EFI this, EFI that. Whatever. A lot of stories involving hopping up an engine usually start with the early bolt-on mods: new pipes, new tuning, and of course, the four-barrel. And which four-barrel is most often pictured? The Holley double-pumper. Growing up, if you had one of those on your engine, you were serious about making things move. Or, at least, you had an engine that had the nuts to require that kind of feeding. Either way, the big feed line that entered at each end of the four-barrel was the tell. If you wanted to step up from a Quadrajet or simply wanted the look…look no further.
Now, growing up, I knew how to swap a carb. Four nuts, undo linkages, the end. But what actually went on inside of a carb? I didn’t have a clue until years later, and knowing the ins and outs of how these controlled fuel leaks actually work is the difference between matting the pedal and getting tire spin, a quick trip to redline and fun, or matting the pedal and getting bog, hesitation or a cough that creates some fire underneath the hood. Need a refresher? Let Uncle Tony help you out! Hopefully, he doesn’t throw this one off into Narnia…
Carbs are becoming a lost art. I talked to the 30 something year old owner of a local shop that routinely builds twin turbo and procharged 9 second street cars. He looked at my old school BBC and said “I wouldn’t know the first thing about tuning a Holley carb!”
Hope Ron Ward sees the video.
Tony is mint!