someone reasonable, everytime I rebuild a carb it runs worse.
Got a 2 bbl holley..

thx

I've got a holly rebuiders book I'll loan you.

Brandon

Talk to Rick at my shop. That guy can build it blind folded.
He is really go with just about any carb and Hollys are not as difficult........or he just makes it seem easy.

Used to rebuild my own all the time for my two 'stangs with great success. (4160 4bbls.)

Key points I learned:

1) amount of time soaking. Used to let mine soak for like a week. (primarily because I could only work on it on the weekends anyway). My dad used to have the same problem as you, but he could only soak them over the weekend. He had to have his work truck working again first thing Mon morn.

2) After rinsing, used compressed air to blow them out real good. I would be sure to stick the nozzle in every orifice I could find. (that sounds REAL bad). I would be sure to evacuate every passage I could find. (ooooo, still could be taken the wrong way). Well, you get the idea.

3) Used vasaline or chapstick when assembling. Does two things: first, helps go together easier especially on anything where O-rings were involved. Second, if you had to take it apart again in the near future (for whatever reason), the gaskets wouldn't tare and could be reused.

There was also one last thing that seemed to be particular to my 'stangs with the 4160s. Once I put it on and started up, it would seem to run kinda rough. I'ld kick the throttle a couple times by hand, it would give a good cough, then smooth out and purr like a kitten. Not sure what was going on. Now I know that in a lot of cases, if you back-fire on a Holley, you wind up blowing out the power valve and have to replace it (so I hear). In this case, I almost wonder if it just needed to be loosened up by the cough. Not once did I ever blow out a power valve.

Oh yea, one last thing to check. Be sure you're not suffering from a vaccuum leak on your throttle plate. If it's anything like mine were, they were Al. The shafts for the butterflies were steel. After a while the steel shafts would wear on the Al and create a vaccuum leak. My carbs were for smog, hence adjustments were sealed and had no way to compensate. Would either have to buy a new throttle plate ($275, ouch), or eventually I was able to find a shop to drill out and press in brass bushings. Never had a problem after that.

Sorry for the long post, but hope this helps.
:beer:

Another thing to watch out for is overtightening the various bolts/screws on the fuel bowl and throttle plate. If you do, you will warp the surface and make it more difficult for the gaskets to seal properly. Check 'em out with a straight edge, and if it is really warped, carefully file them down with a large file. Clean and blow everything out really good too.

Tony