What would be the best carb for a 86 f250 with a 460? Edelbrock 750 cfm or Holley 750 cfm? I use this truck to pull so I want 750 cfms but want to hear opinions on which brand makes a better carb, especially for starting in the cold(-30 degree weather).

 

My choice would be the Holley in 650 CFM.

 

I'm an anything-but-Holley advocate. Do some searching on this forum, probably using the "post" and not the "thread" option and you'll find discussions of Holley vs Edelbrock/Carter. Several people have voiced their opinions in those, including Bill Vose who, as discussed last night, ran a carb & ignition shop and probably has forgotten more than I ever knew about them.

But, my concerns with the Holley are:

• They hold fuel in with gaskets and not metal as the E'brock does. Gaskets fail, metal doesn't. I've had Holleys leak, sometimes badly. I'm told the blue gaskets solve the leak problem.
• They use power valves to enrichen the mixture, and PV's can be damaged by a single backfire such that they leak fuel. I'm told there are check valves available to prevent this.
• The accelerator pump diaphragms can crack and leak.
• To work on the carb on the vehicle you have to pull the Holley's fuel bowl, thereby spilling gas on the engine. With most Autolites and all Rochesters and Carter/E'brocks you can pull the top of the carb on the vehicle to service it.

Again, you should search the forum because people with more experience than I have voiced dissenting opinions. But these are my concerns.

 

Holley is a tinkerers carb. You don't sound like a tinkerer so Edlebrock for you. My 460 with cam, intake and headers has a 600cfm.

 

I will add this. The Carter/Edelbrock carb does have one minor drawback, it can't typically handle more than 5.5-6 PSI without having fuel "leak" past the needle/seat assemblies.
Ford mechanical fuel pumps typically output 7-8 PSI, as that was their design spec. This frequently means a fuel pressure regulator is needed to prevent the engine from running pig-rich at idle and low load.
Holley and Autolite/Motorcraft carbs can handle the higher pressure in most cases.

That said, I prefer the Edelbrock for street use, but nothing can trump the Holley when it comes to racing applications.
Personally, I plan to use an Edelbrock 600 on the 390 in dad's truck, even though I also have 2 Holley's that are in the correct CFM range, 600 vacuum secondary, and 650 DP.

One side note. A Holley has to spec'd specifically for a Ford auto trans in order to have the kickdown bar hookup (unless you convert to an aftermarket cable setup), while an Edelbrock has the option to add a bolt-on kit to any of their carbs, to use this feature. Of course, there's also a need to buy the specific throttle cable adapter bracket so the cable won't be in a bind, as the Edelbrock is much wider than the others.


FWIW, unless your 460 is built pretty warmed over, and will be used over 5000 RPM regularly, a 600-650 CFM would be plenty. The smaller diameter primaries will net you better throttle response and MPG should be a bit better.

 

I had a holley on my truck. Granted it was the stock 4180C that Holley made specifically for Motorcraft. After I rebuilt it I could never get it tuned in. I went to the E'brock and didn't have any problems. My fuel range is between 10-12mpg depending on driving conditions and I haven't yet put in the fuel regulator that Rogue discussed (it's on the to-do list). So, for your application, and if you don't want to mess with the carb a lot, get the edelbrock 650 1406. It'll save you a bunch of headaches.

 

I have an 86 F250HD with a 460. My holley carb needed a rebuild so I decided to scrap it and buy the edelbrock performer series 750cfm. Bolted on and starts and runs awesome with NO tuning (Other than fine tuning the electric choke)

I have a thread here somewhere... Let me go look



EDIT.... heres the link:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-on-460-a.html

 

That's not a real Holley. I had the same one and struggled with it. After tuning carbs for years although it had been 11 years since i touched one I had a bunch of relearning to do. My new (real) Holley is great, still have some fine tuning to get it right.

I do agree for an out-of-the-box carb go edelbrock.

Nice write up.