INSIDE Holley's Carburetor Factory and Its Epic History! (Things You NEVER Knew)

We use parts from the Holley family of brands on our own projects all the time and you probably have too! Have you ever wondered where those parts come from? Today you're gonna find out! Shane has also collected a vast amount of historical pieces from Holley and its other brands including prototype parts, unopened vintage pieces, and even a Holley made CAR. Yes... Holley actually made cars over 100 years ago!!
Holley Performance Parts Link! holley-social.com/Stapleton42
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Logan: @Logann42_
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[@Stapleton42]

Fun fact: Colt Industries (yes that Colt) acquired Holley in 1968. They changed their name to Coltec in 1990 and sold Holley in 1998. We never knew that until this visit! Stapletonautoworks.com

[@nitsudocsicnarf347]

I did not know that. Thanks!

[@zoltanliszkai2162]

Is there any truth to the rumor that Smokey Yunick was the guy that designed the Holley carb

[@madcowmark7129]

I don't know you and I don't know the guy on Turbo's and Tahoes. I love your content and you know that. I watch Turbo's and Tahoes because I feel bad for him. I'm asking if you could give him some encouragement or Even some advice. He got ripped off on the first engine he bought, it was junk, so he bought another engine. Then the poor bastard takes his loom to have done and they stuffed it. He finds another place they say they can do the loom, $2000.00 later and it's still stuffed maybe worse. He has a colour blind auto electrical guy trying to help. So far I know of $3000,00 his lost being ripped off. It wouldn't worry me so much but his a single father with 2 beautiful kids and that Tahoe is his only car. I'm not asking you to give him money, just encouragement and advice. I will try and help him with some money. Yours sincerely Mad Cow Mark. Mark White. Australia

[@Mtlmshr]

@@madcowmark7129 sorry to hear about that guy however I hate to say this but sometimes you have to eat things to move forward and doing due diligence is probably a smart move when your short on cash! I had to learn that the hard way and because I’m a bit thick it took more than once for me to learn to do my due diligence in most all of my projects now!

[@madcowmark7129]

@@Mtlmshr not asking for cash, he looks upto Stapleton42 channel and was and still is a great supporter of theirs. Just a message of encouragement, maybe plug his channel. I'm not asking for him to go there and help him with the Tahoe. His in Canada and I don't expect them to travel to Canada. They don't have to do a thing, it was just asking a question. Hansa, Might be nice if you can go and watch a couple of his videos, leave a like, a comment and subscribe, gee we might get him to 100 subs.

[@VATION3RD]

Oh Don in the hilborn section is the coolest, working for 60 years in one place, you have to admire him hats off to Don, that's when you know you love your job, when you have no plans ever of Retiring......

[@Stapleton42]

Yeah man that’s insane

[@loganerwin42]

That’s what I’m saying! You know he loves his job and is treated well to be there for that long. Awesome

[@bobsmith4185]

Wow 60 years. That's loving your job..lol

[@leeaw1638]

Don's been doing his thing as long as I've been alive! Born end of ' 62'....

[@kennyfofo]

You guys did it again by showing things that companies like Holly don’t have the time to let people know. They really made a lot of parts and cars back in the day! Great video again ❤️❤️❤️😎

[@Stapleton42]

Our pleasure!

[@irongoatrocky2343]

for the record......the SBC the Weiand Aluminum intake in its day was the top dog! Just say "Why And!"........

[@bsagreg]

Stapleton does it again. He got us Back stage passes for Holley's symphony of parts.

[@sru1436]

I appreciate Holley making it a point to be the care taker of all the brands they’ve purchased.

[@dev-debug]

Not so sure they took care of the Hooker line up very well. I bought a lot of hooker headers in the 70's and 80s, they always fit and worked great, never an issue. Ordered a set of their premium ceramic coated for a project truck (95 F150) a couple of years back and they did not fit at all, hit the frame rail when tightening the flange bolts. Very common truck so one would expect them to fit. Summit confirmed they were the correct header and allowed me to return them. Had to fall back to Hedman which actually went in without needing to remove the starter unlike the Hooker. Had zero clearance issues and was further from the starter motor so no heat soak issues. Just cost me a bit more since I had to have them ceramic coated myself.

[@sru1436]

@@dev-debug That sucks, I wasn’t aware of that. Seems like a lot of quality has slipped with a lot of places.

[@brianbeilmann2992]

The size of that operation is incredible. What a interesting place.

[@robfultz7946]

Absolutely need a Holley museum!

[@DaveWrightKB9MNM]

Interesting to see Eddie Sachs photo the same year(64) he passed away with Dave MacDonald at the 500. My dad was a tech inspector for USAC and he had just gotten done with his work and was walking to the bleachers where my mom was sitting (the crash was in front of her) when it happened. It’s always been something my family has never forgotten. Thanks again for the video! Awesome to see the history behind the brand(s) and yes, a museum is indeed a must!

[@Stapleton42]

Man that is wild!

[@thomasleclair7418]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,I remember that ,,,,,before I discovered Drag Racing...............The Indy 500 was big,,,,and on TV,,,,free tv.................They ran Alcohol as fuel back then....When a fire erupted one could barely see the flames......

[@squirebrannon5072]

I'd love to see the whole history collection at Holley. My dad raced back in the 60's so I grew up digging through old stuff. I had no idea they made cars either! Another great history lesson, thanks guys. 👍

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man!!

[@stevebeck57]

That gentleman that has been with Hillborn for 60 years loves his job. I have 2 more years to retire and I’m going to find something to do I enjoy. Love you Shelby!🐶♥️👍🏼

[@israelmathes6268]

Definitely need a Holley museum.

[@williamkelleher6057]

A Holley Museum is a must it would be so cool to be able to show our kids all the technology that brought us to where we are now. Yes build the Holley museum

[@arrowkart4j]

Holy smokes just when you think you can't get any better, you come through with this video. We use hilborn mechanical injectors on our Sprint car. I'm currently looking for some old hillborn big block mechanical injectors. They're very hard to find in good condition. Thanks so much for showing this, got me geeking out. 😎👍

[@mikeg3202]

holley museum would be epic

[@arthurfricchione8119]

Mitchel/Logan this was really a excellent video. Did not know how vast the Holley company was. Thanks for sharing all of your information and videos. The both of you are very fortunate to be able to get these tours and then share them with people like myself and give us the back story that we never hear about. Once again thank you for sharing. 🇺🇸 Artie

[@goldenwheeledbanshee9160]

This is why I love u're videos. U always show interesting stuff an videos are about it an not you guys. Thank u, Mitch an Logan.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man. I feel any subject matter I can find is more interesting than blabbing about what I ate yesterday or something. We are just the vessel.

[@Ronaldl2350]

Another amazing video. Thank you. I did a Internet search. And found a article from 2020 that showed the old Holley car and motorcycle together. Article was " motor life" and looked like straight from Holley.

[@robfultz7946]

Never knew Holley had so many brands!

[@grundyb]

Great job! That was so much fun! Thanks to Holley for letting us in for a tour! I had a dual point distributor from Mallory in my 69 Camaro and also I had a Holley 780cfm vacuum secondaries carburetor on it. And Hooker headers! Made in the USA! 🇺🇸

[@KZ-qp1ui]

As a CNC machinist, I can 10/10 confirm Hermle CNC machines are awesome. I run 2. A C42 and a C50. They are larger but man they are cool to run.

[@bradleygregg7799]

The roots of this company started in Bradford, PA. Humble beginnings.

[@Mtlmshr]

Any museum for any product is a great idea we should never forget the parts or the shoulders of the people we stand on that started many different products and companies. I have been very fortunate to know many famous people that others don’t have idea who they are but they what they did or what they made!

[@iansprojects3081]

We need a Holley museum

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

Those trolley loaded CNCs are genius as it lets 1 person setup for 1 part and just swap parts and zero it out after a run and let it go on the same part over and over. Normally they would do 1 run of 1 part, then swap tools, holding fixtures, and programs for every new part. My dad never got to run one but he always loved the idea. He started when Tape feed was new and his dad was trying them out in his shop on rotary airplane engines, and thought to be the pinnacle of machining. He just recently retired and now is doing 3D printing lol

[@Mr62biscayne]

Holley's history of company acquisitions. So many companies under one umbrella risk the failure of all.

[@lenbones7940]

This is by far the radest holley history and tour video... keep up the good work yall keep getting into some of the stuff that's just not on KZbin atm...

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks dude we will keep digging 💪🏻

[@mikeskidmore6754]

Nice to see some things still made in the USA. I bought a new Holley 1860 Carburetor to put on a 1975Chevy C-65 with a 427 Tall deck engine now stroked a/2" to 488 Cubic inches Truck in about 1981 for $76.00

[@dawsonburrell9754]

Great video! Really enjoy the questions you guys ask. Not the same old questions everyone always ask. Logan has so many great questions and responses in these videos. You have a great woman Mitchell. Thank you both so much for the entertaining and informative history.

[@Stapleton42]

Thank you Dawson!

[@noobFab]

That Shuttle-Jet documentation with the manual fuel injection was really interesting - the picture of the modern engine reminded me of a cummins with those hard fuel lines. Very cool and educational video. Thank you!

[@ronsmith7739]

This is amazing, with massive fuel injection production with major cars, here massive amounts of carburetor production.

[@dustypiper8775]

grew up next to the Holley plant went to the high school next door and saw a lot of the prototype car in the lot awesome to finally see the inside. Thanks for the inside look.

[@peterbeau5923]

I grew up and still live within a couple of miles of the original Holley building in Warren, MI. As kids in the 60's, we would bike ride there to check out the muscle cars in the back lot. The facility was torn-down years ago and is now a distribution warehouse for an automotive supplier. I took some photos mid-deconstruction and email them to Doug Flynn at Holley.

[@sru1436]

I love these tours, keep up the good work.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man!

[@bluegrassboy2448]

I have an elementary understanding of internal combination engines, but I love your channel! EVs be damned, it's just neat as hell how much thought, trial, error and testing go into maximizing the power and efficiency of these beautiful hearts of our beloved automobiles and other modes of transportation. I've never owned a high performance car, but I geek out on videos like this. Sure, guys like in this video might as well be speaking Mandarin to me, but I can listen to it all day!

[@jimhaines8370]

The condensers in that Mallory test box are called" life time condensers" which state that on the package because they have no soldered connections, They are a part number 25010 and I know this because I used to put them on cars back in the day and still have a NOS one in box. When I started in a speed shop in the seventies Colt industries was proudly on everything Holley and I didn't have a license yet so I road my bike to work after school in 1975 so I remember that. I still hear from the speed shop owner on occasion these days, the shop has been long gone. I got to know him through our auto shop school teacher so I went to work there after school and he told me one day that if I kept working as good as I was he would start to pay me LOL but I didn't care really because was learning and that's what mattered. Everything old at one time or another ends up in Pennsylvania I swear. P/S I'm wearing my boom tube shirt by chance today

[@chevyon37s]

I sure as hell never knew Holley made cars and motorcycles! Great job bringing us this awesome history! I’d totally visit a Holley museum!

[@NoPrepFans]

Dude this was the best tour video you’ve done to date

[@wi.dave3812]

Great video, Shane’s dedication to the Holley brand is admirable, I hope his museum comes to fruition, I’ll be there for sure. Hope you guys find some more manufacturers to video with the same dedication and passion to the automotive field. 😀🇺🇸

[@RSmithsc]

"I hope his museum comes to fruition"; it has to, EVs will replace all this in time.

[@jerrynelson2599]

Thank you for the tours. Awesome job!!

[@speedwaystevecronk6680]

Another Outstanding product / history lesson ! That is great that Holley cares about all the history for the brands that have been acquired. Halibrand started in California and at one time was in Wellington Kansas. I am glad that you are able to get the tours of the performance manufacturing and shops to tell their story's and history. Keep up the good work , if you post it I will watch it .

[@timkoryciak5622]

Amazing video ! Great tour of the Halley manufacturing plant ! Keep up the great work Mitchell and Logan

[@dennisspurgeon1869]

Thanks to you guys and Holley for showing us this info. It's great to know that Holley is preserving the history of the smaller companies that they aquire, as many of them are the heritage of the performance parts industry. Thanks again!

[@itsstocky1955]

They need a museum!!! Would be awesome

[@howabouthetruth2157]

Thanks guys, and special thanks to Shane for giving you & us viewers a tour, as well as his personal ambitions of some day opening up a true Holley museum!!! The man really cares about the history of the products and the people who made them.......I respect & admire that, because I'm a history nut myself. Without history, we have no future. Please see my other comment below, for some other interesting stuff about headers as well as Holley.

[@robertcounts5300]

loved the tour and like you I did not know that Holley made cars in 1903. Holley needs to bring that car out and drive it and show it!

[@keithbailey540]

I think it's awesome that they are preserving the history of all the different brands they have. Great video once again. Thanks.

[@firepinto]

I have to admit I always thought of Holley like a Honeywell that bought up everything just to be an "everything" company that didn't do everything well. Its sobering to see them actually care about true American history, anddddd making their own screws in Kentucky! Though I was disappointed that my Scott Drake Legendary wheels were made in China, I have found an all new respect for Holley. I think they need to leverage their history more for old grey beards like me. I'm thinking maybe a Weiand Fest for old tunnel rams and roots blowers! Thank you!

[@MM_in_Havasu]

Wow! You guys scored a great company to do a video on! You guys rock! Thank you so much, love tech stuff and how things are done. I have worked with Holley carbs for most of my 45 years in the mechanical career field, always found them easiest to tune out of all the available carbs out there. Holley has a lot of irons in the fire these days! Appreciate you & Logan & all the hard work that you do to give us excellent video content, and there with you each video! Keep up the good work!

[@Stapleton42]

Thank you Mark!

[@HammerPowered]

This was cool, always down for these behind the scenes type videos. Had no idea about Holley making vehicles - I think they do need to get that 1903 running and do a lap at one of the "Fest" events.

[@craigm.9070]

Outstanding you guys! Alot of automotive history you brought us all; I know I spent a great deal of money back in the day on many of those brands of go fast parts.

[@iansprojects3081]

I love the old books and tools

[@saleen367]

Damn cute pooch ... love the factory tour of an iconic name in motorsports. Thank you!

[@paintslinger16]

What an amazing behind the scenes tour of America Hot Rod Pioneers and current owner of iconic legacy brands from the earliest days!

[@harleyryder2796]

Great tour of several brand names I've known and used for years. Back in the day if you didn't have a Holley carburetor, Mallorey Distributor, Accell wires, plugs and big Yellow Super Coil, with Hooker Headers you weren't competetive on the street. I also caught slip of the secret project name drop when Logan mentioned the carpet kit for "her" car! Can't wait to see that come up. I just finished resto-modding a 1958 Ford F100 stepside. Original patina finish sheetmetal on an updated chassis with coil overs and disc brakes on all four corners, and four link rear suspension. It's powered by an 1964 SBF Windsor 289 with a mild built C4 automatic trans. Thanks for a look into the world of Holley and all they do, it was very interesting.

[@jefferyrobertson7520]

I Like Holley Carburetors From The 70s 80s And Early 90s Nhra And NASCAR Winston Cup Series Decal Thanks For Uploading

[@jamesworkman686]

Perfect timing

[@Stapleton42]

Glad you’re here James!

[@Factory400]

Modern manufacturing dedicated to making ancient technology. My big takeaway is the enormity of demand for carbs is still big enough to support this level of manufacturing. The modern Holley makes quite a range of stuff these days.

[@Stapleton42]

People need to remember this when they think gas engines are just going to magically go away in 10 years

[@Factory400]

@@Stapleton42 Major manufacturers will move on over time. Gas engines will disappear from new designs for a variety of reasons - economics being one of the big ones. The enthusiasts, however, will support specialty companies like this for a looooooong time.

[@Cougracer67]

Yes! on the Holley Museum!

[@johnmorgan4921]

Another awesome tour! Thanks guys!

[@ceciljohnson3829]

Each new video is amazing. Really enjoyed seeing Holleys process and history.

[@erichansen667]

Love to visit the museum when they build it.

[@TheJkc81]

Another very cool video! Awesome info and content. The manufacturing segment at the exhaust plant was really cool. Never have seen a mandrel bender in action. Keep up the great work!

[@rickeyracer44]

Very Cool, I liked the wooden casting of the Pontiac manifold. You can tell Holley has pride in their companies history (as they should) Thanks for the tour.

[@jesserojas2576]

Let’s go! Can’t beat Holley!

[@Stapleton42]

Absolutely!

[@stevenwing2370]

I enjoy your videos because I always lean something. There are a lot of videos out there that frankly just look like their just Killing time . Keep up with what you've doing and can't wait for the next one.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man I feel the same way

[@LesMorrisracing]

How neat Mitch and Logan. Thanks

[@cameron878]

I don't think I've ever seen you do videos on transmissions, I own a transmission shop in Clarksville, TN, about 1.5 hours from BG. Idk if you're still in the area and want to see what's inside some GM transmissions, I can show y'all.

[@Stapleton42]

We haven’t yet you’re correct

[@cameron878]

You usually have incredibly historically knowledgeable people on your channel. I don't have that type of knowledge, just a transmissions guy that knows a few things. Lol

[@tonialexander9599]

Thanks so much for taking us to all these cool places and the history.

[@Stapleton42]

Thank you for being here for it!

[@bcbloc02]

18:30 I think that might be a product demo unit for a Mallory Magspark. It used a sepcial transformer and a make/break points setup to produce a spark of high voltage for the duration of the points offset which i believe gave a spark lasting 8-12deg of duration. Information on how it all worked is pretty sparse.

[@dennislamers986]

Another great factory tour. I didn't know Holly was that big of a company. Love the factory videos. It's cool Logan gets so into seeing how things are made.

[@Stapleton42]

Holley is on the New York stock exchange now actually 😂

[@84suprakid1]

love these videos guys another great one and cool to see all the history being saved 😊

[@theskilz00]

Another Banger guys! I had no clue that Holley was so diversified.

[@douggrenard91]

Great video, I truly enjoyed Holley,s history.

[@Cobra-Scott]

I love these tours, and would like to see a Holley museum!

[@jeremymundy8608]

Yes on the Holley Museum!

[@graemerandall2123]

Such amazing history so glad you guys are doing these videos absolutely love it 👍👌🇦🇺

[@gailtaylor1636]

They creating an automotive museum of sorts with KZbin video. Awesome. I really have no interest in their car builds. This stuff makes me hard.

[@pontiac411]

These videos really put into perspective what it takes to meet the demands Of the millions of car enthusiasts around the world.

[@Stapleton42]

Absolutely do! It’s a big industry

[@itsstocky1955]

They have so many cool things could spends hours nerding out on all the parts!

[@bradcross2]

love the factory tours they are really interesting

[@scholleraptor]

Great content! You have been doing an amazing job with the *insight* videos! Thanks for your efforts!

[@darrylcannon2295]

So cool Us people that follow just got a lot of answers. This was a great video just like the rest y’all have done. This was awesome Logan likes these factory videos much as we do.

[@metrickarma]

Great video! Glad things are coming in for Logan's car. Can't wait for the reveal!!

[@Erieeyes]

Thanx gotta love the good old days

[@Legoman585]

That was super cool dude, been a Holly fan since I rebuilt my first holly in 82. So much stuff I never new about Holly.

[@johnsmith-ik4xp]

Thanks again. Great video!!!!

[@BornAgain717]

Holly is America 🇺🇸... the museum is a must!

[@TurboDog73TX]

Love seeing the inner workings of Holley. Even though I am saddened when they buy up yet another legendary manufacturer, at least they are keeping that brand and their legacy alive. Rad tour as usual, thanks guys. P.S. Love the hat..

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man. Better under the umbrella of Holley than let these places die out forever. They are saving places.

[@jblow530]

Very cool tour, I always wondered if the 'Colt industries" on the box of holley carbs back in the day was the same 'Colt' that made 1911 pistols, now I know! Thanks for the cool content guys!

[@ronmiller1162]

one of my favorite videos so far

[@jheibeck6059]

It's so awesome to see holley is a company thats keeping the history of our hobby/ lives around and not just letting pitched in a dumpster for cost savings for shareholders.... thank you holley and once again thank you Stapletons for making a awesome video

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks for watching!!

[@CaneAtvse]

Dude I always enjoy these factory videos because it's things like the holley car that I didn't know about that's amazing...

[@youraverageruss]

Cool stuff. I love these history tours.

[@volksrodden9522]

Awesome, heard progress Is being made on Logan’s car🤘🏼🏁🍻

[@vppnbrent]

Great video guys. Never knew Holley was so diversified.

[@worldssickestmedia2713]

If there is anyone on earth that would know where a Holley motorcycle "might" be it would be Matt Walksler at Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley NC. His Dad was the key holder of American motorcycle history. I haven't seen one at their museum. But his son probably knows someone who has one because he was trying to buy it to preserve it at one time or another.

[@marksearcy9708]

Love these video's keep it up.

[@jamien.8639]

This is cool seeing how they make all of them performance carbs and fuel injections. Seeing all that reminds me of a good interview with Mark Campbell a former Holley engineer that worked on developing the Dominator carb.

[@danarcaris1259]

It's cool that you do these video's of the performance part factorys, it takes me back to being a kid . Back in the day if your friend wanted to get a little more horsepower and make his stock motor sound good we would run over to the speedshop and pick up an Eldelbrock intake, Holley carb, Mallory ignition and Hooker headers and this video has 3 of the 4 components typically used . I bought more Holley 650 for small block and 780s for big blocks than I can remember. Thanks for the video

[@Stapleton42]

thank you dan!!

[@pepelapew2724]

Excellent video , well done THANKS.

[@jeffjohnston3504]

A train of CNC machines! Crazy stuff. All that history. That car. Who knew besides them? Certainly not I.