Edelbrock 1406 giving me headaches

[Timmayy]

Here's the deal. When I bought my late 70s 360, it came with an aluminum intake and the 1406 carb. Earlier this year I had it rebuilt by an old timer here in my town. The 360 has a mild torquer cam, under-chassis headers and duals. Nothing major, just a cruising motor. Now that I'm up and running I am having these carb issues. It's an electric choke. + wire connected to the + on the coil. - connected to the carb stud. I just installed the Summit Racing distributor for the electronic ignition conversion. It runs smoother as the old dist was worn. When driving, it runs fine. After it's at operating temp, the car will bog and sputter when at stop lights or reversing in parking lots. I've adjusted the choke both ways and still the same. It idles in gear for a couple of minutes then sputters and stalls. It runs better before coming up to temp.
1. Could the elec. choke be junk?
2. Am I better off going to a manual choke? I did this with the original 273 2 barrel and it ran like a champ.

 

[Dave6T4]

I take key-on 12V. from ballet resistor to run my electric choke on my Edelbrock

 

[RemCharger]

Get the power wire off the coil.
Hook it up to your ign1 feed.

 

[toolmanmike]

After it sits overnight, take off the air cleaner, set the choke, and start it up. Watch the choke, see what it does and how long it takes. It should gently close then crack open within a min. or less when the engine is running. You should have fast idle until you tap on the accelerator to kick it off. The choke should open funny while warming up within say 5 min. or so. Your choke should be wired to the 12 volt side of the ballast resistor. You may have it wired so it gets reduced voltage from the ballast.

 

[Don67Satellite]

Gotta make sure the choke is fully open when at operating temp. Get the power off the ballast.

On my AVS2, the procedure for setting the automatic choke is:

1. Disconnect choke power. Unscrew choke cap retainers. Turn cap to LEANEST notch. Tighten screws, but leave them loose enough to turn the cap.
2. Start engine and bring up to operating temp.
3. With engine running, turn the choke cap CLOCKWISE until the choke flap just begins to close.
4. Then turn cap 1 notch COUNTERCLOCKWISE (Lean) and then tighten the screws. Reattach choke power.

I assume it is similar for all the newer Edelbrock carbs.

 

[Timmayy]

Thanks everyone. I've got a little work to do.

 

[YY1]

Eliminate the choke by warming the car up, then disconnecting the choke and verifying it is fully open.

If the issue persists (as I suspect it will), mark that off the list and continue.

 

[YY1]

Sounds like the float might be loading up to me, or there's too much fuel pressure (Edelbrock recommends a regulator).

 

[Don Frelier]

Check your choke first.
Also check the carb mounting stud nuts I've seen them come loose after a couple of heat cycles.
All your vacuum ports plugged or connected with a good hose?

 

[Timmayy]

Check your choke first.
Also check the carb mounting stud nuts I've seen them come loose after a couple of heat cycles.
All your vacuum ports plugged or connected with a good hose?

Yes, but I will check them again.

 

[Timmayy]

You ain't gonna believe this. My car is cursed! It is possessed by an evil spirit. I did a few things, got it running better. Was going to take it to work tomorrow to test drive and the FU$%^ING throttle cable snapped! The little ball came off at the carb end. I had a hard time finding this cable and it wasn't cheap. I am so deflated and pissed off. This thing needs an exorcism. I am going to see if my machine shop buddy at work can come up with an idea. Maybe tack the frayed cable end to the little clevis or something. I can't win. This car has been fighting me at every turn. I had big plans for it these next few days. Un-effin-real!

 

[Timmayy]

Sounds like the float might be loading up to me, or there's too much fuel pressure (Edelbrock recommends a regulator).

What's a good regulator and gauge and what should the pressure be?

 

[RemCharger]

If your buddy can silver solder, you might have a chance

 

[toolmanmike]

You ain't gonna believe this. My car is cursed! It is possessed by an evil spirit. I did a few things, got it running better. Was going to take it to work tomorrow to test drive and the FU$%^ING throttle cable snapped! The little ball came off at the carb end. I had a hard time finding this cable and it wasn't cheap. I am so deflated and pissed off. This thing needs an exorcism. I am going to see if my machine shop buddy at work can come up with an idea. Maybe tack the frayed cable end to the little clevis or something. I can't win. This car has been fighting me at every turn. I had big plans for it these next few days. Un-effin-real!

Make sure full throttle on your pedal get's you wide open on the carb. If you have the wrong cable or it's adjusted wrong, your carb could be wide open before your pedal gets to full stroke. That can be hard on cable ends.

 

[Timmayy]

If your buddy can silver solder, you might have a chance

I hope so. I just talked to him. We are going to see what we can do tomorrow.

 

[ykf7b0]

What's a good regulator and gauge and what should the pressure be?

A Holley or Mallory regulator will be fine. The fuel pressure should be close to 5.5 psi.

 

[blue69runner]

I have run Holley carb's and will say had some issues with my 650 on the 383. Had the bright Idea of squaring off my primary jets with the four-barrel metering plate. Wrong had to go back to 76's on the primary and all is well now. What fuel are you using. This also could be a problem. Are your floats set right or metering rod's. That is why I don't like Edelbrock carbs.

 

[Don67Satellite]

@Timmayy I am installing a regulator this week also. Carb manual says no more than 6psi, but that my AVS2 650 "should be set to 5.5psi max". Having some slight tuning issues & I saw a thread on here where someone tuning their AVS2 brought it down to 4psi, and then "magic happened". I use a Carter M4589 pump, and it's rated for 6psi, but there's been past issues with Carter's pushing higher than the rated pressure, and my understanding from the many threads here is Edelbrock's do not like that extra fuel pressure.

 

[toolmanmike]

[Umy understanding from the many threads here is Edelbrock's do not like that extra fuel pressure.

You're right. They don't. I have seen off the shelf pumps from parts stores put out 10# or more.

 

[Timmayy]

@Timmayy I am installing a regulator this week also. Carb manual says no more than 6psi, but that my AVS2 650 "should be set to 5.5psi max". Having some slight tuning issues & I saw a thread on here where someone tuning their AVS2 brought it down to 4psi, and then "magic happened". I use a Carter M4589 pump, and it's rated for 6psi, but there's been past issues with Carter's pushing higher than the rated pressure, and my understanding from the many threads here is Edelbrock's do not like that extra fuel pressure.

Yes, I read that also. I just ordered a Holley regulator 4.5-9 psi range with a gauge.