Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
How crooked can the lettering get before someone wakes up to realize they are getting a fake???
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
How does this one look? -
Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
No comments on the stamps, but the seller is Chicago CorvetteDick WhittingtonComment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
There is an extra "_" after the part number on this one too...
Scott - on your carb specifically I'd like to see more examples of that specific part number, especially of known originals before modifying existing numbers and restamping of blank air horns became common.
Some of the 66 327 carbs are horrific in the attempts to provide numbers on an air horn.Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
Hi Ron,
I noticed the space after the part number (before "DA") too, but there's no underscore ("_") between the part number and the "DA" suffix on mine, if that means anything. If the one I have is not original, I would like to find out.
There is a picture in Colvin's "Corvette by the Numbers" showing a 4BBL List-3367 (1966 small block) with the same "DA" after a space, following the part number, and noting what is called the "odd alphabetical '5A3' date code". (p. 189) I am guessing it's considered "odd" because the second digit in the date code was only a letter (not a number) for the months of November (A) and December (B). (Colvin, p. 184) My car has a January 11, 1967 build date so the 6A1 (1966, November, first week) would be correct.
I also found some commentary that explains the date code and (to some degree, anyway) a possible reason for crooked lettering:
"Below the list number is stamped the date of manufacture. This will be a three- or four-digit code. On three-digit codes, the first digit indicates the year of production. The second digit indicates the month of that year of manufacture. The final digit refers to the week of the month that carburetor was produced. In some cases the second digit is a number, in other cases a letter." (Colvin, p. 183 - note: 4-digit date code only used after 1972 model year, also p. 183)
"Please realize that this was a manual stamping operation and was prone to human error. Also, the air horn, which has all the important information stamped on it, can easily be switched from carburetor to carburetor." (p. 183)
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
I would like to see some others too. If it is not original, then it would seem to have been replaced at some point before my Dad bought this car in 1976, because his handwritten notes from talking with the (then current) owner in 1976 mention the carburetor List number and date ("List R-3810" and "6A1"), along with other notes about when the oil was last changed, anti-freeze last changed, spark-plugs last changed, no
I don't know if people were already starting to modify existing numbers before 1976 or not. The previous owner removed the engine-bay A/C components to save weight while drag racing the car for two summers ("B" stock, he included the original A/C parts with the car when my Dad purchased it), so I don't think the previous owner was concerned about date-correct parts, but I was able to contact the previous owner, so I will ask him about it the next time I talk to him. I have an extensive receipt file that my Dad kept for everything related to the car, and I am working on decoding all of the part numbers on the receipts (when they are not described, which is often). The receipt file shows the following related to the carburetor:
1. Holley (34R5978) - Auto Electric Equipment Co. $16.00 (5-21-79)
2. Holley (85M4036S) - Auto Electric Equipment Co. $2.65 (5-21-79)
3. Holley P&P Kit - H.C. Haenggi Co., Inc. $21.40 (3-3-82)
4. Holley (22BP-40-65) Ault and James Speed Shop $3.50 (2-11-84)
5. Holley (25R-591-65) The Dayton Parts Company $4.55 (2-13-84)
6. Carb Cln (1050002) White-Allen Chevrolet, Inc. $3.25 (2-13-84)
7. Carb Kit (931A) Genuine Auto Parts $9.38 (2-02-85)
8. Gumout (7450) Genuine Auto Parts $2.44 (2-02-85)
9. Starting Fluid (SA16) Genuine Auto Parts $1.45 (2-02-85)
Maybe Joe Lucia knows what the part numbers for 1, 2, 4 and 5 above describe, I haven't been able to figure those out yet.Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
anyone with a old original carb look and see if that little dimple is in the small flat area below the stamping. the reason i ask is later holley drilled and tapped this area for a emission setting needle that was sealed with putty. if this dimple is not in the earlier carbs this is a later model one holley sold without any stampingsLast edited by Clem Z.; July 12, 2010, 03:57 PM.Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
Hi Clem,
I would have wondered the same thing, except I remembered that he had ongoing problems with getting it to run properly.
When I talked to the previous owner, he remembered that my Dad called him a month or so after buying the car, to find out what the previous owner had done to the carburetor. It had been altered in some way (I would have to check my notes, it was technical and I didn't really understand) for drag racing, and the previous owner explained what he had done, so my Dad could put it back to normal, for street driving.
He used to go to a small local airport to get av-gas (near Delco-Moraine, where he worked), to mix with premium unleaded, and in the 1980s he had an early version of a knock & ping sensor, but to my memory, the car never did run to his satisfaction. What I don't think my Dad knew, is that the previous owner had changed the camshaft. When I talked with him last year, he said he installed a 350/350 camshaft, and it never ran right for him either, before he sold it to my Dad.
When we disassembled the engine, it had a camshaft with a "6930" casting number, which if I understand correctly, is the 350/300hp base-engine cam (beginning in 1969). I could be wrong though, even with Colvin's book, my understanding of camshaft markings is lacking.
The pistons were TRW 11.1, and the heads measured 68CC (not factory rated 64CC). It was still standard bore. I don't know what effect all of this would have with regard to making the engine run properly, but I doubt it was helpful.
When I had the carburetor rebuilt recently, the invoice shows the following (may be a clue here as to why it didn't run properly, particularly items 4, 5, 6, 7 and 12):
1. Restore Holley 3810 dated 6A1
2. Master Kit
3. Bush Base
4. Correct thick acc. pump cover & screws
5. Secondary metering plate
6. Fast idle cam
7. Primary Jets
8. Install 12-24 Helicoil in main body (throttle body screw)Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
Holley has made lots of runs of popular Corvette and muscle-car carburetors with un-dated air horns, to be date-stamped by the resellers; Chicago Corvette has been one of those resellers for decades.Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
Hi Scott,
A couple of comments...
1. I don't recall there ever being a underscore, just a space and your does have the space.
2. I the lettering, yes as a fast read of the notes indicate Oct Nov Dec got letters. Not odd by any means as the older book you reference, just the Holley numbering scheme.
3. On running bad, your rebuild picked up the probable culprit.
4. Restamp - back then in the mid to late 1970's - doubtful - that was when they were going strong on the blocks, frames and transmissions.
5. Crooked lettering, hand set? l doubt completely. These were made in a factory making probably thousands a day. They did not have time to hand set each number. There might be an expert here that knows how they were stamped, but you have to figure that the date stamp was used for a week - all week. So a 6A1 carb, any Holley running down that line that week should have that same characteristic stamp. As I said from know examples, that 3370 is crooked beyond crooked.
What one has to do is get data, this applies to any part, once you have seen enough of them you can make a trend. 3370's I know and can compare known originals to the one I based this thread upon. Therefore the reason I did not want to base an opinion on a specific carb I have not studied.
With the data you have (receipts, original owner comments, etc) you are safe to expect you have the original carb. Again just based on the surface, the lettering is not crooked as the example I posted.Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
Clem,
that pic you posted was too small to see anything...Comment
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
John H. CC Well known.
Crane's sells these too - but they are not restamps - Can't call it a restamp when it has never been stamped before
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Re: Crooked is as crooks do - Holley 3370
try this http://img.inkfrog.com/click_enlarge...&aid=307480016Comment
sounds like the ad i once saw,free starter fluid with every tune up. 
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