Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

[Jack P.]

As I prepare the car for a long season of driving both in the US and Europe the engine has been my focus.


The car has 50,0000 miles on engine since rebuild in 2010


New carb Holley 4160 put on in 2010 Correct L-79 66 Roadster


All new wires, timing springs, oil, (1,200-1,500 mp Qt.) plugs


Car began to get 9-10 mpg in winter after I got it back from Europe (Dec)


Was getting 14-15 hi 12 mpg town


Put in all new stuff as listed and now car runs great.


5,000 gallons of gas has gone through it.


I have worked on the carb before and am familiar with setting floats
etc.


Should I , do nothing as the car is running fine


Should I rebuild carb with all new parts from Holley with successful outcome


Should I rebuild carb with horrible results , poor performance and lots of self recriminations


Should I send the carb to midyearvett and save a fortune in gas because I will not be driving my car while he has my carb


Should I ask Dahogan to ask Frank , because I have not told him about my plan


I do need to get Lars paper on modifications to the Holley heat shield that I want to install to prevent accelerator pump boil over.


What would you do ?


Jack


ps does the gasket go directly on intake then insulator, or insulator the gasket - carb

[Timothy B.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Jack,

My vote is to get 6 pack cold beer and just look at it, after a while all will look fine. :-)

Seriously, did your gas mileage restore after tune up? If so then wire the heat riser open and try that instead of changing any gaskets. Don't fix something that's not broke. Also, remove green clamps from PCV hose and install black clamps.

[Jack P.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Jack,

My vote is to get 6 pack cold beer and just look at it, after a while all will look fine. :-)

Seriously, did your gas mileage restore after tune up? If so then wire the heat riser open and try that instead of changing any gaskets. Don't fix something that's not broke. Also, remove green clamps from PCV hose and install black clamps.

Hi, I removed the butterfly flap from the heat riser before installing it . This way , you get the look , but do not have to wire it open since there is not blockage. I am driving the car today and should be able to get a mileage check later.

I did check the mileage after the tune up, but before I adjusted the timing. Mileage was still bad at 9-10 mpg . The dist must have moved as the int. was at 5 degrees , and I usually have it at 10-12 reset it.

I put the new springs in , as the old ones have been damaged a bit. Lite springs and all in at 3,500 48-50 degrees at high rpm. I have a 3.70 and am at 3,000 to 3,500 for most drive at 70-80 mph

I will take mileage later and update on mileage before any work on carb.

I will put in the heat insulator, I don't have much of a problem with starts, but less heat to carb is always good

Jack

[Jim T.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Best mileage I ever recorder on my original owner 68 L79 M21 3:70 was 20.++ MPG. Have used a Holley 6210 spreadbore since 1974.

[Michael J.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Jack,

My vote is to get 6 pack cold beer and just look at it, after a while all will look fine. :-)

Seriously, did your gas mileage restore after tune up? If so then wire the heat riser open and try that instead of changing any gaskets. Don't fix something that's not broke. Also, remove green clamps from PCV hose and install black clamps.

+1, my philosophy with old cars is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[William F.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Is the 48-50* advance mean initial+centrifugal+vacuum or just intial+centrifugal? LOT of advance if just initial+centrifugal.

[Paul J.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Jack, I'm not sure about this, but I don't think they sell ethanol in Europe. If that is correct, that could be the reason for decreased gas mileage after returning.

Paul

[Jack P.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Is the 48-50* advance mean initial+centrifugal+vacuum or just intial+centrifugal? LOT of advance if just initial+centrifugal.

Hi,

10 int, 30-35 ish for centrifugal, vc pulls 17 at idle, but at 4,5000 rpm timing is 47 - 50 total, at 3,5000 which I run at most of time on highways or local roads in 3 rd depending.....

it is about 48 maybe 3 to 6 degrees from vc

Jack

[Jack P.]

Re: Rebuild the Holley 4160 or leave it alone ?

Hi,

Bad advance springs, bent, stretched , once I put on new springs the car ran great again. I will leave the Holley alone , since it works fine. I did put my old one one, it worked fine also except for all the gas leaking out until the gaskets swelled a bit.

But gas dripping is never good

Jack