Holley G bowl - brass or steel?

[hull 433]

While working on a leaky drain valve on a Holley G, I started wondering - for mid 1915 should the bowl be brass or steel?

Bruce's Black book, the Judging Guidelines, forum posts and the MTFCA Encyclopedia all offer different answers. None of the early factory photos show one clearly, nor does the Price List of Parts for 1915 and 1916.

I have both brass and steel bowls, both with soldered drain valves. Any suggestions would be welcome.

[Kerry]

Can't tell you if brass or steel but my parts books of the teens show that up to 1916 the holley had the 2 screws on the top plate a center drain and changed to the 3 screw and a bowl drain in 17.

[Steve Jelf]

...up to 1916 the holley had the 2 screws on the top plate a center drain and changed to the 3 screw and a bowl drain in 17.

Bruce and the MTFCI Guidelines show the Holley G arriving on 1914 cars. The Guidelines show Patent Pending on the top plate until the end of 1914, then Pat Dec 1914. I don't have a source to cite on this, but I expect the bowl was changed from brass to steel early on, perhaps by the end of 1914. I think the tendency for the brass bowls to crack would have become apparent pretty quickly. Compared to the steel bowls they are scarce, suggesting that they weren't used very long.

The later switch to a cast iron body and the new choke lever of 1919 were not the only changes I consider significant. Some of the bronze bodied G's have a rim around the choke intake, handy for attaching an air filter, and others do not. I don't know whether they were made concurrently, or one came after the other. I chose the rimmed one so I could add a filter. If that's incorrect, TS.

The G has some parts that came in different forms during its six years, but are interchangeable. This means, especially after 100+ years, that your G body doesn't necessarily have its original top plate or bowl.

Choke intake with rim.

Without rim.

[hull 433]

Thanks for the responses. Kerry, the 1915-16 parts lists are mystifying - nothing current but a very pretty 1913 two-screw Holley illustration in compensation.

Steve, would like to hear more about problems with brass bowls. I'd just assumed the change to stamped steel was just part of a larger shift to steel components.

The car's former owner had a large collection of Holley Gs. I'm pretty sure the bowl on this carb is not original to it.

The judging guidelines say the 1915 Holley Gs were all brass, while the steel bowl arrives in 1916 - but whether for the model year or calendar year isn't stated.