Reply to "New Carb recommendation"

Curt

Any of the "post 1967" Holley carburetors, designed for single four barrel applications, and sold over the counter by Ford were better than the Holley carbs available from Holley, out-of-the-box from a hot rod parts dealership. Any of them, and the 735 from the 428 CJ was only one of them. In fact, there were a bunch of carbs designed for the 428 CJ, not just one. But the 429 Boss, 302 Boss, and 429 SCJ also had carbs that were good on the street. They were all the same carb, the air flow ratings varied depending upon the type of boosters. Some boosters restricted air flow more than others. They were 4150s with vacuum secondaries, not 4160s. I do not like 4160 Holley carburetors and NEVER recommend them.

Of course your 735 carb performs better than an over-the-counter 3310! The 3310 is always the carb the 735 is being compared to. That's a "no contest" situation. There's no surprise there. The original 4150 version of the 3310 installed on the 396 Mark IV Chevy big block is the only version that has ever been worth a damn. All subsequent aftermarket version of the 3310 were 4160 models, and are known for the headaches they create. The aftermarket 3310 carburetors were conceived as a rip-off of the public based on the reputation of the original version ... they weren't close to the original version in terms of features, value, or calibration. Holley had no business using the 3310 number for the aftermarket versions.

The better performance of the Ford carburetors was due to how the low speed circuits were calibrated, and the amount of intake manifold vacuum they were designed to work with. Those "factory street carbs" had to meet emissions regulations. I normally purchased 1970 or 1971 429 SCJ carbs over the counter from Ford. They worked great and passed California emission testing. Whereas the Holley carbs available from hot rod parts dealers were jetted rich like pigs and had lousy low rpm performance.

However, the carbs I've recommended on the first page are better in many ways than those old 1968 - 1971 Ford carbs. If it weren't so, I wouldn't recommend them. Pay close attention to the "annular booster" part. Nobody seems to get it, it goes over everyone's head. It makes a tremendous difference. PLUS ... as my dear friend Jack alluded ... they are available new.