3 kias as hire cars, one was a little box with no power and an auto box from the arc. It drove ok and got me around but was definitely a budget car. Didn't even have central locking which took me back  One was a small saloon - fortis maybe? It was much nicer than say an astra in every way. The third was a 7 seater - Sedona? It was hideous. Awful engine, dreadful gearbox, awful interior all the plastic was cheap and cracking, wouldn't demist, and I don't just mean it needed a wipe I had to stop constantly for about the first hour of driving, electrics were iffy and the ride was dreadful. Anything over 60 and it got tanker slap. It's one of the few cars where the thought of going out in it actually made me shudder.

So although they are very popular and probably make a lot of good cars I'm afraid in summary I still have a bit of a downer on them :/

[red-dragon]

Have the Holley 4 barrel 650 on my v8. It works brilliantly most of the time. As others have said, once set up it is nice and reliable.

However, when descending at a very steep angle and not applying any throttle (or worse - braking), it will rich-cut and is a nightmare to get the engine started again (if even possible) until you get level. Not ideal when you are in that situation. Hard to remedy it by going WOT (add air to compensate for the extra fuel) maintain control, and do brakes/ clutch/ handbrake at the same time unless you are some sort of offroading octopus. 

I am looking at some options to stop this from happening. The issue everyone is talking about with regards carb operation at severe angles is usually to do with vents/ bowls overflowing. On the holley 650 the main culprit appears to be the brass overflow tubes that extend upward. At certain angles fuel can flow out of these and into the venturi - causing overfueling (flooding). I suspect a possible solution is that these can be extended and routed within the larger air intake pipe, to stop fuel spilling in the fashion described. However there could be other internals that cause flows to happen at angles that wouldn't be there in what Holley consider "normal" operating angles.

I would also be keen to listen to anyone else's advice on the matter, as I plan to keep my carb set up- but I would like to get it functioning as well at extreme angles as it does on a level. There must be a way!!!

As for Edelbrock v Holley - not much in it, but I chose Holley for what felt like a better quality and value balance. As far as I understand it both suffer from the angle issue we are discussing,  and as another poster pointed out the Edelbrock has side slung floats whereas the Holley has front and back slung floats. One assumes therefore if you are on a big side angle that is when the Edelbrock would be exhibiting similar issues to what I have described above. On reflection, that would probably be a less big deal compared to "nose down" rich cuts  ... So maybe there is your answer!?

[Soren Frimodt]

Red-dragon, I've blatantly copied some yanks and have had great succes with fitting a second Facet pump to draw the fuel back from the fuel bowls at the desired float height, works brilliantly.

Thanks for the input on the carbs, the decision will probably come down to what's best value at the time. Won't be purchased anytime soon anyways

Edited March 27, 2018 by Soren Frimodt