Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 235 2bbl vs. 2x1

I swear I asked this before, but I can't remember the answer nor find the post. Maybe I've been breathing too much gas fumes.

Anyway, I'm building a practical daily driver with a 235 for city/highway driving. Would I be better off with a 2bbl carb on the stock manifold, or a new intake with two 1bbl carbs? It seems like the 2bbl wouldn't require as much tinkering, but I don't know. Whatever the answer is, could you also tell me what the best carb(s) to use for this application?

Thanks,
Joe

I can't say which is better but I can say that I used to drive a 55 chevy 235 with 2 single downdraft Stromberg single's on a Offy aluminum 2x1 manifold and it drove like a dream. Better gas mileage, smother running and could chirp the tires going into 2nd.gear. The 235 was a rebuilt shortblock which had a .030" overbore. I installed a MILD 3/4 regrind cam and the exhaust was kind of weird. The exhaust was the front 3 cyl. went into a Fenton type short cast iron header and the back 3 cyl. went through the back half of the stock exhaust manifold BUT it was cut in half just at the side where the front Fenton type header was and was capped shut with a small rectanglar 1/4" plate that was welded on. Thus this still gave me use of the stock carb heater box.(a definate pluss for a year around driver). Maybe not the most efficient set up as far as exhaust flow goes. But, at least, I had true duel exhaust and it did breath better and it help performance a lot.(and it had that lovely six banger kackle when I stomped it). The carbs that I used were 1 5/32" venturi Strombergs but I have tried to find more of them with NO LUCK at all.
This car was driven year around here in Illinois from 0 degrees to 90+. I had just one carb set up with a manual choke and I often drove the $hit out of it. Set the carbs just once and that was all. (no fuss) but I think I would have to contribute that to the simplicity and excelence of the older Strombergs.
You may be able to find some old Zenith carbs on e-bay once in awhile (if you out bid me) they also would be excellent. But dont go overboard on the venturi size. And remenber what ever fuel you shoot in HAS to have a good way out (exhaust)
or the extra carb won't do what it was designed to do. Keep all the components on the mild side and keep heat to the intake manifold and you will end up with a DAILY dependable long lasting driver. My vote would be the 2x1 and it has more of that killer look to it when you pop the hood to check the oil. ha!
Kind-a long,(i get carried away sometimes) but I hope this helps some. ~ ED

Thanks Ed. What about Rochesters? They seem to be easy to find.

Where in IL are you?

I won't open up a can of worms here. Let's just say that "I don't like them". I'm sure that there are some people that use them. I'm from the "old school" and favor the Stromberg's and Zenith single barrels, mainly because they are a simple design and have less restricting air flow.

BUT:
You may want to check this out.~~~~~~~~~~ I intend to check this out just haven't yet.

http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.asp?ZTM=cadegdha&GHOME=www.vintagespeed.com&TITLE=VINTAGE_SPEED

"847 HOLLEY
This is our most popular carb for inline 6 dual setups. I have these running on 6 cyl. fords --Studes--plymouths and chevs. These are simple carbs that work well in dual applications. It came stock on early ford flathead sixes and is actually 1/2 of a holley 94. In fact many of the parts for the 94 fit this carb such as the float and needle-seat assembly.-and I have all parts available. This is in our hot rod gold finish completely rebuilt. The base is the standard 2 bolt that fits a lot of the aftermarket intakes. Give me the center to center distance on your intake studs and I will see that you get the right base to fit. These flow about 140 cfm each. If you order two or three for a system--tell me what there going on and I will size the jets and rework the power circuits for your application. You'll love these carbs"

To Hellfish and others.~~~~~

I should have tested the above link first but I didn't, so here's what to do.

1.)Go to the link.

http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.asp?ZTM=cadegdha&GHOME=www.vintagespeed.com&TITLE=VINTAGE_SPEED

2.)Clink on the "check mark" at the top of the page.
3.)Go down about 8 lines and click where it says "Carbs-Six cyl.-Single Barrels"

Consider the Holley/Weber progressive 2bbl that Tom Langdon at Stovebolt sells. A nice compromise between drivability and performance at low cost.
I have one on my Ford flathead 6 and it works great.

Nick

Those Strombergs are nice, but very pricey and I don't have any cores. What's the advantage of the Webers?

The stock carb for the 59 Chevy 235 was a Rochester BC with an auto choke. Do I need to have two autochoke carbs? Rochester B (manual) and BC (auto) carbs are easy to find and rebuild kits are cheap, that's why I asked about them. I need to get the car on the road and reliable quickly.

If you want cheap and fast, then just rebuild the "B".

Only choke one carb.

what about 2 Holley/Weber or Rochester 2bbl carbs? would that be overkill plus no more fuel efficiency?

The Holley/Webers from Langdon are not only cheap they are wonderfull. Since they where verry common on Mustang, Pinto, Escort and even VW Beatle and Rabbit parts are cheap everywhere (even here in Germany)

You get the best of both worlds: good economy on the primarys and performance on the secondarys.

I think it is one of the best setups on a 235 for a daily driver. We did a friends 235 last year with this setup (weber/holley - dual offy - mild howards 3/4 cam - fentons) and it drives like a dream.

Best thing is they are mechanical progressive. That means you controll them with the gas pedal.

The linkage setup takes a bit of fiddling, but it can be done in half a day.

I recomend to buy the linkage and the adapters from Tom Langdon. Saves lots of time, money and the use of 4 letter words

You only have to choke one carb. I prefer a manual choke - but im a controll freak and don`t like black boxes with a one will.

A manual choke kit is aviable at ebay from a Toyota Landcruiser guy for 10-20$ (depends how much you bid)


Frank

Been following this post because I am interested in upgrading mine sometime also. The holley/webers look like my price!... but what dual carb manifold would be best to run??

Clyde 62 chevy2 with 230

I bet that 2 2brls is to much for street machine.. Maybe I should go with 2x1?

Clyde

If you are running a fairly mild engine 235 or 250 inches, you can't beat the Holley/Weber 5200. I have 2 good ones and a bucket of parts. I use one on my 250 Chev motor and I love it. I used the adapter from langdon's and mounted the carb sideways to simplify the linkage. However I am going to modify my manifold to eliminate the adapter when I do my rebuild. I am also getting a jet kit from carbs.net because out of the box the jets were pretty small. It worked good but it works MUCH better with the set-up I have now. However, what I have now is just bigger main jets. The kit has the air jets and some other stuff. Basically I am getting the kit that has the jets that would have been used in a V6 carb like in a Capri or Mustang. The carbs I have came off Pinto motors. The one I bought from Langdon's is the best one, but it had REALLY small jets. Right now I am running a 140 on the primary and one I drilled out with a 1/16 drill bit on the secondary. With the accellerator pump set on the highest setting the whole thing works good and is VASTLY SUPERIOR to the original monojet. When I am finished with my engine I will have a rockin 250 running about 200 hp and my total investment in carbs and carb fiddling will be about $160. that includes a spare sitting on the shelf that I will be able to swap out in about 30 minutes!
Good Luck,
Bob

hey all, i'm trying to give my 250 a little bit more 'oomph!', and plan on changing the old 1 bbl carb. but whether it to a 2x1, or even a 3x1, or a simple 2 bbl..?? its a daily driver, with maybe a bit of racing, just for kicks and giggles that us young'uns love to do. i'm trying to be as cheap about this as possible...and time, well...theres not much to do up here. lol
so, any suggestions would be appreciated.
thanx guys.

SamWise

Go to Langdon's Stovebolt link on this site and check out the 1 to 2 barrell adapter for 15 bucks and the 2 barrell Holley for 65 bucks and see what you think. It's a sweet package for the money and a good first step.

Im running the H/Ws from Tom L on my 261, swapped some jets still could use tweaking but overall, Im happy. Was contemplating a four barrel but since I had the Edelbrock 2 x 1 intake installed went with the H/Ws. Can't beat Tom's price and support with jets etc etc. Now having said that, I may have gone with the four barrel if I didn't allready have this 2x1 set up. Either way it's really nice working with 'NEW' vs. old worn out $$$$hit.

i know this is an older post...and i'm being pretty ignorant and lazy, as i don't feel like looking up what a H/W 5200 is...but what is it? lol. Fleetside, you said you'd be putting out close to 200 horse....but with what? does that include cam...head...headers..?? i'm just trying to get the specifics.


any info would be greatly appreciated.

thanx, SamWise

Holley Weber 5200 carb