[greensmurf20]

hey guys i wanna get rid of that old solex carb. i have a stock 70GT. i found a holly 2 barrell off of a chevy 151 HO 4 cylinder out of a vega GT. this has the square barrells like the weber and has circular*cant think of the word but the flaps at the bottom that actually allow fuel/air into the intake* all the linkages clear the manifold and it bolts up fine. has anybody ever done this before? is there goin to be any problems, mods, or anything of the such? please help i am in great need of some power! solex=slo-lex.haha

 

[72opelguy]

i knwo which carb you are talking about and i have seen vega and chevette guys go from touse to a 32/36 weber but i think it will work and those cicular things are throttle plates

 

[Jeff Pozorski]

I asked this identical question in another forum about 2 years ago as I also a Holley carb. I was told then that it wasn't much better than the Solex and didn't have the same ability to fine-tune the jets, etc. as the Weber does. In the end I switched to the Weber and have been extremely pleased so far. It makes sense when you consider the aftermarket support the Weber has compared to what may or may not be available to an aging Holley.

 

[greensmurf20]

all in all is it worth changing to a holly if i dont have the money to get a weber until school is out and i am working?

 

[Travis]

If your Solex works OK wait 'till you have the cash for a Weber. If not, pick up a used 32/36 off eBay and a rebuild kit to get you by. When you do have the cash, pay a little more and get the 38 DGAS, you'll be glad you did.

I ran stock '70 motor with 38 dgas, hot street/torquer intake, '75 manifold and 2" exhaust based on RallyBobs input and it really woke the engine up...

-Travis

 

[greensmurf20]

the friend fo my dads that took me to look at the car in october*was origionally supposed to be for my dad at christmas but he gave it back* the guy said he had a weber and a set of doors i never got. i completely fogot about them until my dads friend asked about the weber when i told him i was considering putting a holly on it. then it rung a bell the PO still has a set of doors and a weber. got a hold of him today and asked wheres the rest of my stuff? he said he'd get it over to me but who knows how long thats gonna be. he said its been sitting in a bucket of diesel fuel to keep it from drying out. also on that holly would it be any different since it has came off a factory High Output motor? maybe better than the average stock 2 barrell holly? i can't afford no 38 dgas for i'm only 15 and the reason and purpose of my Opel is to be a daily driver for a few years until i get my 51 packard done. then the opel will be redone. until then its a daily driver/underpowered hotrod.

 

[kmon]

the holley question has been discussed a lot around the forums....the weber is not 'better' as a general sense. Holley are simple cheap and make a lot of power. A lot of rallybobs insane engines used holleys. But they require work to be done 'right'. The dgas weber is okay....not fantastic but I like it more than the solex. The solex isint horrible, it just is very finicy and needs a good amount of tlc to keep in top condition (IE running). Now if you have a bit more cash...more like $500 vs 200 or 300 you can look into dual sidedrafts. This is definitly the 'sexy' choice. I mean pop open the hood with two of these monster things sticking out the side of your engine and people are going to take notice. I like the dual sidedraft option...but dont get more wrong the holley can just as well as the dual side draft webers as far as cfm rating. I like the characterisitics of the side draft over the holley, the carb just feels stronger and more like a 'sports car' than a big block dragster I know with proper tuning you can get the holley to be a 'sports car' carb, but I still still have the weber as my first choice (money allowing). The one true advantage of the webers is the sheer number of tunning options, its much more flexible and easier to tweak then the holley. Once the inital tune is placed on the carbs they are SUPER strong. A friend of mine has an old triump with a big bore and dual side drafts and you can really hear the carbs...thats right hear the carb open up and start sucking more and more air in, what a rush The webers also have a ton of manifold options where as the holley is somewhat more limited. Both carbs with proper treamtent will make a huge difference in the big bore engine. On a 1.9 all of the option are too big for the engine IMO. Have fun and good luck.

 

[greensmurf20]

THANK YOU KMON! information i was really looking for. so basically your saying weber and holly is basically preference for a stock GT? i dont know if i told you guys that the PO called and has a weber and doors. so i now have the option of a holly weber or solex but the solex is ruled out already.haha like kmon said its too damn finicy for a 15 year old to mess with all the time.

 

[greensmurf20]

forgot whats IMO?

 

[ben]

hey i have a holly on my car and have not had any problms with it mine came off a pinto works just great

 

[greensmurf20]

how comparable is it to the weber for power and milage?

 

[Travis]

There is one key piece of information that is missing from this conversation. A Holley is not a Holley is not a Holley. You're talking about different carbs here.

The Holley RallyBob has used is the 500 cfm 4412. This carb is generally used in applications where the 38 dgas can't keep up(160+ hp). The idle circuit of the carb requires extensive rework. This is not just swapping in parts. While the carb itself is quite cheap you will need to pay someone to do the modifications and you'll also need to adapt the linkage. This is way TOO MUCH carb for a stock or even mild performance motor.

The Holley from the Pinto is a different beast altogether. This is a design that Holley licensed from Weber based on the 32/36 DFAV. This carb is known to be of much lesser quality than the DFAV on which is was based and has the same fuel distibution problems. Basicly, since the primary and secondary are swapped, two of the cylinders run lean. This is NOT good for the motor.

-Travis

 

[Gary]

Did a forum search using the key word "Holley". 19 threads were found. Lots of good info in them to help you out.

IMO = In my opinon

 

[Travis]

I received a personal message from ben asking what I meant by hot street/torquer intake. I thought it may interest other newbe's(sp?) so I've answered it here...

Here's an article that explains it all. BTW, although the article has not been updated, it's reccomended that one not use epoxy and instead have everything welded.

http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/oana/tech/Intake.pdf

-Travis

 

[greensmurf20]

The Holley from the Pinto is a different beast altogether. This is a design that Holley licensed from Weber based on the 32/36 DFAV. This carb is known to be of much lesser quality than the DFAV on which is was based and has the same fuel distibution problems. Basicly, since the primary and secondary are swapped, two of the cylinders run lean. This is NOT good for the motor.

-Travis

questions for travis basically or anybody who knows for that matter. i do or do not have the same carb as the pinto carb previousely mentioned? also you say that the secondaries and primaries are switched. i assume you mean that the primary is on the inboard side and the secondary is on the outboard side, just opposite of what the stock carb is? so the 2 and 3 cylinder are closer to the primary and is goin to rob fuel from cylinder 1 and 4. is this why i can't use my holly off the chevy 151? the numbers i found on the carb are A 14 i do not know if that means anything but i guess its a way to make sure we're all talking about the same thing here. the PO is supposed to be bringing a weber and doors out that he just remembered he had. thanks to a friend of mine. its in a bucket of diesel fuel he said he did this to keep the carb from drying up and rotting the rubber parts. hes very slow so i'm not expecting it anytime soon. in short if the holly will not work for a month or two then i should just wait for the weber and see how that is right? this old solex is one piece of ****.

 

[Travis]

A quick search on the 'net (hint hint) shows that the vegas came with either a single barrel Rochester or Holley/Weber 5210c. What I didn't find was the placement of the primary and secondary. But, since you have the carb you can compare it to your solex....

-Travis

 

[opelgt73]

yes you need to check to see where the primaries and secondaries are at, if they are reversed it will rob fuel from those cylinders and cause some bad bad problems........

 

[72opelguy]

what about a 1 barrel rochester has anyone ever adapted one of those to the opel intake. i was thinking about trying that because i has a fresh one and i figured for drag racing both barrels opening at the same time my do better than one at a time

 

[greensmurf20]

yes the primaries and secondaries are reversed. something i would never had given a second thought to if it werent you the wonderfull people among this site. just saved me from doing another engine swap that i just did over spring break. i''d like to thank all who had input it is greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[oldopelguy]

I like Solex

I have pretty good luck with the Solex carbs. They are a bit fussy but they an be made to run pretty well with some TLC. Using it wouldn't be the worst option in the world.

How is the throttle for the Vega carb actuated? I thought most of them were cable actuated, and if so you might be able to mount it backwards, with the linkage on the front, and use a cable to hook it up. Might be another option to look into?