Holley vs Edelbrock carbs

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Carburetors...Holley or Edelbrock?


  • Total voters
    34
For ease of operation and installation, plus leak proof design, don't forget Summit's own carburetor. They're pretty well rated and sort of based on the Autolite carburetor.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-m08750vs/overview/

I haven't tried one, but if I were buying another non-Holley I would give this serious consideration. I wasn't that impressed with the Edelbrocks I tried.
Those Summit carbs are a great choice for the money and have a very good reputation as well. Bang for buck I don't think there'd be a better carb on the market. Best thing most of the conventional Holley parts fit so parts supply is good in that respect.

As I've always said and maintain, when these carbs were built by Carter as AFB's they were great and I never had any real dramas with them. In fact we bought quite a few when FM bought them out and on sub 400HP engines worked really well. Since being bought out by Edelbrock they're just not the same and that was when we started encountering the problems we did with them. They seem to be when they're running well, they're great and when they're not, no matter what you do, including rekitting them, they just seem to keep being troublesome. Never use to be like this once. Good luck with which ever way you decide to go with it

 
Sometimes when a carb gets old you fight and fight with it to no avail. Any brand new carb a person tries is often a much better option. Used carbs are often a gamble and are usually trouble passed from one person to the next. The only time you get a good one is if it was from an upgraded combo and the owner disassembled and cleaned it before the gas turned to varnish.

I like the Summit Racing carbs too and have had good luck with them. Personal bias, I love my Holleys as I understand them and know them inside and out.

If you just want something to bolt on and cruise, then an Edelbrock may be fine for what you want it to do. I don't rate them for performance because I've had 2V Autolite carb that outperformed an Edelbrock 4-barrel on my old F-250.

 
That Summit carb with the one-piece body and lid design is a good carb. As most all of you know, ( or should ), Ford came out with that style carb and used it up through around '67, when they replaced it with the Autolite 4300. What you may not realize, is that Holley came out with their own version of the one -piece body, called the 4010 (squarebore), and 4011 (spreadbore), which used many Holley common parts, was a good carb, and no leaks. I don't think Holley offers it anymore, but I see Summit may have bought the rights to produce it. Here's a page from a 1989 Holley Catalog.

   Just my .02 cents, many Holley carbs, like the original 4160 style, which was original equipment on '57 T-Birds, and the Dominator series carbs which were made for Fords racing efforts originally, just seem to be the most Ford-friendly carbs, having throttle linkage and auto trans kick-down arms that work well with Fords....and lets face it, they are the most traditional. I've had great success with the old Carter AFB, and Competition Series AFBs.  The Edelbrock carbs are an AFB derivative manufactured by Weber, and should be better but too many people aren't satisfied, so I can't say I'll take that leap of faith.

Holley 4010.jpg

 
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Edelbrock.  As Kevin said, "Set it, and forget it."  I love mine and I like the peace of mind knowing that it'll never leak all over the intake when the seals go bad. ;)
What model do you have?

 
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