dr_hunt

LOL, I think a carb in the 650 cfm size would be perfect IMO Listening and comprehending are two distinctly different subjects.

The biggest problem with using the volume calculations, like was shown in an earlier post, to determine airflow capacity in relation to carb sizing is that it is not apples to apples. Manifold vacuum is at zero if the carb is sufficiently sized and above zero if it is not, it is a simple airflow dynamic situation easily calculated by standard engineering principals. Carb flow ratings are based on 4.5 inches vacuum. So, it's not apples to apples. At zero vacuum carbs, especially holley carbs flow significantly less and it has been proven time and time again. A 750 only flows about 690 cfm at zero vacuum, but flows 750 at 4.5 inches of vacuum, which is why most people run a 750 carb on a 350. I run a 900 cfm C&S aerosol billet carb on my 406. You can overcarb an engine, but considering that GM routinely installed 750 cfm carbs on stock 350 engines, you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with that selection.

Kind of what I figured, a couple guides were tight. LMAO. Mine work great, I spent quite a bit of time porting the bowl areas on both the intake and exhaust sides and they work great. Mine had 2.055 valves but the seats were only cut for 2.02 valves. I had the seats cut for 2.055's. Overall I'm pretty happy with them except for the fact that I have almost as much in them as a set of AFR's. LOL

I was wondering when someone was going to mention that. Some of the welding was obviously tig and the rest mig. None of those welds would likely pass inspection or testing for various reasons. If your serious about running those without worry then I'd have them sent to a lab for non-destructive testing. Weld defects that I can visibly see in the pictures effect the quality and hardness of the metal. There is lack of root fusion, lots of weld splatter and the welds are very undimensional throughout, meaning not the same width along the weld. Overall they are extremely poor welds IMO and look to be the work of a novice at best. Paint covers alot of defects, I call it a DuPont overhaul myself. If you remove the paint with some paint remover and use dye, you can detect porosity yourself. You can also magnaflux it cheaply at a auto machine shop and maybe see some signs of lack of root fusion since the weld never melted with the base metal. Ultrasonic testing would be a good idea also. x ray is kind of expensive. And yes, they may work, but if they fail while driving the results could be a disaster. I would think it would be prudent to at least inquire about getting a quote for some testing by a qualified lab before you run those. Obviously the decision lies with the owner of the pieces and this is just my observations from the pictures provided and nothing more.

I'll work on the pantera pictures, nice car, but not show quality, this one is a driver. Interesting car though. Red z is still sitting, so is the '55, although the motor, trans and trans crossmember are now in the '55. Rad showed up the other day for '55, need to install a wiring harness in '55, not looking forward to that. Jeep is hauling A$$ as usual but the snow and lack of doors on the jeep keep it from being driven. I'm really pleased with the heads so far on that motor. The z is the next thing on my list, after roundy round racing that is.

Off this next weekend to go race southern sport mod IMCA in Abilene TX. I built a motor for a guy in that class and he is letting me race his car in that series when I can. Also building a 408 cubic inch cleveland stroker for a Pantera, should be a nice build for you ford boys.

Poor bastard! You have the worst luck! You'd be better off if you'd have gotten kicked in the nuts!

Something a little more proven. About 600HP in street trim. http://www.falconerengines.com/bio/bio_irl.php

LOL, so true, which is why advice on changing your boosters is such misleading information. They all go together, it's not as simple as most people think. Buy a carb with downleg boosters for the best signal and tune from there. Heck, buy the holley carb tuning book, written by the Pro's that built your carb and soon you'll have it all dialed in. My book is sitting on by bookshelf in my office.

Belt drives don't have the durability that chains or gear drives have. Simply to say, they are without a doubt the most inferior of the three. If the belt drive is so good at removing harmonics then it also is the least accurate of the three also as the belt is stretching. Belt drives come in wet and dry versions. never run a dry belt on a street car or you run the probable chance of shredding it by debris entering between the belt and gears. Wet belts you can't see and you have to disassemble the engine to inspect unless your running a cloyes 2 piece or similar cover. For logetivity accuracy and durability, your better off with a billet roller chain or gear drive.

Simply not true. There is play in the gears which is required to run properly, that play is the reason why they will not transmit harmonics of the crank. Also there is nothing more durable than a gear drive, just ask CAT, Cummins and Detroit! Anyone who thinks otherwise is absolutley positively wrong! Chains do break and any HD application especially industrial, uses gear drive for simplicity and durabiltity. I know of several Reher-Morrison BBC's that had tchain and gears and the chains gave up, destroying the engines. I have run them in several of my personal street engines with over 100K miles logged and zero problems. The sound may delay your detection of engine sounds will in no uncertain terms prevent you from finding it.

IMO there is nothing better. The sound you speak of is really minimal compared to most exhaust notes of today's mufflers. I doubt you'd even notice it.

Here is how you work on getting it right. Play with jets and once you have the main jets set, it is time to play with power valves. Install a vacuum guage, you can get a cheap hand held one from any parts store like autozone. You can put it face down to the windshield under a wiper, just make sure the hood doesn't pinch the line. Watch when your driving, like going up a slight incline at highway speeds, or accelerating slowly at highway speeds, you will notice the vacuum reading falling. As it falls, it will come to the opening point of your power valve, then pick up a little. If you have a wideband you can tell when the power valve opens because the meter will go lean for a while, then the valve opens, and the meter begins to show rich. You'll probably notice the power increase right when the power valve opens, but maybe not. It's hard to tell with a higher hp motor than with a stocker, like a 6 or 4 banger. If your PVCR's are too small, the meter won't go up high enough, and power will suffer because the engine is still too lean. You can drill out the PVCR's with a small drill bit in a fingertip drill bit holder. If the PVCR's are too big, you will see a big jump in the meter readings, and maybe a puff of black smoke when accelerating. You see that alot in turbo cars that are blowthrough. Now that you have the power valve mixture correct, try some different power valves to see what drives the best with your combination. You should use a power valve that is about 2 inches of mercury below the LOWEST manifold vacuum reading you get on cruise and idle (in gear for automatics). If the power valve flutters open at idle, it can act as a pump, and push extra fuel into the main well, causing a drip from the booster venturis. If the power valve opens a lot while you're driving down the road, your gas mileage will suffer. Hope that this helps you get it tuned right. I'd bet you have several things going on, all of which are covered.

If you will do what I have outlined above it will give you all the mpg's your going to get out of that carb. PERIOD! If people really don't have a clue about how to answer a question then don't answer it. I have a pet peeve about ridiculous answers that are completely wrong and lead people down the wrong path which directs them to spend money needlessly. You can't change boosters without special tools and knowhow, besides, you'll screw up the fuel metering circuit anyway, which are balanced by holley engineers. Why anyone would attempt to do that is a real Squirters have absolutely zero effect on cruise mpg and so do secondary springs. And don't waste your time on any fuel pressure regulator and return fuel line as it's fixable for probably less than $20 and about an hour's time pulling the bowls, jetting and following the procedure above. IMO what separates he really good enigne builders from the rest are the ones that can tune their engines and those of others. Cause if you build it and it's tuned all wrong, your customer is not going to be satisfied and probably won't come back. But if you tune someone elses engine and get it working right, they will be at your door the next time they need a motor.