Holley Builds A Better Carb
Changing its proven carburetor design to meet today's demanding enthusiast was no easy task. Holley engineers consulted with well-known engine authority and Winston Cup engine builder, Keith Dorton, to get his input on what the Holley carb should be. Keith took the bull by the horns and spent hundreds of hours on the dyno testing, and recalibrating this new line of Holley fuel meters until he got them perfect. Several improvements were incorporated into the carb, including a new powervalve design with million-mile blow-out protection, easy, no-trouble float level adjustment, advanced fuel metering calibrations, a no-trouble adjustable electric choke, and four vacuum ports, just to name a few. The new carbs will be offered in 570-, 670-, and 770-cfm vacuum secondary models. Information: Holley Performance Products, 1801 Russelville Rd., Dept. SC, Bowling Green, KY 42102, (270) 781-9741, www.holley.com.
Straight From The Crate
Now that they make some of the best cylinder heads and engine blocks in the market, the next logical evolutionary step was to offer a complete crate engine. Dart, in association with Liberty Engines of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has developed a pump gas crate engine package using Dart's "Little M" iron block and Pro 1 aluminum cylinder heads. The rest of the build-up consists of hard-core performance items such as a forged 4130 Scat crank, Eagle rods, SRP forged pistons, Comp Cams valvetrain, Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake, and a Holley carb. Information: Dart Machinery, 353 Oliver St., Dept. SC, Troy, MI 48084, (248) 362-1188.
Bolt On Big-Block Shaft Rockers
Those who build big-block Chevys know that bolting on a set of shaft rockers can be a chore. Until now, custom machine work was always required to run shaft rockers. Jesel has cured this issue with its true bolt-on kit. These extruded aluminum rockers incorporate a specially designed interlocking pedestal mount that eliminates movement between rocker arms. Jesel says that its new shaft rockers are just as durable and reliable as its race rocker sets, only now anyone can install them in the time it takes to swap standard rocker arms. Information: Jesel Valvetrain Innovation, 1985 Cedarbridge Ave., Dept. SC, Lakewood, NJ 08701, (732) 901-1800, www.jesel.com.
Shafts For The SB2.2
Chevrolet's best flowing cylinder head is in high demand. The highest-level racers and engine builders know that there's power to be made in these heads. T&D Machine Products supplies those racers and builders with the parts they need to extract every ounce of power. Already used in NASCAR and NHRA Pro Stock Truck, T&D's new shaft rocker assemblies for the SB2.2 are now available in offset and standard location versions. Information: T&D Machine Products, 4859 Convair Dr., Carson City, NV 89706, (775) 884-2292.
Single Piston Stopper
Wilwood also knows that there is a huge demand for performance brake upgrades designed to be an easy bolt-on for stock musclecars. The single-piston GMIII caliper from Wilwood is the answer. Its triple-bridge design provides for tremendous clamping strength with a substantial weight savings over stock calipers. Shown here mounted on a stock GM spindle, and with a new slotted Raybestos rotor, the GMIII caliper will improve your braking and lighten your load, but not your wallet. Information: Wilwood Brakes, 4700 Calle Bolero, Dept. SC, Camarillo, CA 93012, (805) 388-1188, www.wilwood.com.
Outside Influence
The thorn in the side of all racers and carb builders who deal with Holley's popular 4500 series Dominator carbs is its completely enclosed throttle. It seemed like a good idea at the time when Holley thought of it-put the linkage inside the carb where it won't get dirty or hang up on anything and stick wide open. The only problem is that the linkage has several small moving parts and when they come loose there's only one place for them to go; into the engine. Bo Laws Performance Products (BLP) has been coming up with trick new ways to build Holley carbs for years and has designed an adjustable, external Dominator linkage to solve this problem. Being outside the carb offers several advantages.
First, loose pieces won't be cycled through the engine as if it were just a giant Cuisanart. Second, BLP's new linkage is adjustable, allowing the tuner to go from a 1-1 throttle opening to a progressive, and soft-progressive actuation, depending on how the engine likes it. This added tuning ability alone is worth the price of the kit. BLP offers the linkage separately or can include it on one of its custom built carbs. Information: Bo Laws Products, 1015 W. Church St., Dept. SC, Orlando, FL 32805, (407) 422-0394, http://blp.com.
Formed Collector
Aftermarket exhaust technology is advancing faster than ever, and companies like Custom Performance Products (CPP) are at the forefront of creating power enhancing pipes. After spending most of their time developing exhaust systems for NASCAR, CPP is now venturing into the drag race and street markets. This stainless steel collector features a formed spear where the four primary pipes come together. This reduces turbulence in the collector and its hourglass shape increases flow and horsepower potential. CPP offers this 4-into-1 collector, and a 4-into-2-into-1 "Tri-Y" design collector for different applications. Information: Custom Performance Products, 1116 gateway Dr., Dept. SC, Mooresville, NC 28115, (704) 662-8280.