RE: [Chevelle-List] Holley vs. Edelbrock

[John Nasta]

<< I don't think anybody is upset, but for some reason this comes up on both of the car lists that I'm on all the time. There seems to be an urban legend that says that Edelbrock carburetors are actually Carters, or that Edelbrock buys their stuff from Carter, etc. It's just not true. And sure, you can buy a brand new Carter AFB right now if you feel like it. They are still being made but usually a few dollars (literally) more than the Edelbrock counterpart. >>   < So the actual story is that instead of Edlebrock buying anything from Carter, they buy the bodies from Weber.....who make Carter....easy to see why everybody gets confused...maybe if someone were to provide the article that explains this to the lists, there would be no more speculation. I'm sure since they are identical (Edlebrock and Carter) on the outside that this is a very common misconception. So where did you learn of the real story? >     Well, no. I didn't quite say that Weber makes Carter. Both Carter & Edelbrock buy their carb bodies from Weber, which is ultimately owned by FIAT. I'm sure the Carter people love this common misconception that they somehow manufacture their competitor's product(s). I think the Carter AFBs were around before Edelbrock started buying the carb bodies from Weber and selling them under their own name. I think that's why people think that Edelbrocks are Carters, or that Carter sells anything at all to Edelbrock. But the story is very simply that both Carter and Edelbrock buy the carb bodies from the same company, which is why they look do similar, and both companies manufacture their own internals.   Now, as far as comparing the two, I have never heard anybody say that one is better than the other. I only went w/ the Edelbrock because it was about $5 cheaper, and I was buying an Edelbrock intake as well.   Oddly enough, the Edelbrock open-element air cleaner does not fit on the Edelbrock (or Carter) carburetor unless you also buy either a spacer or a banjo fitting for the fuel line. I opted for the latter because I had not installed the engine yet and didn't know how much hood clearance I would have. The adaptor was something like $10 from Jegs, and I think they charged me about $12 shipping. I remember being pretty annoyed at that. It came in a huge box with all kinds of packing material for a stupid little fuel line connector shrink-wrapped to a card, which could have been put in a padded envelope and mailed for about 50 cents.