Predator Carbs
 

Looking at replacing the Holleys on my motor with a pair of these.
Anyone have any experience with them. My motor is a 355 SBC w/ 6-71, Intercooled, 10psi boost. Currently running twin 650 double pumpers.
Thanks -------- Tee

Interesting thread.
I have very little knowlege of these carbs. I know alot of drag racers use it but beyond that, I don't know.
Hopefully someone here has some experince with them.

They have always looked interesting, but from what I understand they are primarily for drag racing.
It would be nice to hear from someone with first hand experience of the Predator on a performance boat.

A freind of mine ran one on a BigBlock sand truck for a while......could'nt get it tuned right and went back to a holley, it had great throttle responce!!!!!

I've had about a dozen of them . Ran them on mud racers and prostreeters . They are all buisness ! They are not real drivable or good on gas but they have throttle responce out the but !!!
I had one set so bad that I had the owner of predator (Dale ) here on Thanksgiving morning at 7am tuning it on his way to his inlaws house !! I tried 1 a couple times on a boat . It was real hard to get to idle clean and not foul plugs . But it would pull 10 times harder then any holey I ever had , and had about an extra 500 rpm's over my 850 holley's ! I had 2 on my 55 ford prostreet 472 " tunnel ram pickup . IT was cool ! It was hard to tune though . I tried several sets of holley 750 and 850's and they were real weak compared to the Predators . It felt like it lost 200 horse power with the holleys . I used to be able to smoke the tires (16" tread) @60mph in high gear with ease with the Predators and then with the hiolleys I had to jump on it hard and could barely turn um in 2nd gear ! :( BUt it was more user friendly ........ I think I have 2 or 3 left if you want to play with them . Let me know and I'll check it out . Give you a great deal !! Joe . email me at [email protected] if you want .

Don't get me wrong , they will work with some effort .
The one guy that works for them has a small block Elcomino that runs 2 on a tunnel ram and he drives it to work almost every day !;) All the monster trucks run them too . some have 3 of them on a blower ! I bet they would work sweet on a blower !!:D But I never tried that one ...... JOE

If it mattes those carbs are not CG approved. Also I would never buy anything from that lying hack, Dale. He did such a butcher job on my boat I feel sick just thinking about it. Stay away from that guy and anything he sells!!!

Hey Ken come on man tell us how you really feel. ;) :D

I don't have the energy anymore!

Boot, you have mail ----------- Tee

I forgot about Ken horor story !
Tee, Got your mail . I'll check into it . JOE

Well, I have used Predators on everything but a boat, but see no reason why they would be any different. The problem with Predators, is they are SO SIMPLE, people tend to mind fu@k themselves into over tuning, compensating, or making the wrong changes for the desired effect. How can you go wrong with a carb that basically works by the volume of air passed through whatever it is bolted onto? I have been able to make the old Predators with no idle circuit work tits on the street, and the newer ones are a piece of cake. You must remember though, this is a simple, totally adjustable carb by means of simple mechanical changes... but to keep from painting yourself in a corner, you have to rethink how a holley works vs a Predator. I will say, that when set up correctly, there is NOTHING with as much instant throttle response, and they also allow you to change any part of the fuel curve with simple changes. It is harder to do on the water, and much easier to do on a dyno for obvious reasons, but the key is minimal changes, keep track of what and how much you changed, and don't approach it like you are tuning a holley, as they are different animals completely. Below is the link to the Predator forum.... maybe that will give you some insight as to problems, corrections, and the simplicity of them. Hope this helps you out.... ~smile~

Click here to visit the Predator Carb forums

predator carbs
 

It is my understanding that Predator carbs are not CG approved for marine applications. but then who s gonna tell.

MY OPINION...STAY AWAY FROM PREDATOR ...PERIOD

IHAVE HAD SOME BAD EXPERIENCES WITH THEM. NOT CARB RELATED

Bruce,

I would like to know how your "situation" with Dale went. If you don't want to post on the board send me a PM or E-Mail. I will keep any info confidential.

Thanks

Hey Ken, I will Email ya

i also have a 18ft flatbottom v-drive biesmeyer boat. I am running a LS6 motor with tunnel ram with 2 predators on it. Like these guys have said, the resonce is awsome in both bottom end at really at any range. They are the old ones with no idle circuit. This was our family ski boat as i was growing up and a lot of family and friend learned to ski with this boat. we ran this motor running a 8-one barrel set up then going to twin 780 with gear drive and finally got the predators. The motor never ran as well as it did with these. Motor is running a 565 lift cam with reworked points dist that had timing coming in full advance at 1600 rpms. The carbs have been on this motor for 15 yrs now and still love them.