Are Holleys crap?

[Ben B.]

I bought an engine for my K10 which has a brand spankin new holley on it...plain jane 650 4bbl.

Are they bad carbs for offroad?

 

[mnstrburbon]

they are not the best for steep hil climbs or decents but tohre than that a great carb easy to work on and fine tune for a motor aplication.
a quadrajet is better for inclines and such and are easy and cheap to come by.
I run a holley and dont have any problems.

 

[ramjet gmc]

they suck

the best use for them is race moters and you need to rebuild them all the time

 

[Big Blzn]

I Love mine; 670 TA.

If they suck why would you put them on any motor especially a race motor?

 

[longbedder]

They are decent and robust carbs - very simple and great for power at part and wide-open throttle. I really enjoyed driving mine that I had in my '71 (especially with mechanical secondaries).

They tend to be rich at idle, and are not as tuneable throughout the RPM range as a quadrajet design. You will bun more gas with them on a street truck in mixed driving than you would with a tuned q-jet. For offroading just get a offroad kit for the float/bowl.

They're also really easy to work on and you can get reusable bowl gaskets.

 

[1BURBAN]

I have had good luck with my holley carbs 2-3 years between rebuilds. as stated they don't like steep inclines or of camber driving but they are still good carbs as far as a carb goes. one point of intrest on the holley is that if for some reason you get a good backfire through the carb it will usually kill the power valve resulting in a rich condition. Pretty easy to fix though.

 

[k30bb468]

one point of intrest on the holley is that if for some reason you get a good backfire through the carb it will usually kill the power valve resulting in a rich condition. Pretty easy to fix though.

Here's the fix : http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=hly-125-500

IIRC all newer Holley carbs now have this factory installed

 

[ramjet gmc]

i have hade such problem with any i have had to work on - yes i have been burned with them and now i hate to even see them i just take them off any thin i own and drop on a eledbrock much better on fule and street maners -- but at full 4 barral racing it has good responce and i can see a good use for them ther


i hope some moter head can set you on a better path then me but i have had BAD LUCK with holly

 

[mnstrburbon]

All newer holleys have power valve protection to prevent this during a backfire.

 

[rcamacho]

Um no, they are not in fact crap. Most Holley carburetors can be made to perform well off road with a few simple modifications and decent mileage as well. The question is weather the tuner is willing to devote the time. To some degree, all universal fit carburetors can stand to benefit from vehicle specific calibration.
Here's some suggestions for off road:

• Extended fuel bowl vents (3/8" tube)
• Fuel bowl vent baffles
• Spring loaded inlet needles
• Reasonably heavy vacuum secondary springs (plain/brown/black)
• Secondary main jet extensions if you're inclined to floor it uphill
• Accelerator pump - tune for application. Heavy vehicles suggest at least .31 shooter and orange or larger cam.

These modifications should allow most Holley carburetors to run nearly as well as an off the shelf Truck Avenger
MPG suggestions:

• Ignition Timing: 32-38 total mechanical, vacuum = 50-total mech
• Tune idle fuel mixture using vacuum/lean drop
• Idle fuel restrictions - use wire jet method to take fuel out until it misfires and then back off. Best using wide band but not strictly necessary.
• Main/PCR calibration - tune primaries for best vacuum/mpg under light load. PVCR will likely require enlargement if you take the jets down much. Wideband makes this easier.

 

[chevyuser74]

i hated my holley, constant rebuilding, started my truck on fire, tuning it for the weather changes, but i think this stuff is carbs in general, or it could just be me. its just an opinion i converted mine to tbi. no problems ever since.

 

[Kjunky5]

I used to work at Holley. It was kinda hit and miss. You should see what comes back for warranty.

 

[Ben B.]

Well I have a Qjet spare.

But the Holley's brand new so i was thinkin about seeing how she does.

How do I tell if the Qjet i picked up at a swap meet needs rebuilt, it looks pretty good.