Hi Everyone! My first post ever, and i'm sort of new to the whole "Do it yourself" thing so please bear with me.

Anyway, I Just bought a Holley 600 CFM VS for my Firebird to replace the Factory Carburetor. I removed the old carb and I put the Holley in place with the mounting piece and it is all ready to go, except that I had no idea what each line that went into my original carb was for with the exception of the fuel line and the brake line. There's a lot of stuff that i'm sure is unnecissary other than for emissions. My question is, where is the PCV line and what can I elmiminate from the picture? Also, there was a Cylinder shaped tank in front of the windshield washer fluid tank that had a hard line going to it... what is that line for? And finally... on the valve cover on the driver's side there is an opening, what is it for?? If I had a picture of what it should look like I might be able to accomplish something. I really appreciate the help.
:hail:

 

Welcome aboard.

Sorry to hear about your decision to replace the fine factory carb. It really is a very good street performance piece. Your mileage will never be as good as it could be with the factory computer controlled q-jet.

How did you end up mounting the carb to the manifold?

You also need to replace the distributor. The factory one relies on input provided by the stock carb that the Holley cannot be made to provide. So, get a vacuum/mechanical advance model.

The round can in front of the washer fluid is the evaporative canister. It vents the tank w/o letting gasoline vapors into the atmosphere. It used to do the same from the carb bowl, but the Holley doesn't have provision for it. You're best served keeping the canister there for the tank venting function.

You'll need the PCV valve, which goes into that hole in the passenger side valve cover. The Holley probably doesn't have a fitting for both the PCV and brake booster vacuum.

You'll also need vacuum to the new distributor you're going to buy. Use the small fitting on the passernger side front of the carb, about 1/2 way up.

You'll also need a way to lock your torque converter clutch, since the computer will no longer get the information it needs to do that.

Your old air cleaner won't fit the Holley. You'll need a drop base open element, or modify a dual snorkel piece (pretty much a fabrication job).

So, is this project beyong the point of no return? You aren't very likely to get more power out of the Holley, unless your q-jet was completely FUBAR.

 

The old Carb is pretty much shot.
Here is a small list of things that I bought when I bought the Holley just so you know where I stand:

1 Fuel Filter

1 Throttle Cable Bracket w/ A/T Kickdown Bracket
(which btw I can't find a way to put this on)

1 Low Rider Air Cleaner

1 Carburetor Adapter kit

1 EGR Blockoff plate

20ft of 12 volt wire to run from ignition fuse to the Choke

2ft of ruber fuel line

1 Chrome Oil Breather 3/4 push-on cap
(Still don't know what this is for. The guy who sold it to me told me that I have to connect it to the opening on the passenger side valve cover, which you just said was the PCV I still don't know what the opening on the driver's side valve cover is, maybe he had them mixed up?)

As for the evaporative canister... I had already removed it because the guy who sold me all of this told me it was just for emissions and that I wouldn't need it anymore. do I have another alternative for the hard line that is exposed?

This is really tough

On the issue of the distributer, I'll go and pick one up in the morning, I hope that's not expensive.

hopefully I will be able to find my digital camera and post some pics for reference.

 

Keep the length of rubber fuel line you use to an absolute minimum. Put the filter (which I assume is an in-line) at manifold level - assuming you cut the factory line just where it appears at the manifold - to help in that process. Is your carb a single fuel inlet type, or dual inlet? Single is simplier, to be sure.

You shouldn't need any wire for the choke. The factory carb used an electric choke and you can use that wire. Might have to put a different terminal on it.

The oil breather replaces the hard tube that went from the passenger side valve cover to air cleaner. The PCV valve was in the driver's side cover, and you should keep it there.

A good HEI distributor will run about $150 from Summit or Jegs. You can spend more. Hard to say what a local speed shop or parts store will charge you. You could buy a used one and take a chance on it being any good. Rebuilding one will run you around $100-120 (cap, rotor, coil, module, vacuum advance).

Post a pic of what you were sold for throttle cable bracket. Typically, the transmission TV cable (the one on the bottom) isn't properly oriented on a Holley. Getting it right can be a challenge, but getting it right is critical to your transmission.

I've had my computer controlled carb vehicle for 5 years. Only thing I've done to it is external adjustments and fuel filter replacement. I've had more ignition "trouble", but even that was only upgrades and tune-up type stuff. No sensors going bad, nothing worn out, etc. Mine might be the exception, but I doubt it.

Most "carb" problems are ignition related, or something else outside of the carb - especially with CC carbs. Occasionally a throttle position sensor or mixture control solenoid will fail, more often they're broken by mishandling. What you're seeing is that it is typically more expensive to put an aftermarket non-CC carb on the car than it is to fix the CC carb. Rebuilt CC carbs typically run between $275-350 from your local parts store, rebuilt by companies like Holley. CC HEI uses the same coil as vacuum/mechanical advance HEI, the control module is a little more expensive but you don't need a vacuum advance. Upgrading the ignition is a good idea whether you keep the CC carb or go non-CC.

I sure hope you don't have emissions inspection. No way a Holley with open element air cleaner will pass. If all you have is sniffer, you might pass if everything is adjusted properly and the cat is in good shape.

Sorry for the lecture. This comes up from time to time, and I'm afraid most people take the wrong path. Of course, others will argue "I put a Holley on mine and got rid of all that computer crap, and I couldn't be happier." But, that still doesn't mean it's the "right" thing to do.