1987_sportcoupe

What do you guys think is a better intake manifold/carb set up in terms of these two brands?

midias

I have always liked edelbrock manifolds.

As for carbs they are different I personally don't think one is overall better than the other.

Edelbrock carbs tend to make a little less power but require less tuning they are also better over temperature changes.

Holley are the opposite they make some more power but require more tuning and my experience is they require tuning when the weather changes from spring to summer then summer to fall.

Pick the one you feel more comfortable with.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

ive always used edelbrock manifolds. although holley strip dominator manifold are awesome. carburetors are no comparison. holley hands down makes more power. they are a little more pain the butt to tune. but well worth it. the edelbrock performer series are complete jokes. ive never seen one that doesnt leak down. the avs series carbs are better IMO. but i only run holley, demon, quickfuel, etc. on any carb application.

JTS

I've always used Edelbrock manifolds and have had a good experience with the performer carburetor. From what I've heard, the edelbrock is a better carb for drivability and the holley is a better carb for making power. Although, a good friend of mine (known him since high school) got sick and tired of the holley he had on his truck (63 chevy 1/2 ton w/ 307 that has the power pack heads). It would only hold a tune for maybe two months if he was lucky. He finally ditched the holley and got an edelbrock and was really happy with it. Later on he built a 400hp 383 and got a q-jet rebuuilt and tuned for that engine.

85FBTranam

iTrader: (3)

I ran an aluminum bodied holley for the longest time, but always had issues with heat soak and hot starts. Ran fantastic after some cool fuel got into the bowls. Heat insulators didn't help.

Now running an Edelbrock carb. Ran great out of the box with some minor tweaks. No more heat issues

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

ive never had any heat soak problems with my carburetors.

1987_sportcoupe

Decisions decisions....

cbrown

Sounds like if a person wants drivability with a bit less maintenance then an Edelbrock is the way to go. I'm not sure how much performance/power difference you will realize between the two options but if your like me and don't want to bother too much with tuning between the seasons then an Edelbrock may be the best choice. I would like to know how much difference there is because I will be making a decision between the two very soon. If you figure it out, please let me know.

J91

Holley Carb, Edelbrock manifold....

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

Holley makes 20-50 more HP than an edelbrock carburetor

midias

Going to need to see some dyno sheets to back up that claim

Pablo

iTrader: (1)

Haha.. this is not true.

The fact of the matter is that there are different holley carbs and different "edelbrock" carbs. They all have strengths and weaknesses. The typical edelbrock (carter AFB) carburetor can make the same power as your typical holley vac sec. carb and even a double pumper.

Your typical holley vac secondary and edelbrock are capable of delivering evenly distributed atomized/vaporized fuel to each cylinder. If they are properly tuned and the AFR is the same you won't see much of a difference at all in peak hp for equal cfm carbs. The trick is getting the same AFR curves which can require more than just jet changes for both carburetors - you might have to play with air bleeds, air valve weights, etc. One carb might be better out of the box for a particular combination. I suspect this is where people get these ideas of one carb making 20-50 more horsepower. This why tuning is important.

Now there are big differences in how they handle transitions, and for example I would not recommend an edelbrock carb in a manual transmission performance car over a double pumper. The edelbrock has a fixed pump volume and accel pump tuning is limited.
I personally am more of a fan of the double pumper holley because it has a lot more flexibility in tuning options (and most importantly a hearty pump shot) though I have put considerable time into an edelbrock.

Get yourself a wideband AFR meter and you will see that if you want power, the real trick is tuning a carb properly.

'84thunder

def. agree with holley carbs. IMO anything that is chrome (edelbrock) and deals with fuel, is poopoo..junk...garbage. edelbrock does however make great mani's. in my set up i have the Nascar edition edelbrock intake mani http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-75013/with this carb. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLY-0-80801HB/

'84thunder

IKR...that guys loco

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

I have an Edelbrock performer RPM manifold and just changed out my Edelbrock 600cfm for a Holley 4160 600cfm. A WORLD OF difference. With a little tweaking (lighter secondary spring, and accelerator pump adjustment) I am making more power at WOT, starting easier and gained 8-10mpg ALL AROUND... The darn Edelbrock dumped, and wasted a lot more fuel, giving me a more stressful and lumpy ride, with ever changing throttle response patterns... The Holley is much smoother... I tweaked that Edelbrock for a year and finally said enough was enough. I don't know if this is the norm, but I am sticking with this Holley.

I never got better than 11mpg with the Edelbrock... With the Holley I get 22mpg dead on, on the highway if I keep it at, or under 65.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

you agree with me then call me loco...lol its cool everyone has an opinion

TA

iTrader: (1)

I agree completely with Pablos' experience. Firstly, there really is no "Edelbrock" Carburetor, it is a copy of a Carter AFB which came on many big block Mopars in the '60s. Holley developed their own carbs, which were then copied by BG.
In the end, both companies make many different manifolds and carburetors, none of which will be perfect "out of the box" for your particular combination, but you will get the best results from the combo that is the closest if you do not take it upon yourself to do some precise tuning. Running a big carb for peak power usually costs in other areas. It might sound harsh, but just the fact that you think there is a simple "right" answer to this very general question indicates you have no experience in really tuning a carb.

TA

rusty vango

you wont notice the diffrence in power output on anything less than a all out race car.holleys require constant attention,wheras edelbrocks are "set it and forget it" i base my opinion on 42 years as a professional mechanic.

'84thunder

yes sir. i agree with the quoted statement and disagree withe other quoted statement. did u catch that? you made 2 statements. one saying that you have dealt with both and you prefer holley and holley has good rep. then you made another statement saying holley adds bout 20 to 50 hp. it depends on your engine and set up of intake mani and some other various parts. same thing goes for Cold Air Intake on tuner cars like cobalt SS, civic SI, Lancers....it varies on each car and wont necessarily add what it says. im just tryin to clarify. im not trying to offend or start drama.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

i know what your saying 84. But ive worked on a ton of cars and holley's have always ran better and felt better. and they dont leak down all the time.

'84thunder

and thats wut i agree with you on. edelbrock IMO is for beginners or people who dont have time to keep messing round with parts under hood. you know...kinda like pioneer decks(audio) are very technical when your trying to figure out how you want your EQ set up. many many settings. but decks like sony's and JVC's. (this was just a comparison, i am well aware that audio has nothing to do with Carbs or engine works DUH)

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

I dont run any deck but Pioneer...how amazing...

DeltaElite121

You might not notice a difference in power output, but HOW it's applied and the customization/tuning is another matter. I won't knock on Edelbrock - they're good for keeping things simple.. but something as critical as air/fuel delivery can make all the difference between a good launch that keeps pulling, and a sluggish start with average performance. Does that mean it's junk? Not necessarily, but it does depend on how you intend on using it.

Every person I know that has ever owned one has been disappointed. These same people were also ones that wanted a more performance-oriented motor and not a grocery-getter.

midias

I have an edelbrock 600 and I have great starts warm and cold. Off the line I have great acceleration and it pulls hard to redline. No complaints here.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

a properly tuned holley will be even better Midias i'd bet on it.

'84thunder

thanks for the comic relief nice job

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

My guess would be anyone that had an Edelbrock and switched to a Holley (and took a few hours to tune it properly) would not go back. Someone who bolted on a standard Edelbrock and had decent results the first time would have reservations switching to something that needs tweaking. I have had 2 Edelbrocks and my first Holley is night and day difference in terms of driveability, economy, and a consistent predictable power curve The Edelbrocks were okay, but from my experience, I have been converted. Vacuum secondaries are where it's at. I know how the car will respond every time I punch it, and know I'll be cruising around 22mpg on the highway every time I take her out.

vindeezl

iTrader: (2)

Well said!

Holley 4150 carb and Edelsnot manifold and you will be set!

FWIW I have had NIB Eddy carbs go bad on me, they are a zinc plated Carter AFB and those in their heyday were still junk. Replating and polishing junk and selling a tuning book with every carb does not make them no longer junk. Junk is junk is junk.

Not to mention those absolutely garbage engineered top hanging floats that never hold a setting!!!

There's a reason why the pros run Dominators or 4150 Holleys...

'84thunder

you both said it all very well. although edebrock is a decent carb, i just prefer Holley. i just dont like anything that deals with fuel to be chrome and most holleys if not all, arent chrome

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

exactly. and it seems like if you have to go "inside" an edelbrock it ends up being a bigger piece than it was before. I was going to run dual edelbrocks on the tunnel ram for the charger...because i have a couple laying around but I just cant do it. Dual double pumpers is where it will be.

Cosmik Debris

There's 40 - 100 HP right there :-)

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

damn skippy sir!

mstng5pt0klrz28

I'm a fan of a Holley carb on an Edelbrock manifold.

Seven_MPG

I second that.I sold my street avenger and put the ol' edel performer back on.I'm kicking myself in the ***** for that one.

I had one of the old edelbrock performer intakes from the 90's on mine and it was a champ with the street avenger carb.I switched to a weiand x-elerator with a quik fuel though and woohooo!!!! Snappy.

chrispy383

I have ran both carbs and both intakes, on both auto and manual trans. I found that I like the edelbrock intakes over the holley, but if you tune them right the carbs can run close numbers. But, if you have a daily driver the edelbrock avs are verry dependable and give you repeat performance no matter what driving conditions, verses the holley requires a bit more tweeking. If your doing more raceing than daily driving than you might want to go to a holley, barry grant, or somthing along those lines. But for manual trans you will want a edelbrock avs with adj. secondarys or a holley double pumper, to know that you will have enouph fuel ready when shifting gears. If your worried about fuel milage you shouldn't be playing with v8's, and carb's. The futer is fuel injection. Better throtle responce and fuel milage. Somthing like the powerjectionIII, holley pro jection, FAST efi, or edelbrock efi or mpi.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Edelcrap intake and a properly tuned q-jet.

Damn I just luv the sound of a q-jet at WOT....it's addictive, try it.

chevyracingrox

I don't usually mess with edelbrock carbs, if i was going for fuel mileage i would use a quadrajet, cheap and plentiful. Some believe tuning a holley is a mysterious process that takes a few string theorists to figure out, but it's a simple routine. I've also heard edelbrocks are easy to tune and lower maintenance but i've never seen an edelbrock that was tuned much better than a holley. Depends who's tuning the carb I guess. I personally believe that the best thing one can do with an edelbrock is trade it for a holley.
The "high maintenance" of a holley is really all relative. If you don't want to spend the 15 minutes to adjust a few things 2 or 3 times a year carbs in general are not for you. Chances are headers and ignition alone will require more attention than that.

As far as intakes i don't know that there's much between them. Edelbrock seems to be more plentiful and therefore a little cheaper secondhand. That's what i'm running.