Greetings . . .
AFAIK there were five manufacturers that produced a Hollander #1 or #4 with a 3-bolt base: Stromberg, Carter, Holley/Ford, Chandler Groves, and Marvel (in order of production volumes). Volume is an important consideration because traditional hot-rodding exhibited a ‘junk yard’ influence . . . the most widely used parts were those most widely available in the local bone yard: Hollander #4A being the most prevalent – Stromberg EE-1.
The Marvel carburetor was a failed experiment in late 30’s Buicks – rare scrap – most were replaced with Stromberg AA-1 ‘aero’ carbs. Chandler Groves was the design house that Ford utilized in carburetor development – their plant never scaled to volume. The design is commonly known today as a Holley 94 – many were manufactured directly by Ford.
In my opinion selecting a carb for use on a dual is mostly a process of elimination. The first feature that can nix a carb from consideration is a vacuum driven power circuit – vacuum can be in short supply when two carbs are fitted. This eliminates the Holley 94 in my mind – as well as the Stromberg ‘aero’ AAV-x series. There is some tuning potential with different sized power valves - so it's not a total deal breaker. The second consideration is CFM rating – which in most cases can only be inferred from the original application – i.e. the displacement of the engine the carb was designed for. Unfortunately, this eliminates the cool looking ‘aero’ carburetors found on straight eight Buicks.
For me this left three choices – Stromberg 81, Stromberg 97, or Carter WCD. 81’s are hard to find – and a worn out core is more headaches then it is worth. To panic’s point the Stromberg 97 is a lot of carb. They were designed for an engine with 240 cubic inches with each barrel feeding just half that. The Carter WCD was used on a wide variety of makes and models. It was shipped with both 3-bolt and 4-bolt flanges. The flanges can be interchanged.
I am running a 2nd series Edmunds 2-deuce on a modified 216. I have fitted Carter WCD’s that were designed for use on the Nash Statesman 195. I got lucky and found a guy parting out the inventory of an old Nash dealership – two identical NOS carbs.
It took some time to sort out this setup:
Inliners Post summer of '18 Which Edmund's manifold do you have?
