I know, I know. "Bill, make up your carby picking mind" but I just can't help fiddling. Here's the story. I was talking with a friend of mine about my fuel return issue ("Nailhead fuel pump solution") and he mentioned that I was free to try his 850 cfm double pumper Anular disharge Holley (9380) and if I liked the way it performed I could buy it at a bargain price. Ever keen to fiddle I decided to give it a try (fuel economy is boring . This carb was purchased a little while ago and has never seen fuel. It's like brand new. My problem is getting it to run at all. As I wasn't sure if anyone had fiddled with the screws or float settings I proceeded to set it up by removing the fuel bowls turning them upside down and set the floats so they where roughly parallel with the sides of the bowl. Then I set each mixture screw two turns from full in and tried to start it. Well it ran but there are huge plumes of black smoke and it ran very rough. I checked for vacuum leaks and there are none that I found from squirting carb cleaner at and around the base and everywhere else. But by the time I had fiddled with the mixture screws and tried to get it to idle properly I have screwed everything up and now it won;t start at all. Presuming the carb is in good shape, what is the correct method of setting up a brand new carb? The jets are all 78's (too rich - I know) and the little fuel pressure gauge I bough which I am running between the filter and the fuel rail reads 3-5 pounds. I know that 6-8 is optimum for a big Holley but will these carbs run with this amount of fuel pressure? Is there anything else I can do? At the moment it won't start at all.
Are you sure the floats aren't stuck open? I have had this problem before when this happens. Does it have sight glasses one the side of the carb? The fuel level should be about in the middle with the engine running. Is something holding the needle from being seated? Just a thought!
Thanks Carl. I've just came back inside from battling it again and I've set the float levels to trickle from the sight hole when I rock the car. I've got it to start every time now and it starts with just a turn of a key so I'm getting close. However it won't idle under 1,000 rpm and stumbles when I rev it but when the revs climb after the initial stumble it sure does sound great! My friend will come over tomorrow with some jets in the mid 60's and we'll see what we can do to calm her down. Sounds like she wants to race but man, I have a sore back! It's a long way to the center of the engine bay in an Electra. I'm having a great time though.
More Help A little more help for you Bill: http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/TechServ/TechInfo/TI-221.html http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/TechServ/TechInfo/TI-219.html http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/TechServ/TechInfo/TI-222A.html http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/TechServ/TechInfo/Trblsht.html You should adjust the four-corner-idle carburetors as described above for best vacuum or rpm in an X pattern. If it is still not running right you may need to change the power valve, or it may need to be disassembled to have the main body and metering blocks blown with compressed air. These carburetors tend to be very sensitive to dirt. Good Luck - Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl. After trying to set it up all night and all day today I'm of the impression that it's just too much carb. Especially since it's the annular version of the double pumper. I will thank my friend for allowing me to try it and will probably return to the trusty 'ol Q-jet. This has been a very enlightening experience for me and has taught me not to mess with things I don't understand. In my ignorance I assumed that because it was basically a new carb I would just be able to throw it on and apart from increased fuel consumption it should run ok and provide me with a little more power as well. It will require much more tuning than I have the experience to provide so I might leave the Holleys to the drag racers and putt along with my Q-Jet. I'll bookmark the pages you sent me though they made for very interesting reading.
Just think how much fun, and sore ribs, you will have dialing in BOTH of those 750's on the dual quad intake! To lean the idle circuits on the Holley, rear of the metering block, two small brass orifaces, stop them down in size, leans both fuel screws and off idle transfer from idle to 1/8th throttle. Easiest way to lean the orifaces down is to add single strands from a section of electrical wire. They can be bent into a U shape, one end in the oriface, the other in the hole next to it. Add strands as needed to lean the circuit out.
The only thing that surprises me Dave is that you have been so mild in your response. Thanks for not honing me out for even thinking about it. It has been an adventure to say the least but I'm glad I got it out of my system. The amount of fuel that gets squirted out of those carbs is phenominal! Purely racing only, that's for sure. They have no place on the street. I learned that the best way - by trying it for myself. I'm thinking I'll wait until I buid what I call my "Stage 2 Nailhead". Which will have an appropriate cam, headers, some head work and shorter rear gears. Oh, in case you're wondering. I've been running your HEI converted distributor for a few weeks now and it's great!. I haven't finished experimenting with it yet. This weekend I'll be using one of the unused intake manifold plugs to source some direct manifold vacuum as the carb seems only to be providing "off idle" vacuum. I've also tried adjusting the springs and (surprise, surprise) found that your setup is so far the best. It sure is a lovely piece of work. It's almost a shame to use, it belongs in a glass case on display somewhere. I opened up my plug gaps to .050 (much to the horror of my 'restorer guy') and have noticed that it idles a little rougher when it's cold but runs better when warmed up. There'll be a full report in your inbox within the next week I'd guess. And your crank will be on it's way shortly. I think I might put the money into some nice fat tyres instead. Can't go wrong there.
Just think, you could have run into a used "Ron's Flying Toilet" EFI system, they flow about 1,700 cfm wide open with the two throttle body setup. Now, there's a real fuel flow nightmare for you. My AA/FA used/uses about 8 gallons of Nitro-Methane and Methanol mix per run, 3 gallons in the start and burn out, the rest on the actual run. And, look in this topic area, there is a topic about the new double-whoopie, super high-zoot, ultra step-through whizz-bang, blatantly billet, ultra expensive MSD billet dists now available, "finally". I've only been doing the kind of HEI/MSD trigger conversions like I did for you for over 12 years now, but mine isn't "pretty" like a billit thingie is. You coulda paid a bunch more for an aluminum one of what I built you, and got a lesser than HEI module only available form MSD, what great fun. Only a question, did you have a chance to connect with Steve Diggins yet? No hurry, just wondering. I'd set the initial at or near 10 to 12 degrees, then do the full intake manifold vacuum sourcing, experiment from there, but don't get the initial too high..
I wouldn't exactly say that! The ones I saw sure looked great!!:TU: That's just the machined units too...then of course, there's the highly polished ones!!:bglasses:
