Holley 22XX Series Carb Stuff

[Scoutboy74]

Hi Adam. Welcome to the forum. My overriding thought on that carb model is that I don't like them. They weren't that great when they were new and the passage of decades hasn't made them any better. What's the state of your ignition system and timing? If you haven't made every effort to dial that in as precisely as possible, I'd focus on that first. No doubt the carb is in need of some attention, but a spark system that isn't quite right can leave you blaming more issues on the fuel delivery system than might actually be true. When it comes to the carb, if you're really married to the one you have, I'd suggest a full-on overhaul to cleanse and refurbish as much of it as possible, rather than just replacing a few isolated components. Those carbs were already jetted for low to moderate elevations, such as where you live. However, with the reduced volatility and efficiency of ethanol laced fuels, it may not hurt to make a minor increase in jet size to compensate. But, the logical first step would be to refurbish the carb first. Then see how the engine performed. If after that, you found it to be a bit on the lean side at part-throttle cruise, an increase in jet size could be warranted. Better yet though, budget depending of course, would be to ditch that carb in favor of an aftermarket carb...or really go hog wild with a Hamilton fuel injection system!

 

[Adam704]

I have not messed around with the ignition system or timing since I have gotten it. Do not know what the timing is set to either.

FI is not an option at this time, I would like to get the Holley 2300 but need to hold off as I'm spending too much money right now on other things. I will try to make the 2210 work as best as I can for now.

 

[Scoutboy74]

Copy. And I don't advocate tweaks to the spark side without some basic equipment such as timing light and dwell meter at your disposal, especially where a running engine is concerned. Too much chance of making things worse by going willy-nilly. Do you know what distributor is in the engine? Electronic or points?

 

[Adam704]

I do not know if I have points or electronic. I do have the gold box, how can I further dismantle the distributor to find out? How do you take off the mechanism that spins under the cap?

 

[Scoutboy74]

That's a Holley "Gold Box" electronic ignition, correct for the model year. It does not have breaker points or a condenser. So no need to worry about dwell angle adjustment. That is just a plastic dust cap under the rotor. It can be carefully pried up around the edge for inspection, but there's really no need to since the engine starts and runs.

Edit...and the rotor itself should just lift straight up and off, but again, no real need to unless its needing to be replaced.

 

[Adam704]

Great. I will leave it alone since it is functioning. I will work on the carb and see if a disassembly and a soak/cleaning of the passageways will help this old turd out.

 

[Adam704]

Here is a follow up since I was getting some good advice. I changed the main jets, went up 2 sizes. Also found an exhaust leak on driver side header to exhaust. Tightened that up and with the new jet size it runs great.

Thanks for taking the time for the help on this forum.

 

[Provience]

Abusive amount of pictures inbound! This 345 has been sitting since 2009/2010, health issues mean it lost the spot it was sitting at. Cleaning a bunch of stuff up and today was tear down and clean up the Carb while watching KOH day. Several posts of pictures inbound.

Starting off with some pictures of how it was set up in the truck. Firewall side

Drivers side

And proof that the vacuum port here is just going right to full manifold vacuum just under the carb base. Currently this is running my fuel tank vapor vent (charcoal canister) and positive crankcase ventilation (PCV)

Front side removed R 7940 A

backside on the bench, all 3 of these vacuum ports are full manifold vacuum. Using 1 for choke, 1 for brake booster and the other for...dang, forgot. it's either plugged or running the vacuum idle pot

Working around to get a better picture of the choke controlled high idle cam

Vacuum idle control pot. I've got no use for it at the moment, it would be neat to use for high idle on demand though for whatever nonsense one could come up with

Least favorite thing about this carb, fuel inlet is right behind the water neck. Surely, for more money, one could buy a nice swept fitting or make their own. This hard right angle functions just fine, only bugs me because of how it looks. Almost enough to buy a different fitting

more inbound

 

[Provience]

continuing to go around. Of all the silly things, I like the heat riser choke i've swapped all my electric chokes over to manuals, but this one gets to stay...it is juuust complicated enough to be fun. The vacuum nipple on this end is ported i.e. draws from above the throttle blades

Starting to take things off, vacuum pot first out

and the 2 machine screws for it's mount removed. I put it back on when going back together mostly so I didn't lose it, did adjust it so that it can't touch anything.

High idle cam removed and link to choke shaft

picture for...some reason

this is what it looks like updside down. you can see where i put some welding wire through the vacuum ports to show where they come from

wire and a pick to demonstrate where the vacuum port off the front of the carb base goes, this is above the throttle blades, normally.

holding open the blades make it easier to see, notice on bore to the right of this picture, the small hole below the big hole. Only present on the one bore.

 

[Provience]

pulled out the idle air mix adjustments screws, one is much more needle than the other

smooshed? smashed? crushed? who knows, who cares, not enough needle shape to easily meter the fuel stuff.

Remember the bigger holes that were above the smaller vacuum hole earlier? yes, idle holes down there below the blades.

picture for some reason of the fuel inlet

ah, that the was the flare adapter. this is the fuel inlet, just a standard hole with a spiral

The top hung instead of side hung bowls, unscrew from the top. All of them are the same except for the one in the center, it's a noticeable amount longer

now that they are split, we can see some of the issues inside. it was cleaned up before it was store, it certainly isn't very extensive buildup. it is enough to cause issues though. the torn blue accelerator pump is worth replacing.

Sure looks cool once the gasket is off. Even though it wasn't a high end gasket kit, the bowl gasket is plenty durable to be reused several times. Float/needle and power valve removed.

there is a washer on the plunger for the "secondaries". Alright, it's a 2BBL but the idea is the same. High vacuum keeps the rod sucked up, once vacuum drops enough, the spring pushes the rod down and opens up the secondary fuel valve (jet) to let me fuel through.

air bleed holes on the top of the metering rods, important to keep all the things cleaned

 

[Provience]

Important to make sure all the little holes in everything are clean and free of gunk this is how the fuel gets sucked up

this is where the bowl vent is located, it's why it's easy and worthwhile to prime the carb before starting by adding fuel directly in to the float

Picture of stuff that shows more holes and pass-throughs

pair of normal primary jets and the vacuum operated spring driven secondary jet

Here is the light into the hole for the secondary jet, picture is of the primary jet. Notice the small dot of light? if that is plugged (and it was) you won't get all that good secondary fuel when vacuum drops. which'll result in a stumble

Looks like the primary jets are 55T to the naked eye, looks like 55 [inverted] 1 in the picture :lmao:

This guy is labeled 40...neat.

same thing for this lower gasket, it would survive multiple rebuilds.

 

[Provience]

It was fun playing around with welding wire. proof it's above the throttle blades

wanted a new idle meter screw, i've got an old junkyard motorcraft 2bbl carb. cleaned up the screw and used it for the holley.

The carb rebuild kits always come with a few optional gaskets, it's important to validate which one you need.

notice how the top left corner of the bottom picture has a big exposed area? that's a vacuum port. The gasket above closes it off, this one would leave us with a heft vac leak

and that's as far apart as reasonable to take one. good bit of compressed air, some elbow grease, few shots of carb cleaner to break things up, and some stranded copper wire work real good for getting all the things chased/cleaned out.