C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

[Gerard F.]

I have a late production 1967 Corvette 327/300 HP (22049 Eng. Assmbly 6/26/67, delivery date on warranty booklet 7/15/67). I bought this car from my room-mate in the Navy (who was the original owner and no mechanic) in 1968. In 1976, I changed the leaky Holley with non-adjustable floats to a Holley double pumper (list 4776 0635) which is still on the car. When I took the original carb off, I happened to write down the numbers in my 1972 Chiltons manual, they were:
3874898 ER, List 3139-1, 5A5. I am now in the process of restoring the engine to original, and all the books tell me that a 3810 is the right carb for this 327, 4 speed, non-AIR corvette. Is it possible that they put a 3139-1 instead of 3810 on this Corvette at the factory as a late production car. Are there any other instances of a late production 67/327 with a carburetor other then a 3810.
I've owned this car for 36 years and have only changed the carburetor once.

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Gerard-----

Just about anything is THEORETICALLY possible. However, I don't think that this 3139-1 carb was ever originally installed on this car. First of all, the 3139-1 is a big block carb and internally calibrated for those engines. I doubt that the factory would have installed a 1965 big block carb on a 327/300 small block Corvette.

The most important difference, though, is the choke style differences between the 2 carburetors. The 1965 carburetor uses an integral choke with a heat tube. The 1967 Holley uses a divorced style choke with the choke thermostat mounted in a stove in the intake manifold crossover. There's NO WAY that GM would have installed a 1965 style choke carburetor on a 1967 Corvette. I just can't imagine that they would have done such a thing.

What is the choke set-up on this car?

[Gerard F.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Joe, it had a remote choke with a rod to the spring on the manifold. I saved and still have the rod and clip, and the spring and housing is still on the car. Too bad I gave the carb away to a teenager across the street who was into cars. The 4150 I replaced it with has a manual choke.

I am no mechanic and I have only changed one carburetor in my life (in 1976).
Believe me, I would not have written those numbers down in the book I was using at the time, unless that carburetor was right in front of me. Either my room-mate, in the less than 18 months he had it, had his Dealership change it (Roy Stauffer, Scranton, PA)(which I seriously doubt), or the 3139-1 was put on this late production car at the factory.

I have been doing some research on this, the list number was 3139-1, and not 3139-1AAS, or 3139A which I understand they put on 396 Chevelles and passenger cars.

I would really like to resolve this matter, as the carburetor is the only thing that doesn't match original numbers on my car. Is there any other physical differences between a 3810 and 3139, for instance would they use the same stock fuel line for a 67 corvette? The carb I took off in 1976, had an End Inlet Moraine Filter Bowl with the internal filter and open vent on the top, and caps where the float adjusting screw should be. (they would always leak)

Jerry Fuccillo

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Jerry-----

The general configuration of the 2 carbs is similar----both are Holley model 4160 carbs. I believe that the inlet provisions are the same for both carbs, so the 67 fuel line ought to work.

The choke is the main external difference. As I say, the choke on the 3139-1 is completely different than that used on a 3810. There would be no way that I know of to connect the divorced style choke used for 1967 (and which you still, apparently, have parts of both on and off the car) to a model 3139-1 choke set-up. There's just NO way that it could be done. I don't think that the choke mechanisms are interchangeable among these carbs, either.

The choke mechanism is part of what makes a 3139-1 a 3139-1 and also makes a 3810 a 3810. It's not something that I could ever envision the folks at St. Louis interchanging even if it could be done. First of all, they wouldn't have had the parts to do it. Holley wouldn't have done it since, if they did, the 3139 would no longer be a 3139; it would be some other carburetor list number and it would be some other GM part number.

Also, the 3139 that I'm referring to is the one also known as GM #3874898.

How a 3139-1 carburetor got on this car I do not know. Plus, since you don't have the carburetor, that lends even more uncertainty to the whole thing. In any event, I think that I can say without fear of contradiction that a 3139-1 would not be accepted by NCRS or NCCB as "correct" for any 1967 Corvette. I think that it would require considerable and authoritative documentation before that would ever change.

[Clem Z.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

i checked the holley illustrated parts and specs book # 36-51-7 and the only 3931 they list are 3139A,AAS,-1A,-1AAS, no -1.

[Gerard F.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Joe,
I am trying to document this carburetor matter for future competition, I can buy either a 3810 or a 3139-1, but I'd rather put the model on the car, which I think it came with. I summize that due to the late production date of this car,(among the last 900 produced) that they ran out of 3810s and used what they had refitted with the remote choke. Perhaps there are others out there with late production 67 base engines (beyond vehicle number 22049) that have an original carburetor other then a 3810. I will be checking with Holley, and wish I knew where one could find the original GM production records for my car.

[Clem Z.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

there is no way you can retrofit a divorce choke to a carb main body that is made for a hot air/electric choke because the casting is totally different.

[Michael H.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Agree 100% with Clem. There's no way that car ever left the assembly plant with a 65 carburetor and a manual choke. In the early days of Holley carburetors, there was a LOT of switching going on from one car to another but not at the point of manufacture. Everyone was experimenting with different carburetors then and since the one that was installed on your car was from a big block, I have to assume someone thought it was bigger/better than the original.

Michael

[John H.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

I agree - there's no way St. Louis-Corvette had any two-year-old hot-air choke non-Corvette carburetors on the engine dress line in late 1967 that ended up on a car with a divorced choke with the actuating rod flapping in the wind. Somebody swapped it out who wasn't concerned about a choke that didn't work.

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

John-----

Yes, especially a 2 year old Holley of a part number that was never used on a Corvette in the first place.

[Gerard F.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Clem,

Does your holley illustrated parts and specs book show a 3139-1 with an integral or divorced choke. The carb I am researching has a date code of 5A5 which is probably for a 66 production car. GM no. is 3874898 ER.

As you can see in the other thread, there is a lot of comments assuming that this carb had an integral choked. I have a picture of the carb showing the numbers as well as a vacuum qualifier. I can send it to you.

You can contact me directly at gjfeng@mlode.com (Sonora, CA), or post a response. I am really serious about researching the possibility that a 3139-1, or carburetors other then a 3810, were put on late production 67 327 corvettes at the factory. There are probably more out there with vehicle numbers around or after 22049. Let's find out. As you probably know, the 1968 carbs for the same engine were Rochesters; this may be an anomoly at the end of the line.

Thanks, Jerry Fuccillo

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

Jerry----

As clem also mentioned before, I cannot find a specific reference to a 3139 carburetor with a "-1" suffix code. However, such a carb may have existed in the Holley nomenclature system; I can't rule it out.

Also, I did do some further research on the GM #3874898 carburetor. Although this carburetor was first used for some 1965 big blocks in passenger cars, it DID have a divorced style choke and not the integral style choke I mentioned earlier. It was also used for 1966 passenger cars and Chevelles. It's 1965 use must have been just about the first use of the divorced style choke on a Chevrolet.

That solves ONE of the application "hurdles" as far as the possible use of this carburetor on a 1967 small block Corvette. However, as far as I know, there exists NO documentation that such a carburetor was used and I consider it HIGHLY unlikley that it would have been used. If Holley or GM had "leftover" GM #3874898 carburetors, the chances are that they would have gone into GMSPO inventory. If GM had needed Holley carburetors for 1967 Corvette small blocks, then I don't see why they would not have used the as-scheduled Holley #3810. Holley did NOT stop producing this carburetor during the 1967 model run. They manufactured them for MANY years. In fact, the carburetor, GM #3906631 was not discontinued by GM until February, 1993. Incidentally, the GM #3874898 carburetor was discontinued in October, 1976.

[Clem Z.]

Re: C2 65 Holley on a 67 Corvette

the holley book only lists 1965 1/2chevrolet & chevelle with 396 engine as R-3139A,AAS and the 1965-66 chevrolet & chevelle with a 396 engine as R-3139-1A,1AAS. i checked the NHRA specs and they list the 1965-66 396 325 HP with 3139A and 1A. they were both divorce choke because the holley book list a choke pull off. also i have found 2 GM number listed for the 3139,3875964 and 3874898 but i also found a 3230 listed as GM number 3875964 which is a 1966 chevy with 327-275 HP. crane corvettes list a 3139-1 with a GM number of 3875964