66 chevelle carb question

[Chuck Norton]

633,

I can't claim any particular expertise as a automotive historian of that era. However, to the best of my admittedly fuzzy memory, I recall that 1966 marked the introduction of the 275 horsepower combination and that most of at least the early cars were Holley equipped. Cars that were delivered in California weren't necessarily equipped the same as cars in the other 49 states. We even had the A.I.R. systems to complicate things. Obviously, the Holley was the originally specified carburetor because it is in the primary spot on the spec sheet. The Carter AVS was basically viewed as a re-engineered version of the AFB and many racers initially tended to approach the "air-door" carburetors as being less desirable. I personally never saw an AVS equipped 275 horsepower 327. Also, there may have been some factory equipped Q-jet cars in 1966 but I don't remember them. Travis Miller could probably shed light on this point but I seem to recall that after the Q-jet was put on the '67 275, it may have been approved for the '66 retroactively. (Note the revision to the spec sheet dated 8/23/79.)

Earlier in the mid-sixties, I recall that the Chevy V8 combinations had used AFB Carters, Holley's various sizes in single-feed configurations or, in the case of smaller horsepower units, the Rochester 4GC. Exactly why GM spent the money to build molds to cast two different manifolds (apparently Holley and Carter carbs both used the same casting) for the same engine configuration is a mystery to me. On the 396 side of the ledger, in 1966 there is a manifold that has the name "Holley" cast into the unit and that motor carried ten more horsepower than the very similar Q-jet combination of 1967.

Having scrambled through what's left of my rapidly evaporating memory to dredge up the foregoing, I'm in no position to declare it as totally accurate or complete. Just the way I remember it.

c