Thanks Jim, I will do the electric fuel pump. Any recommendations?

More than likely being in cali the yota carb is not vented to the atmosphere , the holley is and the gas is evaporating .

try this next time it sits for a long period of time .

Before starting it pull off the air cleaner , look down in the carb wit the choke open and pump the throttle by hand , if you see fuel squirt the bowls have fuel , if you don't see fuel then the bowls are empty and the car isn't going to start till you crank it and the fuel pump fills the carb up enough for it to start.

All good suggestions. The Yo might have an electric. You also need to remember that while gas is worse than when the Yo was new, it is LIGHTYEARS from what it was in 1970.

Try an insulator for the carb. That will help some. A Carter will be much worse than a Holley for fuel burn off in case you are wondering.

A 750 is in no way "overcarbing" a 383. Not by a long shot. Even on a stock engine. That's a time honored method of waking one up, I know cause I have done that.

You could solve all of this by just keeping a gas can handy and pouring some down the carb right after you check the oil. An electric pump would help, but isn't necessary.

Also, it is unlikely that a carb'd 86 has an electric pump. Looks like injection was also available on that motor, but there are electric and mechanical pumps listed for the Toyota and it's likely the mechanical was the only pump available with the carb. Easy to tell, though. turn the key to "on" and listen for the pump (looks for fuel pump fuse and relay, too).

Your Challenger wasn't designed to sit for weeks at a time. They started when new because they were driven all the time like your toyota. Learn how to start an old car that's sat for awhile or get an electric pump like everyone else has suggested.

The toyota probably has a carb that is sitting, on the manifold but not directly on a hot engine either, and probably also has a fully automatic choke too like the mitsus, that close automatically w/out the need to step on gas pedal. The old mopars were not designed for easy boil fuel either.

I see the frustration here, and personally, I get more frustrated with things that don't make sense to me.
You stated that you know little about carburetors, but that the old Toyota starts fine. There have been some good responses so far, but to recap:
The Toyota uses a carburetor that is sealed to the environment and the chance of fuel evaporating in diminished. It is obviously less sensitive to the modern fuels that we all buy at the pump. The 750 Holley is a great carburetor, but yours seems to run dry after a few weeks. I have dealt with this with every old car that I have had. It so happens that every old car has had either the factory late 60s/early 70s air cleaner and emissions package or an simply an open element air cleaner. To me, this one factor seems to prove the theory of fuel evaporation. The Demon 850 in my Charger poses no startup problems until about 3 1/2 weeks or so. The 67 Dart uses a 750 Holley on a 360 and acts about the same. I have ThermoQuad carbs on 3 other vehicles. They range from dry in a week to easy starting after a month of sitting.
The solution? As others have stated, the electric fuel pump is one way. Pouring fuel down the throat is cheaper though.

As noted by many on this thread, your starting problems are more than likely the result of evaporation due to the Holley being vented,....I have mostly multicarbed cars running Holleys, when gas was good, yeah it could sit for weeks on end and start no problem, todays gas isn't even good for a week in a typical Holley fuel bowl it evaporates so fast, so rather than sit there winding the piss out of your car trying to start it, locate the tube vent on your Holley, and use a small squeeze bottle filled with gasoline to fill the bowl prior to starting, by filling the bowl thru the vent tube, 4 oz should fill it...


And it would be a good idea to set your fuel level/float, and/or confirm it's level...Holleys are the easiest carbs to tune/adjust/rebuild, get yourself a Holley tuning guide from HP Books and learn what you need to know...

Kere's one of the vents located on a Holley, connected to the primary fuel bowl

I have three holleys on my big block. No problem starting in the spring after sitting all winter.
Maybe the Toyota rice paper gaskets and exposure to nuclear radiation help out the toy.

my convertible sat for 2 yrs with a 750 street avenger, elec choke. had to move it to get the snowblower out cranked it over 10 or 15 times pumped the gas 5 or 6 times cranked again...if it hits ill stop and pump the gas 5 or 6 times, if not i repeat with a 10 or 15 cranks then pump the gas. when it fires it runs rough but a steady pedal untill it levels out keeps it alive and has always worked for me even in the dead of winter. if you have white smoke coming out the pipes and its not running its flooded...hold pedal to floor and then try to start. I dont think its the carb or the fuel its more in the procedure of how your trying to start a dry carb. an elec pump could help bu you could also be asking for more of a headache...comes down to learn how to start the car when its sitting. as for the yota staring right up its a whole different animal, however when that carb messes up you wont get out of it for a 40 dollar rebuild kit...those things are a nightmare

Do what I did,,,, take that Holley off and replace it with a Edelbrook, That fixed my Holley problems..

IMO Holleys are pretty easy to start and Carters or Edelbrocks are a little harder if they are hot or get dry. Neither is really a big deal, even without a choke. You should see them try to start an R-3350.

If I let mine sit for a real long time, it usually means carburetor rebuild. It's an old hot rod, not a work or commuter car.

Glad I don't have those problems,bird is 6pk,wagon 2x4's,can let both sit for 6/8 wk's and both will start in less than 6 rev's and you can get in and drive away and both have 8 psi mechanical pumps.Both have 105 low lead AV gas which has a high evaporation point but still not a problem.

Just moved my B'cuda this week...it hasn't run since Oct. BB with a 800 DP...no choke. Few cranks and a few pumps.....lit right off!! It was about 20 degrees out too! The only time I had to pour fuel in this carb to start it was when the fuel pump ( yes,it's a mechanical) got tired......new pump and no more issues.

I would go through the carb with the good gaskets as mentioned(even though I have never touched this one) and put a different pump on it

BTW..as stated that is not too much carb for a 383...I ran one similar for years before I built a stroker

I really appreciate all the recommendations. The Holley has no choke- the guy who built the engine was adamant about it not needing one. Like I said, if I drive it consistently, it performs well, and idles down nicely after only one minute or so of running. It's definitely not a daily driver at this point in my life- maybe that's the problem. I've done the Stabil thing when leaving for Montana. I guess part of my frustration is the huge amount of time I have spent chasing parts, doing bodywork, sandblasting parts, paying attention to all the resto details, etc etc and then ending up with a problem I hadn't anticipated.

The first carb I had on the car was a new Edelbrock, I think a 1406? It had a terrible off-idle bog that we couldn't seem to get rid of. The Holley certainly runs great and did solve that problem.

I think part of the problem is that the Toyota spoiled me. I think 86 was the last year for carbed trucks. I have 230,000 miles on that truck with CA gas and the carb has never been rebuilt. I don't really understand carbs, but I did take it apart to replace a defective float, and again to replace an altitude sensing diaphragm. But I really don't get the theory. I just R & R.

Sorry for coming across so hostile to the Holley. Just venting.

It's okay Mike. I'm assuming you're a younger hot rodder. I'm 54 and have been tinkering with hot rods since my first 3 carbed cuda in 1977. Don't remember having so many issues with gasoline until the newer-recent blends, and have had elec. pumps on many of my carbed street cars lately to help with startups etc.

The gas evaporates, its not the carbs fault. A simple solution is to buy a wash bottle (lab supply) and squirt a few ozs of fuel into the carb vent if it sits for any lenght of time. The white smoke is probably valve seal/guides.