I have 2 carbs.... Ones an Edelbrock 4 barrel, dont know much about carbs... But it looks like a 600 cfm, could be a 750, not sure.... Anyways.. Its manual choke... Than I have a Holley 4 barrel, with an electric choke... The edelbrock one is the square bore one that looks normal... The Holley one looks kinda wierd... It looks kinda like a rectangle, its kinda long and i was told it has dual feed.... Whuts the difference between manual and electric choke and which one would u guys pic... This is for my sisters IROC which I just put a 350 in out of an el camino.. Thanks...

 

It would help to know more about each carb, and about the engine it's going on. Try to find part numbers on the carbs, post them. I don't know where it would be on the Edelbrock, but on the Holley it should be on the main body, top/left corner.

For a street car, electric choke is the only thing that makes sense. "Electric" means the choke is applied by a thermostat that is electrically heated to open the choke as the engine warms up. "Manual" means you have to close the choke by hand (via a cable), and open it in increments as the engine warms up.

As for which carb would be better, there are loyalists for each type out there. In general, the Edelbrock would be easier to tune, while the Holley would be the more common performance choice.

 

Go with the Edelbrock. In my opinion, it is a better carb than a Holley. Maybe thats because I know them better, but I've had NOTHING BUT problems with Holleys. I wouldnt take one if you gave it to me. Dont want to start a war here, just stating my opinion.

 

The 4 barrels werent opening on the holley when it was on the car for some reason but maybe the guy didnt have it set right.... The tuning screws on the edelbrock kept coming loose whenever u let the car rip..... Both are pretty new carbs.. Like within a year.. All polished and stuff...

 

Id still go with the Edelbrock. They look better, I have ALWAYS gotten better gas mileage, more responsiveness, and more power in a street car with the Edelbrock. Thats not to say I dont have a Holley on my race car. But I, and friends of mine have found that Holleys like to dump gas a little bit and load up. Plus, theres no power valve to blow out on an Edelbrock.

 

How do you know this? If it is a vacuum-secondary design, you won't see them open up unless the engine is under load and at higher RPMs - i.e., you won't see it just hanging over the fender unless the car is on a dyno.

 

I know how 4 barrels work and with the edelbrock carb, whenever I punched the throttle those 4 barrels would open, u can also hear them, and the car would stand up and just fly.... With the Holley, no matter how much u gave this car, the 4 barrels would never open...

 

You can tell if the edelbrock is a 750 cfm by looking at the lower left front corner on the base. If it is a 750 it will have 1407 stamped there. 1406=600. In my experience i have found that overall the holley carbs run better down the track, but for all around driving you can't beat the edelbrock. A holley takes know-how and time to get it tuned for your application, The edelbrocks are a lot easier to set up.

 

I'll throw in my plugs for the good ol' Quadrajet! Find one with a carb number that starts off with 70xxxxx. The later ones start off with 170xxxxx. Those later ones are hard to find non-smog primary rods for. The earlier Q-Jets are much more friendly to tune. #68-70 primary jets and 40b-42b double taper primary rods is a good way to start off. A set of tiny hand drill bits would be nice for opening up the idle circuit restriction if that becomes necessary.

 

You usually wont feel them opening unless you have a real responsive setup. The numbers would help edelcrock has them stamped on the bottem pass side corner, #1406 is an example of an electric choke 600 cfm edelbrock. Holley like mentiond will be on the choke tower. Like mentioned an electric is the only way to go on the street and vac secondaries are a huge advantage for fuel economy durring part throttle cruising.

Advantages of an Edelbrock.
1.Carb for dummies. I used them when I first started so its not an insult.
2. Usually no tunning required.
3. There good to go right after you start the car.
5. No power valve to blow.
Disadvantages.
1. Higher fuel consumption than holleys. Durring 1/2 throttle cruising the secondaries will open up and dump more fuel!
2. Kits are expensive.
3. If you have tunning issues good luck!

Advantages of Holley.
1. More adjustanility. You can do almost anything to a holley in 5 min, adjust floats extrenally, 4 bolts and 5 min later you can change jets and a power valve.
2. Better fuel economy at part throttle due to the vac secondary.
3. Kits are cheap!
4. They flow better.
Disadvantages.
1. You have to let the car warm up before you stop on it!!!

I like holleys, I get better fuel economy with them than edelbrocks or Qjets. When I swaped a 600 cfm edelbrock (tunned correctly) for a non tunned right out of the box holley 600 cfm carb I gained 400 rpm and got a 2/3 mpg gain. I cant argue my own results.

 

Edelbrock for street cars that want driveability & throttle response made easier and you dont have to tune them.

Holley for QUICK street cars who want road ripping full throttle performance but can suffer somewhat in traffic.

BTW...you HAVE to find out what CFM & post back the engine specs of that car along with CARB specs. You sure that Holley is a vacuum secondary?

 

How do u know if the Holley is a Vacuum Secondary? I know the Holley is dual feed.. The edelbrock is a 1405... Works perfect.. The 4 barrels dont open on the Holley but its electric choke..

 

Ill make it easy.
Edelbrock = Simple.
Holley = Complicated.
Do you know alot about carbs? it doesnt sound like youve much experience, i would go for the edelbrock (if feasible, dont tell me you have a 455 big block and want to use a 600 CFM edelbrock)

Good luck i think everyone will agree with what i just posted.; if not, too bad

 

If you look at the holley from the front ....it will have a vacuum pod on the left (usually black)

if it doesnt, you've got yourself a mech secondary.

BTW i think the Edelbrocks are harder to modify then Holleys not to mention u cant walk into a speedshop & buy parts for them without ordering.

 

Im gonna take on two posts here.
If the holley is a vac secondary it will have a 4 screw square with round top secondary controll on the passenger side about were the secondary barrels are, you cant miss it. If you pull the screws there will be a spring in it.

Holleys arent complicated, thier actually easyer to tune and adjust than Edelbrocks! Once you understand how they work you start to wonder why you were confused in the first place.
The only problem with holley is user error.

If you got a running elebrock use it. Buy a holley book and fiddle around with the holley as a hobby. Once you take one apart you will understand how simple they really are and the advantages they provide.

 

i dont know where you came up with this but
1, its impossible for the secondaries to open up on an edelbrock at 1/2 throttle, they are mechanical! and only open at like 75% throttle opening or so! Even if they were opened because you were on the throttle that much, they still have an airvalve that prohibits them from opening unless there is enough airflow to provide signal to the secondary boosters. On my firebreathing 305 (hehe) that doesnt happen till atleast 3000 rpm at wot with a 1405 600 cfm unit
2. A carter strip kit with every rod and jet imaginable is all of about 45 dollars. holley sells a jet kit with just jets for 30 dollars
we get rods, springs, AND jets
we also have an adjustable pump shot right out of the box and if you desire a larger one you can purchase differnt plungers and squirters for that purpose
3. Tuning issues, I cant believe this one. the carter/edelbrock is about the easiest carb to tune out of all of them! I can change jets in minutes with no fuel spilled, no possible leaks.. i can change rods and pump up springs in seconds. To top it off theres not a whole lot you cant change to suit your needs on an edelbrock especially for WOT performance

 

Somthing Ive noticed, I dont know if anyone even cares and its not performance related BUT:
With a Holley, My cam is a lot more lopey. I went from holley 600 to Edelbrock 600 and my cam just went flat, lost all of its lopeyness. i thought somthing bad happened, like my timing went all crazy or somthing, but i went back to the holley finnaly and Walaa my cam lopes again! ill never go back to edelbrock because of it, I must have a lopey idle!

 

um, i think that should tell you something about the efficiency of your setup with the holley
you can get more lope by crossing a plug wire or two

not saying thats the holley at fault it might just be tuning