Holley Carb

[Aussy Edo]

A few questions for the gurus
1) Can i run a Holley on my Grey motor inlet manifold using an adaptor plate?
2)If so,what size Holley?
3) would it be worth it on a stock motor(Hydra) or would it just drown even if jetted down?
4) Am i just better of gettin my strommy recoed?

Cheerz
Edo

[Trev]

No Guru but I choose no4.

[Mick]

stock motor auto i'de say reco yor strommie there would be absolutely no gain with the holley for the trouble to fit it and as you susspect would more than likely go backwards, 2 barrel holleys aren't even a great swap onto a stock red motor unless a bit of fiddling is done
one carby i've heard that is a good swap onto a red motor is the webber from an XD fowlcan, i've had one on a car and seemed to go better than any strommie or holley i'de had on a stock or near stock motor
i don't know how ajustable they are as far as jetting etc goes but that may be an option
also no guru just done alot of f#%king around
harv or doc bob seem quite up on carbies hopefully they will see this and have some ideas/opinions
and speaking of holleys on grey motors i used to work in a foundry and before i worked there they used to do the casting for lynx manifolds they had a pattern there for twin holleys on a grey motor

[Bluehaze]

I'd say, if the motor is completely big stock, then reco the strommy.
A bigger carby is ok on a bigger motor. IE one which is able to suck more air/fuel mixture and burn it effectively. You can get a grey to perform better with longer, higher cam lobes, port work, increasing static compression ratio, bigger valves, extractors, etc. then a bigger (or twin, triple) carby will be advantageous.
Alone, the big carby will just take up more space under the bonnet. The performance advantage of a bigger carby alone is modest at best, and possibly fuel consumption will be the biggest increase.
If you're not chasing horses, then the Holley might be OK. Jetting is important, as is making sure the throttle pump is set appropriate to the motor. Maintaining a healthy AFR is important to optimum power and economy. The best way to get this is a chassis Dyno and a good tuner.

IMHO, the good folks at GMH spent many pounds on R&D, I'd just go with stock. But I'm also a lazy bastard.

[Aussy Edo]

Thanks for the input Gents.
The ol strommy will get a tidy up once ive finished working on Brakes,Booster etc.
Edo

[Devilrod]

As the others have said, no 4. But to get the Holley experience you could always pump 5 litres straight on the ground.

[Aussy Edo]

[Stygian]

The Sonic Injection guy on eBay sells brand new grey motor intake manifolds for the 32/36 Weber (which could also mount the Falcon Weber Mick mentioned). That would be OK for a stock grey as the second barrel only opens up under throttle.
The fuel-air distribution was not great on the greys, which explains why there is a noticeable improvement with twin Strombergs. But as Bluehaze said, improved carburation works best with a mild cam and headwork. But I'm no guru either...

[Harv]

Edo,

On a stock grey, the Holley would be more pain-in-the-bum than benefit. They are a great carb, but are not a panacea - the wrong Holley on a given motor is a big step backwards, as many have found.

You would need to go one of the baby Holleys - the 390 is not a bad starting point (some discussion here: http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtop ... 25&t=18147), or a 350 2-barrel (http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtop ... 25&t=15098), but...
a) would need to be vac secondary. Mech secondaries would be majorly boggy... so you put the boot in harder, giving you the famous "this thing sucks fuel like a straw" that oversized Holleys are reknowned for.
b) you would need a funky new manifold. The adaptors to put Holleys onto single barrel Strommie manifolds are crap - the fuel flows out the bottom of the Holley throttle body, then comes to a dead-head on the adaptor plate. Lots of fuel drop out, crap fuel metering (runs lean, then vapours the fuel to run rich)... so you put bigger jets in, giving you the famous "bugger me, even with my fancy jets this thing won't work" response. To do it properly would mean either fabricating the manifold from scratch, or furnace brazing a decent mounting face onto the stock manifold.
c) you get the same crap fuel distribution that the single Strommie is reknowed for (3-4 run richer than 1-2 and 5-6).
d) you get a monster carb that will be boggier than the stock Strommie, though will have more top end. Not much use unless you are wringing its neck on the speedway. As the guys have pointed out, the carb soon stops being the restriction, and the heads, valves, exhaust and cam overlap need to be upgraded to squeeze out that top end... at which point the hydra craps itself .

IMHO, I'd reco the single strommie - it will be cheaper, more reliable and a better fit to the vehicle.

Cheers,
Harv

[Aussy Edo]

Thanks Harv