Is this enough carb?

[Guest]

[Tater]

Guys....Sorry,....  I've been a real GrumpAss lately...

I guess I'm really just an old school type person that was born 25 years too late, and I prefer to do my own combo's after alot of thinking/researching/planning. That's just Me!!

If I sound like a hardass sometimes,... truth is...I'm really a nice guy that'd try and help anyone out if I can. Not that I have alot of technical knowledge but I've been lucky to help out a few people on different boards in the past. To help them out and see them make good results is a better feeling than any amount of  $$ could do to repay me. 


Tater

[fastford577]

hey tater, everyone gets a lil pissy sometimes, we all appreciate the help you have given us.  Born 25 years too late.........that may be......but you are older than me and i want to do shit myself too.....so i guess im screwed

[pete]

Tater,
You are way too modest guy.  You've got skills and knowledge and have helped me out a bunch, even if you don't realize it. 

I can see your point about just getting advise to go buy something ready made.  My reason for joining any board was to learn about what I wanted to do.  This is the first place I've come that I think I get the straight up no BS answers.  Still I see trend lately to the "buy it and bolt it on" avenue which doesn't help us learn.

Now one area that I feel this doesn't apply is the guy that wants to compete with his car and is looking for cam advise.  IMO picking a cam is the hardest thing to do and if you want to compete, even if it's just for pride, then a custom is the only way to go.  For the guy that wants to go to the Friday night drags and cruise the streets an OTS cam would probably be just fine.  I think the site should try and help that guy with his OTS selection.  I haven't seen much of that lately.

[FordRacing250]

You know I have noticed a train of thought on internet forums that if there is somebody who is a pro you should let them do it for you to get the most for your money. Now I think that is sound thinking....but....What if "I" want to do it because I find it interestimg and fun. Even if it cost me more because I suck at it. Hey...how else do you learn? How did these in the know learn? Exactly. Hey this is a toy for me....Im not racing in some class...Im just goofing off...I like the noise..I like the feeling of getting pushed back in the seat....especially if "I" did the work or alot of it. Heck anybody can "buy" a fast car(if you have the money of course). Not everybody can tune or build one in part or whole.

 

Tim

i Agree ..im the type who likes to know how things work... im no guru but i get things to work.. only way to learn is by trial and error... sure i can buy a carb from somewhere already set up, but how did it get set up.. why is this that and that this? the way i learned was taking a pos, rebuilding it.. figuring out the jetting, p/v and all the adjustments..  i still have to toy around with carbs to get them right. do i still ask for help? yea ..but not as much as when i first started. you cant knock someone for trying cause atleast they tired and learned a thing or 2.
Tater is truley a good guy... anyone who has talked to him would vouch for that... he has alot to offer as do many of our members... This post isnt a knock on any person or company.. its just to show there are more options, and ways to get things done... does it cost me alot of money to set up a carb, not really... it helps having carb and parts on the shelf.
another tim   </~~~ thats me

[347HO]

As I said before...  if you have the parts lying about, then yes it makes things easier and cheaper to dial in carbs.  If you're wanting to learn, then yup...  it's worth the extra expense and time.
After 4 cars, probably 12 carbs, 100's of hours tuning and 1000's of dollars going to the track to accomplish the tuning...   I am too old and grumpy to deal with it, and try to spend more time with my family than tuning at the track.

It's one of those btdt-dwtdia (beentheredonethat-dontwanttodoitanymore).

You people with all that money and extra time, and nice weather...   almost makes me jealous.

[frdnut]

This 408 that I'm building is way beyond anything I've done before..I figure I'll probably have enough issues to sort out that a wonky carb is the last thing I need..I also did not know what was the best size..Chosing a carb is about as much of a black art as choosing a camshaft...For $11 dollars more than I could buy a stock carb from summit I have one setup for my exact combination..I like to tinker as much as the next guy but for $11 bucks I can let someone else do the tinkering this time...I can't even buy a set of jets for 11 bucks!

[Tater]

   $11.00.....whatever....you guys just don't get it. I bet you guys don't have a spare set of squirters or jets to try when your Professional set-up carb doesn't work on a certain set-up, due to elevation/temp..... what ever happened to the oldschool trial/error type thing? ....Do You actually "think" one combo fits all?...

Tater   

[fidstang]

....Do You actually "think" one combo fits all?...

Tater   

Hey Tater, how's that 91 LX coming along? Did you put a turbo on that thing yet?

[mikemustang289]

It's easier for me to spend some extra time at work making overtime pay and then just pay someone to build a carb for me. I don't intend to build carbs for a profession. I spent so much time and money tinkering with my old edelbrock carb that I was glad to spend the cash on a custom carb that worked flawlessly and I haven't touched it since. For me, I'd rather spend my time learning something that will make me money later on in life, and pay someone else the cash to do what they do best. I'm no Jack of all trades, but sometimes it is just easier to stick with what you know and do that very well; that doesn't mean that everyone should follow that path. I would love to know all there is to know about carbs, it's valuable knowledge; but because I don't build engines for a living or intend to build carbs for other people, my time can be better spent learning things more important to me. No one can learn all there is to know about everything; sometimes we have to choose what we think is most important and let someone else be the expert.

[FordRacing250]

Tater is right on the money about the tune changing... Altitude can change your tune real fast, same with tempatures.. not to mention a million other little things... at some point you will have to go into the carb and make some adjustments.. if youve never done it before you will be lost... thats where tinkering with carbs helps alot...
just my  :2?:

[Tater]

Ok....let me get this straight....so I call Jerry Hass...spend maybe 70k for a basic chassis....call Gene Fulton for a 870" with a 5 stage fogger set-up for $65k, spend probably 20k for a trans set-up and then call Bailey in to tune all the stuff for say 10k....well fuck....by God I have a legit 4 sec car in the 1/8th mile!!! Woo Hoo!!!  Guess I'm King Tut then!!....

Old School....LOL....some of these guys just don't get it!...

Tater  

[frdnut]

   $11.00.....whatever....you guys just don't get it. I bet you guys don't have a spare set of squirters or jets to try when your Professional set-up carb doesn't work on a certain set-up, due to elevation/temp..... what ever happened to the oldschool trial/error type thing? ....Do You actually "think" one combo fits all?...

Tater   

Tater I don't know what you mean by your "one size fits all comment"...You fill out a build sheet listing your combo and Patrick builds the carb to match your specific combo.There just happens to be a lot of guys building very similar stroker motors here...It's really just the opposite of the "one size fits all" since it is custom tailored for you..Buying a carb from summit or the local speed shop will get you the same one everyone else can buy and unless your very lucky it won't be set up perfectly for your combo.It likely won't even be the correct size....I would pay the $11 bucks just to know the carb is the correct size...If you like to spend way more money buying a new carb that is not set up for you and paying extra to buy new jets,squirters,gaskets and whatever else you need thats great but it just doesn't seem logical to me.....I do appreciate someone who can tune a carb(I'm not too bad at it myself) but why not have it set up very close to begin with?..You can still mess with it if you want but hopefully you shouldn't have to.

[frdnut]

Tater is right on the money about the tune changing... Altitude can change your tune real fast, same with tempatures.. not to mention a million other little things... at some point you will have to go into the carb and make some adjustments.. if youve never done it before you will be lost... thats where tinkering with carbs helps alot...
just my  :2?:

True but things will likely be much easier if the carb was setup close to perfect in the first place..I don't know why everyone's assuming people can't tune a carb just because they bought one already set up..It's practically free..Why wouldn't you do it?

[FordRacing250]

no one is assuming... but to me the answer go see so n so  isnt always a good answer.. we need to beable to show people that they can work with what they got if they want to.. and beable to tell them how to get there.
mind you most people in here have some clue what needs to be done, but alot dont. to tell someone who might have a correct size carb thats a little out of tune to buy a new carb is kinda a bs answer... they might be just a few jets off to be prime, or they might needs a differnt power valve. I havent seen too many instances where it couldnt be set up pretty quickly and somewhat easly..
now if they dont have a carb thats a little differnt.
maybe im differnt... ive got parts for holley's laying around, and got a few demon carbs laying around.
just me

[347HO]

How many of you race your car heads up?  What I mean is no ET handicap.  You can include bracket such as 9.50 to 10.00, but in this case...  you better be running 9.51's all day long, dead nutz on at the tree.
If you're paying 300.00 to race heads up, then yah...  you better be able to tune your shit for Baro, Traction and Temp.

If you're racing ET, then run your dial in.  Don't matter how quick you are, just matters you run what you paint on your window.  In this case you don't need to tune for anything. 

I'd say most people here fall into the ET catagory.  It's fun, cheap, and pegs the shit outa the fun meter.  And trust me...  those who don't know, will at some point in the future learn to tune, keep notes and get their junk very, very close to being "dialed in".