Carb question, need opinions of best streetable carb?

[EvilHorace]

I'm tired of my 800 cfm Race Demon carb in that it has NO CHOKE thus the engine must always be warmed up if I hope to drive it w/o it stalling when cold. I'm thus considering another carb that has a choke and yes, even an electric choke. Not crasy about vacuum secondaries however.

Has anyone used a Holley Street avenger carb and if so, good or bad?
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=4113&prmenbr=361

IMHO, it's not too expensive so its price isn't a problem but do the vacuum secondaries off enough power? I'm use to mechanical secondaries and have no complaints about the Demons power or driveability, just the cold warm up driveabilty that gets annoying.

Any opinions?

 

[dastang2]

800cfm on a 302, that is a good reason to get tired of it. i use an edelbrock 600cfm carb. it is an electric choke but i have it tied back. i have borrowed a street avenger 570 cfm and it felt peppier but after 20 minutes of driving it broke. it would start loading up and flood out until i got up to speeds. i guess the float got stuck.

 

[CoupedUp93]

800 CFM's, WOW. That will supply fuel for an 600 hp SB. But anyways there is a 625 cfm road demon. Its a Barry Grant prepped holley 4150 with electric choke. Its uses dual feed lines and runs about $340 through summit. You should have no trouble trading someone that 800 for a 625 or 650 straight up.

 

[79mustang]

I also run an edelbrock 600. Mines a vac. secondary. I use to have a holley 600 vac secondary. IMO the edelbrock is a very good carb for the street. I know one thing, it gets alot better gas mileage than the holley ever did.

 

[SmockDoiley]

Its all in the tune when it comes to driveability and mileage. I'm running a prepped 750 DP making 516 to the wheels and I manage 15 mpg. They are right though, unless thats a crazy race engine, I would go no higher than a 650. There is nothing wrong with vacuum secondaries. My old 390/4-speed Javelin busted out 12.8s with street tires with ease and it had a 750 V.S. out of a truck. DP's are for racing because they have no way of compensating for different elevations or weather conditions, and that is where a VS comes into play. I was able to run my DP on the street because I was in San Diego where it is flat and always warm so the carb ran great everyday. IF your going to run the carb on the street I would also recommend a Demon carb with electric choke. I would suggest the Road Demon also because its cheap, its vac. sec. and has an electric choke. But if your engine is pretty racey then I would step up to a speed demon 650. If you go with a speed demon get it from the guy on Ebay because its a few bucks cheaper and comes with the fuel line which usually isnt the case. He has like 1000 feedback and offers full warranty and everything. I used a 625 Road Demon on my old combo with a stock 86 block with E-303 cam and exhaust and the car ran 13.8s. So thats 2 cars in which the VS has responded very well for me. I dont recommend Edelbrocks because they dont have the market of speed parts, have less tunability and wont make as much power. And if you ask me, they are ugly. Really I doubt you would see much power difference between a VS and MS, and that would be made up by your better mileage and street manners.

 

[JDraper]

I have an Edelbrock 600 with the electric choke on my '66 289 and I'm quite happy with it. My engine is moderately modified (0.040" bore, intake, aluminum heads, cam, roller rockers, long tube headers, electronic ignition, etc.). I have found it to be very easy to tune, and it seems to hold it's tune better than the Holley carbs I have run in the past. For street use, it's great, and I get around 15 mpg with 3.27's and a c-4 tranny.

 

[Marks5.0!]

my buddy has the 770 street avenger on a bored and stroked 351w in a 68 cougar and he swears that its been the best carb hes ever had.

 

[EvilHorace]

my buddy has the 770 street avenger on a bored and stroked 351w in a 68 cougar and he swears that its been the best carb hes ever had

That's the carb I was thinking of. My car also has a 351W (SVO HO crate engine) so the 770 should be right.
I've never been too crazy about Edelbrock carbs but perhaps some are better than those I've dealt with in years past.

 

[hllon4whls]

I'm with smock and the others. 650 road demon IMO is one of the best carbs out there. 800 cfm is way too much carb for most 302's.

 

[408stroker5.0]

EvilHorace... you say you have a 351W SVO Crate Engine in your Stang... Well for one thing that 800 Demon is WAY to much carb. What you need is a 650 Speed Demon. Depending on what you got for a cam the Vacuum Secondary Speed Demon w/Electric Choke would work just fine and would make both great power and still be economical at the same time. Mechanical secondary would be the better way to go to get the most power out of your 351 but you can't get them with a choke. You could go with a 750 but my personal feeling is the 650 would work better.... If you were to call Barry Grant I'd bet alot of money they'd tell you to run a 650... reason being is there carb's are wet flow tested which would make there 650cfm carb equal out close to a 750 Holley.
Go with the Speed Demon.... No Edelbrock's, No Holley Street Avenger's (They Suck) etc. etc.

Shon

P.S. If possible post your engine spec's (Cam, Compression, Head's, Main Use etc. etc.)

 

[90NotchBack]

Holley 750 Double pumper is a great street carb for me. I driver it every day. Never have to worry about it.

 

[EvilHorace]

Hmmmm, it is rated by Ford to have 385HP using an 800 cfm carb in their tests but no, I'm not racing, just driving it on the streets. The engine handles the carb fine but does run richer than it probably should and sucks gas too BUT that engine was designed for racing, not fuel economy. The car's also just a summer only weekend toy, not a daily driver. Plugs aren't fouling (look good) and oil is never gassed.

When I first bought this car, the previous owner had a newer Edelbrock vacuum secondary carb on it with a Performer intake as it then didn't have hood clearance for the motors included Victor Jr intake (I've changed all that since). I still have that carb in my garage and w/o digging it up and checking #s, I'm guessing that it's a 650 cfm carb? Needless to say, that carb restricted power compared to the current carb so I believe that my engine will do better with a 750 cfm carb vs smaller.

Summit sells a Speed Demon "crate motor carb" (750 cfms) for crate motors rated from 385-420HP and it even has an electric choke, no pic however:

http://store.summitracing.com/defau...asp&part=GPT-1402010VC385&N=120 200301 303503

Their list for Demon 650 cfm "tuned crate motor carbs" are for 302s and others with less HP:
http://store.summitracing.com/eproduct.asp?N=120+4294925239+4294925135+306153


I've read where some people complain about Demon Carbs too so although perhaps opinionated, why do Holley Street Avenger's "suck" in comparison? To me, they seem fairly similar and the Holley might even be more adjustable, at least from the descriptions listed at Summit or Jegs sites.

 

[dastang2]

No Edelbrock's, No Holley Street Avenger's (They Suck) etc. etc.




what is so sucky about an edelbrock 1406 600cfm electric choke carb. i use one and it aint broken and never has given me any trouble and so have a lot of others and some that posted earlier. i want to know what is so bad about them, just wanna find out. i don't see any reason to say that my carburetor sucks.

 

[SmockDoiley]

Your carb probably is fine because you have a stock 5.0. Edelbrocks are fine with stock use or bolt and go but thats about it. They are a horrible design when it comes to flow and dont get me started on their tunability. A 289 is a great engine if you dont touch it, but would you want to throw a 347 stroker kit in it?

 

[dastang2]

who said my motor is stock, all i need is heads, i got the cam and other mumbo jumbo already, i stand by my carb since the new holley i borrowed didn't last an hour and i didn't backfire either.

 

[82boy]

all i can say is give jesse at bigs a call 715-835-3726 anything you would want or need he can make or do.

 

[EvilHorace]

I ordered the Speed Demon crate motor carb (750 cfm) as it's probably the best direct replacement carb for my Race Demon (just bolt on and go) except that it has an electric choke so no more need to warm up the engine before driving it.
Thanks to all who gave advice, opinions.

 

[rd]

I would recommend staying with the Holley vacuum secondary type.

The Holley 8005 on my Capri was bought new in 1986, and has over 150,000 miles on it, with only minor attention and a couple new gaskets here and there. Has run low 15s and currently will get 21 mpg with a c4 trans setup.

I had a Holley 600 vs on my 351 Bronco for 7 years, also worked perfectly.

I have an 80457s on the Mustang, with a vs spring change cover, but no other mods and it has run flawlessly for 3 years, including the low 13 quarter mile and high 7 sec eigth mile passes. (Equates to low 12s)

The electric chokes are the way to go. Work perfectly, never seem to need attention. Just hook up that Ford specific one wire from the alternator and they work reliably forever.

Yes, I have put gaskets in them regularly. I buy gaskets in the Holley gasket packs from Summit, but do not need to buy entire rebuild kits. Much cheaper.

Their stuff is available everywhere, and the Holley tech service via phone or email is excellent.

They have helped save and setup some incredible old carbs for us, like a 1965 Chevy 5 ton truck carb we got on a Scout, for example.