68 Charger 6 pack carbs vs 4 barrel opinions please!

[orange383]

I have a 6 pack set up waiting to go on my 68 Charger 440 R/T and would like your opinions on wether I should fit them or go with a decent 4 barrel carb.

I know they are not correct for a '68 but I like them although I do need to source an air cleaner. I had decided to sell them as they have some value but after getting them out of the box and photographing them I'm having second thoughts.

So should I or rather would you fit them and also what are the advantages and disadvantages of them when compared to a well set up 4 barrel?

Also what is a sensible asking price? They are good condition used carbs including inlet manifold. No air cleaner though!

Cheers!

[John_Kunkel]

I've had two 6-packs, one 340 and one 440 and wouldn't do it again unless it was original to the car. Mostly good for the "wow factor" but they're not that unique any more.

[b5blue]

Loved mine, nothing like all 6BBLs opened up WFO but it came time to add A/C so went to 4BBL. (Never had any 6BBL trouble long term.) Nowadays if your in the planning stage look to injection.

[orange383]

Cheers for the replies. Do they provide much more performance over the 4BBL? I'm assuming they only come in to their own when you're at wide open throttle which probably won't be very often for me!
Maintenance wise do they require regular tuning and balancing?

[b5blue]

  No actually driven easy, tuned proper you get better gas mileage. Here's the thing, your going to need to learn the system. I got very lucky early on with a fella who knew/understood 6BBL. He set up initial carb/dizzy/kickdown tuned to my ex-drag race 440. (A real bastard.)  You can't just pull into any shop and say hey fix my 6BBL something is off a bit. Tons of info good and bad, some parts and ways very specific to just 6BBL and more just Mopar 6BBL. (Did you know most of 6BBL was from Chevy Vet. )   

[JR]

I had a six pack for 16 or so years before I pulled it to run TBI.

It was actually as reliable as any 4 bbl (after an initial rebuild and sorting) and it sounded awesome wide open.

But that said, I don't miss it, I'd take the efi all day every day.

Unless you're going for novelty points at car shows, I really don't see the reason for the added expense and complexity of a six bbl.

[b5blue]

The one thing I grew tired of was being asked to lift the hood. All that would result in was being asked to pull the air cleaner cuz you can't really see much unless you do. An aspect I don't miss is a 6BBL may just be worth stealing, Charger hood's don't lock. (Mine has locking hood hold downs.)

[cbrestorations]

6bbl and their not so good intake proven to suck on hp and torque compared to a single smaller 4bbl.

[c00nhunterjoe]

The 69 6 pack intake is one of the best production intakes made. If you have the knowledge to set one up, it will rival any other true street package out there that are commonly discussed on these forums. If you want maximum performance, then yeah, a dominator and high rise single plane will outperform, but honestly, how many guys on this forum are crazy like me?

[BSB67]

If you have to ask, just go with the 4 bbl.

[orange383]

If you have to ask, just go with the 4 bbl.

Hmmm. That's helpful! But maybe I will anyway!

Thanks for your input everyone! I think will go with a 4BBL.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Bsb doesnt typically sugar coat things, straight to the point, but accurate. 6 packs are a labor of love. If you have no clue about them, then its 99% most likely not for you. You could fall into the 1%, but not likely. As far as value- depends on the area. In my town, origonal 6 pack setups trade hands for between a grand and 1500 depending on how bolt on the setup is.

[orange383]

Bsb doesnt typically sugar coat things, straight to the point, but accurate. 6 packs are a labor of love. If you have no clue about them, then its 99% most likely not for you. You could fall into the 1%, but not likely. As far as value- depends on the area. In my town, origonal 6 pack setups trade hands for between a grand and 1500 depending on how bolt on the setup is.

I do have a clue about carbs but have never run a 6 pack set up before. Plus they are going in a '68. I'm more of a cruiser any way so they'd rarely get a workout.
I was expecting a few objections to fitting them in a '68 car and I'm surprised there wasn't really.

I'm glad I asked the question as there were some good points made which helped me make my mind up!

Cheers all.

[70 sublime]

Think if I had most of the parts to give it a try I would put the 6 pack on

If it did not work out well you can always say you tried to yourself and never be wondering 5 , 10 , 15 years from now would have could have should have

I know I let a 4 spd set up go 20 years ago and now kicking myself in the butt for not hanging on to it as I try to find the parts again because I have never driven a standard Charger before

[timmycharger]

I have been very happy with the performance of my six pack on my current engine configuration (aluminum heads added) as well as how I had it 20 years ago with the iron heads.   I don't have a dyno or never compared time slips from the strip, but for just beating around town, It always felt just as fast to me as it was with the 4bbl carb and Edelbrock RPM intake.

My carbs are mostly stock, aside from adding quick fuel technology metering plates in the outboard carbs and removing the choke hardware in the center carb.

I rarely mess with them now since the car runs well and pulls like a freight train but I'm sure I could adjust the jetting further and experiment with timing settings but for now, it starts right up every time, holds an idle almost immediately. 

[dreamcatcher]

Bsb doesnt typically sugar coat things, straight to the point, but accurate. 6 packs are a labor of love. If you have no clue about them, then its 99% most likely not for you. You could fall into the 1%, but not likely. As far as value- depends on the area. In my town, origonal 6 pack setups trade hands for between a grand and 1500 depending on how bolt on the setup is.

I do have a clue about carbs but have never run a 6 pack set up before. Plus they are going in a '68. I'm more of a cruiser any way so they'd rarely get a workout.
I was expecting a few objections to fitting them in a '68 car and I'm surprised there wasn't really.

I'm glad I asked the question as there were some good points made which helped me make my mind up!

Cheers all.

As as getting slack for a 6 pack in a 68. Probably not many would say it shouldn't be there. I am not only running a 6 pack in my 68 but a 426 street wedge with a 6 pack. They aren't that big a deal as long as there complete and the linkages are right. I had never had one either but bolted one on my S. Bird. And it ran great from the get go. So I was a fan from the start. And they sound AWESOME !

[John Milner]

If it were me, I would run a 4 barrel and sit the pack on the work bench to look at.  Unless you drive them often, Holleys are bad about leaking if you let them sit. 

[Aero426]

Go with the 4 bbl.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I have never had a holley fail/leak after using the new style blue gaskets which have been production for years.
Fwiw, an unmodified aluminum 6 pack intake and unmodified carbs are good enough to put a stock stroke 440 in a b body low 10s at almost 130 mph. You dont need fancy port work or new metering blocks.

[Kern Dog]

If it were me, I would run a 4 barrel and sit the pack on the work bench to look at.  Unless you drive them often, Holleys are bad about leaking if you let them sit. 

Not mine. I have a 750 in a 67 Dart that sits for months and still fires up reasonably fast. My Charger has an 850 Demon, essentially a fancy Holley and it does not leak. Maybe you meant the 2 barrel carbs?

[Ghoste]

Dick Landy once said about Six Packs to take every problem you ever had with a four barrel and multiply them by three.  I love my Six Pack, Im happy with the performance and Im happy with the showing them off at cruise night.  But if it hadn't been on the car when I bought it I would not likely have sought one out.

[BSB67]

The red BLP gaskets are the best I've used.  

The Holley pump diaphragm seem to leak often.  Had another brand new one leak a week ago.  On a six pack, that's a PITA.

[cdr]

The red BLP gaskets are the best I've used.  

The Holley pump diaphragm seem to leak often.  Had another brand new one leak a week ago.  On a six pack, that's a PITA.

I have found the green diaphragm ones  for alcohol last MUCH longer.

[maxwellwedge]

The Holley pump diaphragm seem to leak often.  Had another brand new one leak a week ago.  On a six pack, that's a PITA.

PITA is right. I've lived that pump diaphragm one too many times. Stock gaskets on a Holley. If they sit for long periods, they are going to leak. Sometimes just tightening up the bowl screws a little helps if they are leaking.

[John Milner]

If it were me, I would run a 4 barrel and sit the pack on the work bench to look at.  Unless you drive them often, Holleys are bad about leaking if you let them sit. 

Not mine. I have a 750 in a 67 Dart that sits for months and still fires up reasonably fast. My Charger has an 850 Demon, essentially a fancy Holley and it does not leak. Maybe you meant the 2 barrel carbs?

I have had issues with a lot of Holleys leaking, whether they are the 6 pack carbs, 4 barrel or 3 barrel carb.  A lot of mine have leaked around the accelerator pump diaphragm after sitting for a period of time.  I think a lot of this is because I am using older carbs.  Maybe the newer ones are better about not leaking.  Having said that, I will still run them on some of my cars.