Carb Preference

[Danr55]

I've been talking with some of the 'street racer' guys around here about carburetors. It seems that it's come down to either Holley or Demon. What's the general opinion among the Cobra family?

Do you have a preference and what is that based on?

[vettestr]

Do some more checking on the general feel of the Demon on reliability issues. I have heard a rumble and 1 of the larger catalogs has stopped representing the line. This could be a phase that has been resolved ???
I like the looks and some of the features are improved over the original Holley # they were made to be interchangeable with.
I lovingly refer to Holley as a semi-controlled fuel leak but agree about anyone can adjust and make work for WOT (wide open throttle). I am old school and like all the fine/multiple adjustability of the old Carter AFB's and the copies like the Edelbrocks line. The Holley is more user friendly and faster to modify at the strip with larger CFM models available, take your pick.

[Karl Bebout]

I went with a Pro Systems modified Holley and am very satisfied with it. Pro Systems used to advertise on this site until they got into a p---ing match with a customer that blew clear out of proportion. I'd been running an 850 Holley that never really pleased me and after talking with Greg Schroeder, who has two of the Pros and goes into the 10's with his Roush 427, thought I'd take a chance. The price was not all that much more than an off the shelf Holley HP and my carb was designed for me. considering all the specifics of my engine, car, and driving. That all being said, Before the Holley, I had an Edelbrock 800 that was also excellent for driving on the street. I just bolted it on, set the idle, and had two years of trouble free performance before I thought I needed more flow from the Holley. You can get the Edelbrock for about $300 through just about anywhere, including Checker, here locally. There's my 3 1/2¢ worth.

[65cobraking]

Look into www.ChuckNuytten.com I think he's got a carb for just about any application Road race,Pro street,Drag racing etc.
Rgds,Mike.

[Mike Brasfield]

I am building an engine now and I decided to go with a Holly. Good name, long time in business and pretty reliable in general.

[CBattaglia]

Originally Posted by vettestr

Do some more checking on the general feel of the Demon on reliability issues. I have heard a rumble and 1 of the larger catalogs has stopped representing the line. This could be a phase that has been resolved ???
I like the looks and some of the features are improved over the original Holley # they were made to be interchangeable with.
I lovingly refer to Holley as a semi-controlled fuel leak but agree about anyone can adjust and make work for WOT (wide open throttle). I am old school and like all the fine/multiple adjustability of the old Carter AFB's and the copies like the Edelbrocks line. The Holley is more user friendly and faster to modify at the strip with larger CFM models available, take your pick.

What negatives have you heard about the Demon? How long ago?

[Rickd]

I would definitely check out Quick Fuel Technology's carbs. Keith Craft uses them and so do several other quality engine builders. I do have a Demon in a box that would not run at all, and the Holly 600 double pumper I was going to replace with the Demon - went back on and runs like a champ. I have a quick fuel tech going on my new stroker being built by Keith Craft. Good luck. RD

[Fitz]

My Holley 830 runs just fine. Of course I haven't been in the car forever.....hot hot hot;

Hey, let's do a late night run somewhere?

[vettestr]

Originally Posted by CBattaglia

What negatives have you heard about the Demon? How long ago?

Hello C,
It has been during the last 3-6 months but I have only seen 1 issue myself and that was an out of the box failure. I then ran into a time issues with the replacement.
Talk with your favorite parts counterman to see what they see with many carbs not just 1 like in my case, they deal with many a week.

[patrickt]

If you'd like to go "old school," I'm quite fond of my Holley 3310 (4160) 750cfm, vac. secondaries, with the choke removed. When you have it adjusted properly, it is a very nice carb and has been a mainstay for decades.

[Tony Radford]

I insisted my engine builder put a Demon on my stroker when it was originally built. BG put me into a 750 mechanical Mighty Demon. It was configured per my build specs, but it always ran rich. Despite hours on a dyno, it was never right. I was directed to a guy here in Georgia who used to work for BG and who specializes in performance carb set up. When talking to him about reworking my carb, he told me he worked almost exclusively on Holly carbs and didn't care much for Demons. I sold mine and purchased a 750 based on the Holly 4150 body from Performance Carbs in LA. I've only got about three miles on it, so I can't report much yet.

[double ugly]

Demon was a great carb before they were sued by Holley for infringement. Demon then had to make mods that diminished the quality of the product, I'm told. Most places I took my SPF didn't want to mess with the Demon. Go with an upgrade Holley. It costs more but worth it.
John

[WildBill3]

we run the holley 830hp with interchangable airbleeds and have been very satisfide with its adjustablity and performance we track at about 5mpg havent ever streeted the car so its your guess ..good luck bill

[patrickt]

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...r_tech_how_to/
"How to Pick the Right Carb for Your Machine" from Popular Hot Rodding. One note though, the most common mistake in picking carbs is going too big. More often than not, less is more.

[vettestr]

The carb selection and then tuning is in the end about the same work as installing throttle body injection. I agree there is another gain in performance if port injection is used over the TB route but at the higher cost and a much more visual change too.
The Holley Commando 950 is a real improvement to any carb. The units controller (computer) keeps it at ideal ratios and is a big difference over a carb. Installation is straight forward = bolt in in-line electric fuel pump, install or plumb a fuel return line, hang controller and wire loom, replace carb with a throttle body unit, maybe biggest hassle is welding bungs for 02 sensor or 2 sensors is even better in exhaust, install a couple of sensors and then load software. They have a big enough library of fuel maps to chose from you will get close and then repeat the run and learn mode so it self corrects mapping. The 950 is a huge difference from earlier Projection ECI that needed a bunch of self performed tunning and learning curve was steep for me anyway. I battled my way through the earlier model so am now even comfortable with it but it was a ***** at first.

[54h]

Quick Fuel Technology, out of the box, Jeg's had best price @ 541 w/ reg and Russel dual fuel line. My 2cw

[BPWilliams]

Holley, it took some time to adjust it right and several dyno pulls but now I have the squarters markes and the jets identified for winter or summer driving (+/-30 deg F). So I would user friendly on a scale of 1 to 10 about a 4.... But it works great, never a problem in 4 years...

[mrp_e]

i dont recall what model of demon carb came on my ford racing 460 crate engine, but so far it's runs beautifully. eric at performance engineering tweaked it a little out of the box to get near 425 HP at the rear wheels (i think engine dyno was 550hp), up from i think 410 or 415 hp.

[Fitz]

Ah, the 460 with the 1050 Carb; What an animal!

[Manowar]

All of our complete engines (400+ per year) run on AED 870's or 1050's. Plus, John Dickey is a quality guy to deal with.