[What'saCobra?]

Yes, some street cars came with a single pumper vacuume secondary 4bbl, i think an 800/850 cfm. Then i recall refitting the latest Holley mod (circa 1968?), a 950, which was an 850 with the webbing between the front two barrels removed to create one humongous front opening.

But, the days of the double pumper had not yet arrived, so there was a mod that attached a Y tubing to the top of the rear primary bbls squirter tower which carried the accellerator fuel through two holes you had to drill in the choke horn forward. You inserted the tube assembly and had a double pumper of a sort when the ends of the Y squirted into the left and right side of the gapeing chasm of the 3rd bbl. You had to also increase the volume of the accellerator pump and there was a more abrupt cam for the lever arm that was required to make it work correctly coming out of the hole. And it was converted to mechanical secondaries, which worked perfect.

i had just gotten rid of a 427/435 tripower vette coupe that had two very nasty problems. First, the sidepipes drummed the coupe interior to death unless BOTH windows were down, not easy in NewEngland winters. i had just returned from the Quebec WinterCarnival and my ears are still ringing. And the first and last pair of carbs of the three were vacuume operated, but not reliably. They might not open immediately as you exited a corner until you hit a little bump, then they were both instant on! That car had enough power to light those dopy red-line Firestone tires at anything under 60 mph, so the car would quickly present itself sideways. Exciting, but not fun type exciting. Dicey type exciting, unpredictable type exciting.

The 950 on the Cobra however, took some jiggling, but when it was set up correctly, it worked just great along with a set of home fabricated equal-length headers and sidepipes and even thinner head gaskets. Very predictable. Very noticable power improvement, but as usual it soon faded into again not quite enough with a little useage and familiarity.

And now for a secret. Do you know what i used for street tires for years and years? HA! Firestone Indy rain race tires. They were perfect for the street because they never got that hot in the dry and were just super in the rain, New England remember? And the "racing only" was marked only on ONE SIDE, which somehow always ended up on the inside and conveniently not very visible. OK, they only lasted for about 4 or 5000 miles, maybe less, but so what? i tell you, no street car and few genuine race cars could even get close, except for ultimate top speed, which Cobs were not so super at. Off a cliff they would only do just 155-160 with those fat butt fenders in the rear and a windshield. On the track, just over 165 a bit.

For weekend events, spare Halibrands and Goodyear Sports Car Specials were de rigeur, of course.