Suggestions on spark plug wires

[Aspen500]

You guys that can tune a TQ
I remember back in tech college WAAAAAAAAAAY back in 1983, working on TQ's. What I remember is there was something like 21 external adjustments and they all had to be done precisely and in the correct sequence. If you messed up step 3 (for example) and went back to adjust it later, it would mess up adjustments 4 through 21 and you'd have to do them all again also. Maybe it wasn't THAT extreme but wasn't too far away.
Other thing I recall is trying to find one that the composite main body wasn't warped all to heck so it would seal without leaks. When they work correctly, awesome carb. When they don't,,,,,,,,,,,,, lol

 

[NoCar340]

Other than using one for initial break-in, I'm almost done with carbs entirely. It's too sketchy to attempt a break-in with a brand-new, untuned MPFI system. I have one 360 that's going together with a carb (TQ) and I'll probably use that motor as a backup. If I were sticking with carbs, though, depending on application I'd either use TQs or Holleys. The Carter AVS is getting too hard to find in good shape, but it's an excellent design (sort of an all-metal TQ).

I've seen warped TQ bodies a few times, but never so much that they couldn't be milled a couple of thousandsths and used with no issue. Amazingly, in 28 years none of my own have been warped (yet), including two of the three currently in my garage. I'm sure just typing that means my Li'l Red carb will have a banana-shaped bowl when I pop it apart.

 

[compubert]

http://www.prosystemsracing.com/svseries.html You guys should look into this carb if you are wanting instant excelleration with a carburator - every review so far is positive, no cold/hot cylinders dry spots in the mainfold etc...

 

[compubert]

I had to look up what T/stop racing was... embarrassing...

 

[NoCar340]

The only problem I see with that carb is the throttle design. With a single, huge plate like that a linear, lever-style attachment point makes for a throttle that's very hard to modulate during small inputs, such as leaving a stoplight in normal traffic. The inrush of air and fuel, even at small inputs, makes the car want to "jump" or seem very twitchy. That's why large, single-throat EFI throttle bodies have varying-diameter cam-style cable attachments, where a lot of cable moves for comparatively small throttle openings at part-throttle operation near idle but the throttle angle's response to driver input is more linear past half throttle. A cam-style throttle attachment would vastly improve street manners (and it may be available; I didn't look). I'm sure it's an amazing racing carb, particularly with high-stall converters or manual transmissions, but I question its streetability as shown.
Another thing to consider is your definition of "streetability". Does it mean "I can drive it every day, regardless of weather or traffic," or does your definition mean "It'll get through the local cruise night without overheating, but it's a bastard to start and doesn't idle very well below 1,200RPM"? Personally, I've put up with a lot of cantankerous behavior from cars that would drive most people batshit crazy in everyday use. For instance, other than my Slant Six '81 Mirada, I don't think I've ever had a working choke. With a cam-style throttle lever, I could probably live with this carb on a daily basis. Then again I conditioned myself long ago to think that sitting in a frozen car on a -15°F morning, feathering the throttle until it will run on its own, is worth driving a 12-second car to work. On the other hand, I don't see O Captain, My Captain thinking this would be a viable carb on his everyday-driven 5A, and I couldn't agree more. I'm a lot less hardcore at 45 than I was at 25.
As far as fuel distribution, while I'm sure it's much improved with this design, that's still a function of intake manifold and cylinder head design more than anything. I could see this making a lot of big-block Chevy owners happier, with that engine's notorious "four lean, four rich" distribution issues. Those issues are still apparent even with multi-port injection, due to that engine's bizarre port arrangement.
Then there's the issue of cost. I didn't see prices listed on that site, but I'm betting that carb is in the four-digit range. With smart shopping and patience, you could build an MPFI setup for that kind of money. I did.

 

[Aspen500]

Found one place that sells those SV1 carbs, $1,310 plus shipping. Ouch.

 

[NoCar340]

Cheap! Get a tunnel ram and buy two!

 

[compubert]

Cheap! Get a tunnel ram and buy two!

I priced one for the 84 mc. They will make one that small. 6 and change...

 

[kkritsilas]

For stock engines, the Grant Street Demon has been getting a lot of good reviews. Sort of a "Son of Thermoquad" design.

 

[NoCar340]

The best aftermarket carb I've ever used was a Holley 4010. In my case it was a 750CFM double-pumper on my 440 before I switched to the Six Pack. It was a far-better design than the traditional Holley, both from a service and drivability standpoint. Unfortunately, the timing was really bad, since the "old standard" dual-feed 3310 vacuum-secondary was about $200 new when Holley came out with the 4010/4011 carbs and they never really caught on. Summit bought the tooling a few years ago, made a couple of small revisions (such as the idiotic fuel entry angle Holley used) and sells it as their store-brand carburetor in a few different configurations. It was a better "bolt it on and drive it" carb than anything else I've ever used, and had all the tunability of a traditional Holley. It actually ran better than the 850 ThermoQuad it replaced. I would highly recommend anyone considering a Carterbrock AFB Performer to check out the Summit carbs or a used 4010/4011. Inexpensive, more tunable using all the standard Holley tuning parts, blowproof power valves, no leaky float bowl design, and it works much better out of the box than the outdated-in-1967 AFB design. Spend some time tuning it and it's flat-out awesome.

 

[NoCar340]

I should point out that the 4010/4011 and the Summit carbs are available in vacuum-secondary designs. I did not mean to suggest anyone should put a 750 double-pumper on their stock 318.

 

[compubert]

I watched a bunch of vidyas on youtube for that SV1 carb and they had low idle on a mix of engine sizes with monster cams.. I was duly impressed...

 

[Aspen500]

I've got the Summit 750 vac sec carb on my car and after tuning it works like a champ. Of course I needed to change the jets and idle air bleeds along with convert to a 50cc accel pump and put bigger pump squirters in. The Holley pump kit fits fine, only needed to modify the pump arm a bit so it lined up correctly.
Yeah I know,,,,,I'm undercarbed but when I bought the carb I was under dollared too, lol!

 

[brotherGood]

I've got the summit 600cfm on my car. I was thinking may need to adjust the jets and whatnot..but wanted to double check timing first. OOTB runs so much better than the edelbrock I had.