Agreed, Jay posts good stuff, pictures and info.
As far as carburetors, I have found them to be like oil weight, alternator or generator, 12V or 6V, factory lights or turn signals … lots of differing opinions!
I got thrown off another forum for my opinions on carbs, but I think I am safe from that here, although many will disagree with my opinion.
The Holly NH is fine for puttering around on slow roads when you don’t care about performance, until they have a problem, usually not the carb itself but trash. A good cleaning of the tank, settlement bulb, and carb will usually get it back to working. Rebuilding a Holly NH is said to be easy, and I was told on that other forum that if I couldn’t rebuild a Holly NH I should not own a T! I know several people who own, love, and brag about their T’s who don’t know what a carburetor is or what it does. There are also people who rebuild NH’s for a living, so some people must be getting it done who have a T and don’t know how to rebuild a NH. The last I checked Lang’s had a three month wait for a rebuilt NH, and it comes with a Grose jet!
Jets can be a problem. The Grose jet has a ball and that thing will lock closed for no reason. No trash, trash would keep it open. No, it locks closed, or at least mine did. So get the replacement brass needle like the originals had! Yeah, expect it is poorly machined and leaks. You have to lap it in with toothpaste, then clean everything up, then set it by hitting it with a wooden mallet. Yup, that’s what the pros say. From what I can tell, Langs no longer sells them. Or, you can get the viton tip needle, I have heard they wear fast, but I have never had one. Lots of people swear and complain about NH carbs, and I think all the aftermarket ones were popular because of problems with the NH’s. And I suspect that the main problem with the NH’s was trash in the fuel line. then of course people complain about ethanol gas when they have a carburetor problem, but that is a whole 'nother line of reasoning.
I have found two carbs I like, and neither is an NH. One is a Stromberg OF. I consider it to be smoother and more powerful than the Holly NH, just my opinion. The other is the Stromberg 81 which requires a special manifold to go on a T. I have one on my speedster. It is the best carb, in my opinion, if you have a high compression head and reground cam.
If I had a car which was just for parades and sitting in the garage I wouldn’t hesitate to go with a Holly NH, just keep the trash out.
I have an extra Stromberg 81 which I would like to install on an engine I am putting together, but I need an intake manifold to put it on a T. Does anyone know if these are readily available, or are they all custom made?
