The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Selection of carb(s) for the Chevrolet 6

This turns up all the time. Thought I would start a thread where discussion is about carburetors only.

I have previously published lists of Carter W-1, Carter YF, Stromberg B series, and Zenith 28 and 228 series that can be used on the Chevrolet engines. These lists can be found with a bit of searching.

So in this thread I will suggest pros and cons of the various units, in alphabetic order.

Carter W-1

Availability - excellent
Initial cost - average
Calibration information - readily available
Parts availability - readily available

Carter YF

Availability - excellent for engines up through 1956 (auto choke) and 1959 (manual choke) other than for the 261
Initial cost - average to a bit above average
Calibration information - readily available
Parts availability - readily available (additionally, the YF uses AFB jets, and can use most AFB springs)

Holley 1904, 1920

Availablility - needs research (I do not plan to do any)
Initial cost - needs research
Calibration information - readily available up to about 1961
Parts available - spotty

Rochester B

Availability - readily available for all except 261
Initial cost - DIRT CHEAP!
Calibration information - spotty
Parts availability - readily available

Rochester M

Availability - needs research
Initial cost - DIRT CHEAP
Calibration information - very little available other than gasoline jet size
Parts availability - other than rebuilding kits, poor

Stromberg B series

Availability - excellent
Initial cost - above average
Calibration information - available, but you have to look
Parts availability - readily available, but only from certain vendors

Zenith 28 and 228 series

Availability - fair
Initial cost - above average
Calibration information - mostly available, but you have to look hard
Parts availability - fair to average

Foreign known makes and modern imitations are not covered because:

Availability - good on many
Initial cost - ???
Calibration information - NOT AVAILABLE
Parts availability - POOR

A comment about the Holley progressive 2-barrels. About 25 years ago, the progressive 2-barrel Holley carbs were being "blown out" by the manufacturer. We had WD status with Holley at the time, and our cost on new units was $5. each! Because they were so ridiculously cheap, we tried a couple, but the issue was the 2->1 adapter. To even get close to the efficiency of a single barrel, we found through extensive testing that the adapter had to be at least 4 inches tall, and machined for a smooth transition; and we still could not make the Holley progressives work as well as a Rochester B. I gave ours away. So:

Holley progressive 2-barrel

Availability - Don't know, but guessing available
Initial cost - cheap
Calibration information - as far as I am aware, not available. Certainly not in any of my Holley books
Parts availability - other than kits, POOR

Personally, when looking for a carburetor (I have other than original on all my collector vehicles other than one that is absolute 100 percent as built (at least externally ), my criteria is as follows:

Calibration information (if not available, then I don't want the unit!)
Availability - I should be able to find one within 6 months.

Since I do so few, initial cost is not a concern (within reason...one of my collector vehicles has a $1500. 4-barrel, another has a dual 4-barrel set-up)
And since I have tooling and experience to make any part other than castings, parts availability is not a concern.

Both of the above have been on the vehicles for at least 20 years, without problems. I like to do it once, and forget it.

Jon.

All good points, Jon! Back when I was in high school, one of my friends managed to adapt three Stromberg 97 2-barrels to a 216 in an otherwise stock 51 Chevy coupe. Since there was a slight upgrade from his garage to the road he never quite made it up there for a test drive. However, he did set the engine compartment on fire from backfiring several times trying to take that test drive! The next time I saw him, the original single carb and intake manifold was back on it!
Jerry

Thanks Jon,
Good info and well put.

The question is often posed on these forums, and there are advocates for various of the carburetors I mentioned; and I am sure that some folks that have been using a specific model since Noah landed the Ark are happy with the performance of their choice. There are invariably "discussions" as to the relative cost or performance of each. I tried to do the initial post so that newcomers to the forum could look at various criteria without seeing a discussion of "my dog is bigger than your dog".

If anyone has other criteria they feel important, jump in!

I would like to touch on two other criteria, independent of carburetor makes/models.

The first is cost, and the second is performance.

Cost:

As long as costs are "reasonable" (at least to me), then I don't really consider it an issue. Don't misread that statement; I am not now, nor ever have been, independently wealthy. Dad told me many times I had champagne tastes, with a beer income. But he also taught me to buy the best of anything that I could reasonably afford, and maybe do without something else for awhile. I have many tools that he bought in the 1930's and 1940's AND USED! And I probably have 99 percent of every tool I ever bought for personal or shop use. (Opinion) Buying quality is cheaper in the long run.

But John Ruskin, an economist that lived long ago said it much more eloquently than I:

John Ruskin quotation on costs

Now going on to performance:

If one compares virtually any new "anything" to a totally worn-out of the same "anything", generally the new is going to out-perform the worn-out original, and the buyer is happy with the performance.

Personally, I am a great believer in testing. No, I have never been able to afford "dyno" time; but there are other methods of testing performance. Locally, I have a ramp that enters the interstate highway to a long hill. So if testing various carburetors, I put what I think will be the best one on the engine. I then go to the "test track" and accelerate to maybe 5 MPH below the legal speed limit and pick a mark on the side of the road. This is my test mark. I then repeat the test 3 times timing each run (this takes speedometer error out of the test), to my test mark, and average the times. Then doing this for any/all carbs I wish to test for comparison, and compare the times. The one with the shortest time produced the most power.

Maybe not the most sophisticated testing, but I am happy with it.

Others can develop other testing; but the key here is to test.

Jon