what carb is reliable streetable and decient

[Legendjet]

i have looked at all kinda of carburetors and i dont know which one to get i have seen many bad reviews on holleys edelbrocks. i havent seen too much crap on a demon though. i am getting a 77 gmc sierra that supposedly has a 383 stroker in it. i know its atleast a 350. when i rebuild the heads or get new ones i will measure the stroke for sure. i just want to know what would be a good carb to use that will be reliable through out the years ,with the occasional tune up and rebuild of course. i am building this for a daily driver and to put on the track. i really dont care about gas milage because im driving a station wagon that gets me 9 miles to the gallon its good to go cruise the town with a whole bunch of friends though. .

[NOVA71]

Had a quadrajet on my Nova, and they are a very reliable carb. Probably the best all around carb you can get for reliability, fuel economy, and even performance. My Quad had no choke so it was a pain on cool mornings or evenings, and it was in need of a rebuild so I bought a new Holley model 4175 (has small primaries and large secondaries, similar to a quad). Worked great, the electric choke worked awesome. It was like I had fuel injection. One pump, turn the key, and drive away. No sputtering and no stalling. Had better throttle response then the quad and worked way better overall (although my quad was in hard shape). The only downfall was that the Holley was harder on gas and did run a tad on the rich side. A few years later I sold the Holley and bought a Demon. I have only driven my car with the Demon a few times before I stored it (it's been in storage for 3 years now) but this is the carb I am going to stick with. It had much better throttle response and seemed to pull alot harder when you mash it. I don't know how reliable it will be, but I would figure it should be pretty good. They seem like they are made very well, and performance wise it seems to be top notch.

[Legendjet]

what kind of demon was it? a road demon, speed demon, or mighty demon

[NOVA71]

Speed Demon 650 with vaccuum secondaries and electric choke (choke is not hooked up yet). I wanted a 650 mechanical secondary but I got such a good deal on the vaccuum secondary model, I couldn't pass it up. I'm hoping to get the old Nova out for a while this summer. I've really missed driving her the last few. If you click onthe link to cardomain below the pic of my Nova, it will take you to my page. It has some pics of my old Holley and the new Demon.

[MrPbody]

Most carbs, when properly built and tuned, are quite reliable. Q-Jet has a reputation for "Quadra-Flood" or "Quadra-Junk". It's undeserved. The majotrity of problems found with them are related to an improper rebuild. Cliff Ruggles (Cliff's Q-Jets) has customers running in the high 9s (1/4 mile) with a single Q-Jet. Most of those are Pontiac-powered, but some are Chevys. The port design and chamber makes the Pontiac "like" the "big dump" of the huge secondary. Big Chevys like them, too. If the air valve is adjusted correctly, smaller Chevys respond quite favorably, as well. Set the valve too "loose", and the engine will bog. ALWAYS replace the float unless you already have a brass one (NAPA supplies them for most Q-Jet numbers).

BG carbs are genuine imitation Holleys. Holley carbs are the standard by which all other performance carbs are measured. At the U.S. Nats, I looked under the hood of the BG Pro Stock. Holleys. Should tell you SOMETHING... BG carbs are also "rated" differently than Holleys. In reality, a "650 Demon" is the flow equal to a 750 Holley. This is the primary reason for the reputation of "gain" when going from a Holley 650 to a 650 Demon. It's in the marketing, not the carb.

Edelbrock carbs get mixed reviews. For a small Chevy, the AFB version is fine. For any serious applications, the AVS version is minimum (has an adjustable secondary air valve, where the AFB does not). Many techs report tuning problems with the E-carbs (Carter versions). The Edelbrock version of Q-Jet is an excellent piece, and you pay for the priviledge ($500).

Jim