Power Valve Selection

Holley has made a dozen 'Model' 4150/60 carbs many of them marketed as '750s'
a. To know more about the carb on hand - look for the 'list number' and then look it up on Holley's Carb List.
If the carb has a choke tower its stamped there. It may or may not also be on a metering block.



Accelerating from a dead stop involves almost all, if not all of the circuits and adjustments in the carb.

The main jets are mostly to control high speed cruise fuel mixture. To be more accurate, the main circuits contribute fuel when the air velocity past the boosters is sufficient to create pressure differential that pulls fuel. IF the system is calibrated properly, this will typically occur on flat ground steady conditions (no trailer, etc) above 45 mph, and be dominating the fuel contribution by 60 to 65 mph. With a new fangled carb with additional emulsion holes and weird air bleed combinations etc, then those have to be fixed first.

When looking at a spark plug, one has to know something about the conditions it was subject to.
If that plug was a full wide open throttle run in top gear, the porcelain looks lean - but's just the tip - and there's a ring of carbon on the first thread.
If that's a fresh plug with mostly cruising and a couple of accelerations to 60 mph, maybe its a bit lean under some conditions. Closest to the gap is where the flame is converting from an electricity supported kernal to a self sustaining flame front.

Anyway. That's a long way of getting around to this.
If you've driven it on the highway without problems, its not too lean in the primary main jets.
Go drive it on the interstate like a normal driver. No wide open throttle. Add moderate throttle as needed for hills, normal passing, etc.
If it is jetted too lean the engine will rev and die or nearly die. Slow down, take it home and go up a size or two primary main jets.

If you want a decent info from Holley find yourself a used copy of Holley Carburetors and Manifolds by Bill Fisher and Mike Urich, any edition.
You're buying for a good intro into how carbs work and the diagrams, not the marketing content.
Alternatively for less, the smaller Holley Carburetor Handbook, Models 4150 & 4160, Selection, Tuning & Repair By Mike Urich

The sequence of tuning does matter. Sometimes we have to go out of order, but it then means some more iterations of testing.
Remember to start by checking the fuel level in the bowls.
Then Tune for Performance

So thats interesting you bring up that Carb List... So I was not able to find the part number (0-80459SA) on there. Unless using the "Find" feature online isnt actually bringing up that number.

This car has only been street driven with a couple hard pulls for kicks. But mostly just daily driving activities. On the high way it is not bad. handles passing and getting up to speed just fine. But to be honest, I have always been heavy on the throttle because like a child, I still like to hear the engine roar lol. Ill try the "moderate" throttle the next time I have it out to see if I can gather any more information.

thank you for the tune for performance. Seems pretty basic and Ill give that a try.

How much compression?


Yes. Distributor timing x 2 = Crank timing. Same with distributor rpm. Distributor is same as cam, but half crank.


Good start.
View attachment 1716290710

The question is what is happening in between.
See here for a factory A134 non-smog high performance 440.
On your combo, assuming nothing out of ordinary on the compression or heads, I'd suggest 16 to 18* initial. Something around 22 to 24 degrees by 1400 rpm, and then very slowly advance to 38 at 5400.

You can see in the link that a 440 with factory intake etc will use a little more vacuum advance than you have dialed in.

So I am not to sure on the compression... I know it is running the 906 heads, but the heads were shaved, block was decked and I am not to sure what pistons were used/head gasket thickness (I may have found that out at some point)(this whole car was built by my late father and before I knew anything more than turning a wrench). My dad "claimed" the compression was 12:1 after he talked to the machine shop, but from what I was reading online you do not do that to a 440 with iron heads for the street. And his main objective was for a street car with no track use, so that 12:1 has to be bogus. So any guess is a good guess.

Short version.

Clean up the idle and off-idle.
  • Try another 2* or 3* initial advance
  • This should allow slightly less primary transfer slot exposure. Then trim the idle mix with the idle mix screws. In neutral, run in 'til slight drop in rpm or vac, then open up 1/8 to 1/4 turn. (It needs to be richer in gear than when turning with no load).

When I get some time Ill give that a go. Summit said it wouldnt ship the jets today regardless of when I ordered them over the weekend. So once I have parts and time in hand Ill give this another go ahead.