Got my hands on a brand new Holly 4160 Carb, today. Any one with any ideal or experience with this one, on a 455 ?
That is not a high performance carb. Limited tuning with no removable metering blocks. Stay with a q-jet.
There are HUNDREDS of variations on the 4160 platform. In general, the 4160 is less desirable than a 4150; and there's hundreds of variations of 4150, too. In short, you haven't told us enough about the carb for us to make a judgment. A list number would be helpful. And in the end, you're probably better off with a properly-tuned Q-jet.
Agreed. I've done more back to back testing between q-jets and Holleys than anyone else I know. I've also tested, dyno and at the track Edelbrocks AFB and AVS clones. What I've discovered, and no one wants to here this, is that the q-jet will run right with, and in many cases outrun any of the aftermarket stuff. Case in point. A few years ago, we were asked to pull our engine for dyno and subsequent dragstrip runs for a magazine article. A head swap was involved as well, from our iron heads to newly released KRE aluminum heads. To the surprise of everyone, the very first pulls with my "basic" 455 engine using late model smog heads and RAIV camshaft, iron intake, 1977 q-jet, and stock HEI netted 455.4 hp from 469cid. We swapped out the heads, and went on to thrash the engine on the dyno, then put it back in the car and make track runs with it. We had already raced the car prior to the dyno testing, so we'd be comparing track numbers as well. Anyhow, during the dyno testing, the representative from the magazine picked up a fancy Holley clone and asked us if we wouldn't mind doing some back to back carb testing for additional article(s). After some thought I agreed, thinking at that time I could be getting spanked pretty hard in doing so. My Q-jet outran the aftermarket carb, and another 4781-2 Holley carb we had available, dyno and at the track. The spread wasn't that great, but it made more HP and ran quicker ET and MPH to verify the dyno results. Since those first tests, we've tested a LOT of aftermarket carburetors, out of the box and some custom built/tuned. What I've found is that once you get your factory q-jet up to par for the engine, you aren't going to outrun it with any of the shiney stuff. Magazines don't want to hear this, and neither do folks who dumped considerable funds into the aftermarket units. In any case, from what I've seen, is that it really doesn't matter what you use for a carburetor, provided it has enough potential (cfm), and the owner/tuner takes the time to dial it in at every level for what it's being used on. The WORST carburetors we ever tested were the Edelbrock AFB clones. They have no adjustment whatsover for the opening rate of the secondary airflaps, and no accl pump to avoid a lean condition when your high HP to weight ratio car "whips" them open instantly! Without exception, every single one I've tested on my car "pukes" all over itself anytime you go to full throttle quickly. We've taken the same units and installed them on much less powerful engines, pushing heavier vehicles with less converter/gearing and they are fine. Probably why the Chevy crowd LOVES them with there low torque little small blocks trying to push around 2 tons of Musclecar....FWIW.....Cliff
