Yep. And their "cleaning" methods are usually extremely abusive (e.g. media blasting, which strips the protective coating off the castings and destroys critical tolerances).
And those are the "good" remans!

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Yeah, well I only found www.slantsix.org about a week ago. I had to know how to do that. And a long time before that I did a hell of a lot of work and spent more money than I care to recall. And people who never heard of www.slantsix.org? Like me a week and a half ago? All right already! Sigh.

most carter 1bbl carbs have a center mount/inlet fuel line right? Maybe you could try a holley 1945? Thats what I'm using and it runs really good. But I had it rebuilt buy a friend and had the jet size increased.

I wouldn't advise it. A 1920, sure, but all my experiences w/ 1945's were bad.

The 1920 is a better carburetor than the 1945, assuming you're comparing carburetors in equal condition. Obviously, a 1945 in good condition is better than a 1920 in poor condition.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

In any case I find myself wondering exactly what is the best carb to get if any and all remans are "trash." No one sells NOS carbs do they? And would NOS really be the best? Is there any place on the internet where you can find out exactly what carb really came on a specific /6? Would such a carb still be in manufacture by Carter or Holley or whoever? Is all this talk about remans, etc., actually moot? Enquiring minds want to know!

BTW, I read someone's post somewhere that a 2 barrel on a single barrel manifold via an adapter was really great. Shouldn't I find myself a bit skeptical about that?

That's a good question.
Yep, they go by on eBay with some regularity, and some vintage-car parts stockists have 'em. I'm working on finding out what one such source has in slant-6 carbs right now; "watch this space" over the next month or so, and I'll report what I find. There are also carburetor refurbishment specialists who turn out beautiful carburetors that are in every respect as good as new, vastly superior to the "remanufactured" junk. Quick, is it new or is it refurbished:





The trouble there is that once a carburetor has been through the abusive 'remanufacturing' process once, let alone multiple times in the 30 or 40 years since it was originally made, it's usually damaged to the extent that it cannot be brought back. The supply of unmolested original carbs to turn into well-refurbished units dwindles every day. This is part and parcel of the experience of owning older cars!
Right here! It's usually not possible to know exactly which carburetor came on any specific engine, because for most years of slant-6 production there were production options. For instance, in 1963, a 225 engine in a B-body Dodge or Plymouth could leave the assembly line with a Holley model 1920, a Carter model BBS, or a Stromberg model WA3. In 1974, a Dodge D150 pickup could leave the assembly line with a Holley type 1945 or a Carter BBS. This kind of variation tended to reduce towards the latter half of the '70s. Nevertheless, there's enough of a knowledgebase here that you can get reliable, specific guidance on what could've originally come on any particular year/make/model, and what the best options are for replacement.
That would certainly be nice, but regrettably, new slant-6 carburetor assemblies are not in production.
Yes, 'cause it's not true. 2bbl to 1bbl adaptors are dumb and halfässed.

What year and model is your car, again?

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the info and the pictures. Where do you get such great pictures?

I have a 1965 2 door Valiant 100 made late in the year.

BTW, is there a write-up on tuning carbs? All I know is about what you'd find on a carb kit instruction sheet - if there is one.

You are making a distinction between refurbs and remans. It occurs to me that someone or many someone's have already figured that out and call their remans refurbs.

A '65 Valiant, eh? How'd I get it in my head you had something from the '70s? Oh, well. The '65s came with a Holley 1920 or a Carter BBS from the factory. I may have a brand-new Holley 1920 to suit a '65 (have to check the parts stash) but new carbs aren't cheap.

Those photos are of a refurbished Australian 1967-1969 slant-6 carburetor. Sure looks clean enough to eat off, doesn't it? Note how all the steel hardware is plated so it won't rust, the body shows none of the rough surface texture that indicates abusive abrasive blast cleaning, everything fits together nicely. Of course, I've had nice-looking remanufactured carbs, too, that worked poorly. And I've had crusty old original carburetors that looked ugly but worked great. So appearance doesn't tell the whole story by a long shot.

Name games: You betchya. I remember once walking into a parts store and seeing the shelves lined with boxes that said:

   Original
   Equipment
reManufactured
Part

So, someone told to avoid remans and get "OEM parts" (i.e., Original Equipment Manufacturer) could easily be fooled. But, it doesn't matter whether the parts store calls the carburetor "remanufactured", "rebuilt", "refurbished", "NAPA-new", or whatever. There are no good slant-6 carburetors available from parts stores.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

While I have never dealt with them personally, carbs remanufactured by Holley (branded Holley II) are supposed to be better than the average junk. I've heard this from several mechanics who's opinions I trust.

I historically had semi-decent results with Holley II, but lately have lost confidence in them.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Your best bet for getting a good carb is to rebuild your original. If that isn't possible/feasible, your next best option is to scout eBay, junkyards, swapmeets, etc... to find a carb that has never been taken apart from the factory. I have gotten many many carbs from junkyards and eBay and unless they were seriously damaged I have had good luck rebuilding them myself and getting them to run decent--provided that they had never been "remanufactured" or messed with by anybody else.
Well, just bolting a two barrel adapter onto a one barrel intake is a bad idea. There is a reason that the hole on the two barrel intake is bigger. You can take a one barrel intake manifold and grind the hole out bigger and weld a carb mounting pad onto it to make your own two barrel intake. I did this and I am running the manifold on my van right now.

Probably your best bet in the long run to having new or good condition cabrs for your slant six is to swap to a two (or four) barrel manifold and be prepared to buy an adapter and run a different carb than was stock. Original parts for our cars are getting hard to come by so it is time to start learning how to adapt. Of course, this will require a greater knowledge and familiarity with how carbs and engines work, so either find a good original carb for you car or be ready to learn enough about carbs to be dangerous!

Any way you choose, you should know that the friendly folks at slant six . org will be ready to help answer your questions!