[Tom Vaught]

A bit more today on Holley Carbs.

Mike Urich might have "Written the Book" (books actually) on Holley Carbs but Mike was an Holley Executive Engineer and had time for that kind of thing plus it was good for Holley.

One of the best Holley Engineers (Carb Men) I ever worked with was CHUCK GULLEDGE.
Chuck left Holley, some years after I did, moved to Clearwater, Florida, and opened up CHUCK GULLEDGE Fuel Systems. He mostly built Pro Stock Dominator Carbs for Racers.

I heard about a Dyno Test, run years ago on a Pro Stock Truck engine that was on the dyno.
The carbs were a pair of Holley Dominators built by a company in the northern midwest. Will not go any farther on that deal by providing a name.

So they run the Midwest carbs and they get a number and call me up. I say, what is the deal/
Dyno Owner says, "Tom, the engine seems down on power. I thought it would make more."

So I said" Got any OTHER carbs laying around that you could borrow for the Dyno Test? Braswell, etc? So he says, nope, don'e have any of david's stuff but have tested it in the past and it is good stuff. If I don't try some other carbs the engine will be off the dyno the day after tomorrow."

Then he says, "Hold one, I remebber a older set of carbs under a bench from years ago in some Holley Boxes. Came with the shop when I bought it."
So he looks around and finds the Dominators in the Holley Boxes and pulls one out and sees the Chuck Gulledge tag on the thing. Says "ever heard of that guy?" This is right after Chuck left Holley. So I tell him, blow the carbs off, change the bowl gaskets and bolt them on the engine.
DO NOT TOUCH THEM OTHERWISE.

So he does that, bolts them on the engine and runs a few tests. Calls me back.

Says: Tom, those carbs right out of the boxes were 38 HP better vs the other carbs. I ran the testing several times because I could not believe the numbers and even swapped the other carbs back on and lost the HP I gained from the under the bench carbs.

So I said, you want to make the customer happy, sell him those Gulledge carbs, tell him don't touch the carbs except for gasket changes, and tell him to sell the other carbs he bought to the fastest guy he races against.

Do not know if he did all of that but that truck was kicking butt in that class the rest of the season.

So Mr Chuck Gulledge, not only was a Holley Engineer but also a Top Notch Carb Builder.
You ever find some of his stuff BUY IT! Sometimes who builds the carb(s) can really make a difference and there are GOOD Builders and GREAT Builders
if you catch my drift.

Tom Vaught