Edelbrock Carburetors

[olds307 and 403]

On another Olds site I am on, nearly every shitty running car has an Edelbrock carb. Why would people buy them when the Street Demon is a superior carb for similar money? The Quickfuel Slayer series is another better choice if you want a Holley style.

 

[marcar1993]

^I agree, to purchase a new carb, I wouldn't go edelbrock. Both of mine came on motors I bought. If I were to buy new today it'd either be a quick fuel or prosystems for those of us who prefer not to mess with our carbs. Prosystems builds a carb to suit your needs, bolt on and go.

 

[ssn696]

I ran an Edelbrock 1406 for about 10 years. It earned me a 14.6 quarter in the wagon on Oahu on a 400 SBC at 90F. It also started right up in Connecticut at below freezing. (I could never meet emissions, though.) Once I moved to the Rocky Mountains, it took a bit of experimenting to set the rods and jets to a good compromise for ~6000 ft elevation. I ran about three sizes lean on the cruise side and two sizes lean on the power side and it worked acceptably well, with decent mileage for the big old truck that motor went into. I actually used the primary jets on the secondary side. None of these combinations are in the track kit, but readily available at speed shops or on line. I never had a problem with an Edelbrock washing down my cylinders with a stuck float, which I did with a Holley.

If you have the patience and time, Holleys are much better for dialing in the ideal mixture, due to a broader selection of rods and jets. Edelbrocks less so, but I can rejet an Edelbrock un under 10 minutes without dumping fuel all over the motor. It's all a compromise. If you obtain a used one, get a gasket kit, and redo the shaft bushings and accelerator pump. The floats do matter, but the instructions for setting them are available online if you do not have the little book.

 

[vanrah]

Greetings Guys; My $.02 cents, I've been fiddl'in with carbs since 62-63 (like in 1962). AFB's (Edelbrock purchased the rights too) were all the big rage in the early 60's. Edelbrock kinda made a silk purse out of a pigs ear? Then in the mid 60's the Holley's kinda took over & the beloved QJet arrived. And the AFB's just faded into the past until Edelbrock decided to re make them. With most of them, you can't tune the secondary opening as mentioned earlier. But I find that for most car guys (has included me) it's near impossible to tune the primary spring-rods & jets to work as a team with any cam that other than the one the OE rod spring combo was meant for. And a similar issue arises with the QJet. You have to think through the primary rod spring, the rods & jets to make them work properly. Holley's are much easer to tune & flow much better at FULL on. But they will leak sooner or later. If you purchase a Edelbrock (AFB) carb, intake & cam as a package you'll be happy (?). QJets, would be an excellent choice if you want best gas mileage & it has rods, rod spring & jets to match your cam. For many of us guys with headers, various cam & head combo's a Holley style just is easer to tune. And who knows how long before we change something, cam, Intake you name it. That's when the Holley style becomes the only way to go. Hope this helps, Ol'e Bob
Ps: Attached is a picture of my 54 years of fiddel'in with carbs & it's not perfect yet, it ain't fuel injection (if FI is perfect?).

 

[454GrandPrix]

I bought a new FiTech EFI system for my new 454. Not wanting to risk troubleshooting any EFI gremlins while starting and breaking in my engine, I left the FiTech in the box for now and am currently borrowing an Edelbrock 1407 from my friend Mike. He had used this same carb on his own 454 before upgrading to his own FiTech system, so I am confident it will work for me for a few months until I install the EFI. I need to make an adjustment to the electric choke, but other than that it seems fine so far.

 

[lilbowtie]

A carburetor is a carburetor - if it is set up, installed, and tuned properly it will run properly. Most of the trouble is caused by people who start tweaking their carbs and not really knowing what they are doing.