Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Has anyone had any luck running a genuine Holley with methanol calibration? I have ran a Holley for years that was converted over by George Ruepert and it has been a great carb. I noticed that Holley sold some refurbished carbs in their store. They have a 750 HP Methanol carb that was $599. I was looking over the specs and it said it was set up with 144 jets square with power valves front and back. I have never seen a methanol carb with a power valve. I was just wondering if I bought one will it run like its supposed to or it's something you will have to send to a builder to get it right.

Circle Track carb probably; most will have at least a p.v. on the primary side, not uncommon on the secondary. Main wells, angle channels etc should be the same as a drag race deal. P.V. are a plus when on yellow flag laps, track pack etc. If you have to lift quickly for the squirrel in front of you a p.v. shuts off momentarily and prevents a rich stumble on throttle pick-up.

cgarb wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:50 pm Has anyone had any luck running a genuine Holley with methanol calibration? I have ran a Holley for years that was converted over by George Ruepert and it has been a great carb. I noticed that Holley sold some refurbished carbs in their store. They have a 750 HP Methanol carb that was $599. I was looking over the specs and it said it was set up with 144 jets square with power valves front and back. I have never seen a methanol carb with a power valve. I was just wondering if I bought one will it run like its supposed to or it's something you will have to send to a builder to get it right.

If you have the option send it back and get a quick fuel alky carb.
Far better piece to work with.
You will need some type of barrel valve to control fuel pressure and volume. I used a BG barrel valve by pass system that connects to the throttle linkage.
It allows you to set the fuel pressure at both idle ( coasting through turn ) and wide open.
You will need at least 9-15 lbs pressure at your disposal to make them run smoothly.
The 144 jets are a bit on the large size and the air bleeds are a bit small so you will pour a ton of fuel through the engine.

Ether a belt drive or a mechanical pump that can put out 15-20 lbs pressure is needed.
Minimum #8 feed to pump and #8 to the carb through the bypass or regulator. #6 for a return line.
Do your self a favor and put a shut off to the carb as well so you don't flood the engine after a heat soak as the boiling point is about 150 degrees compared to gasoline. It will flood over the floats when it sits after a hard run like several laps of practice and you come in hot and just turn it off. I just used to run the engine for about 30 seconds before shut off and never had a issue.
Other then that the other thing is to use a spark plug that has a shiny anodized coating on the threads so you can check for heat when reading the plugs cause after a 10 lap run they are still bright white which makes reading them a bit hard to do even with a scope. Karl Kinser taught me to read the colour on the threads of the plug not the center till you were close.
That way when you get colour on the threads you will see the bottom of the inside of the plug lines up with 1 thread and to tune till you were about 3 threads away from the bottom. That way you will not be too lean you burn a piston..

It can be a little intimidating at 1st but its not rocket science.
Also that big rad you used for gas may be now way toooooooooooobig as you still need to get heat in the engine to run perfectly

Most guys here run a return line to the fuel cell after the pressure regulator.

I bought a BG barrel valve for my deal and my buddies told me it isnt 1990 anymore!

Krooser wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 10:06 pm Most guys here run a return line to the fuel cell after the pressure regulator.

I bought a BG barrel valve for my deal and my buddies told me it isnt 1990 anymore!

The adjustable reg. works as well as the barrel valve.
But you can tell your buddy it mat not be 1990 but the BG set up is much easier to use and set up then the reg. in most cases. All you need is your 15 lb fuel gauge to set it. No leak down gauge to hook up and take off every time you tweek it.
Like when you have no track time to test a setting in can be done in the pits.

But which ever system you choose to run what type of race application are you using the system for??
Do you plan to dyno the engine to set up the fuel system or is it just a change to an existing car/engine combo??