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TO INJECT OR NOT TO INJECT ??

relam

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Location
Chino Hills
The question is simple but the results i don't know. Seems we can't get the car to ever run right any more, the fuel mixture seems to always be a challenge. Car has been raised in Southern California and it seems between " summer and winter blends" the gas is so jacked up out here anymore that its impossible to keep it from chugging and iconsistant idles. 383 with standard 4 bbl edelbrock nothing fancy. Would injecting be the fix?
Sounds like a forum for smoking a brisket. lol
 
Check for vacuum leaks around the intake. Also I had the same issue with a 383 roadrunner did switch to Holley sniper and it ran great until the cam got wiped out. Still haven't figured out whey only the rear most lifter and lobe were toast. I still have to dissect it to find the issue. Some will say the cam wasn't properly broken in.
 
I agree you must have a leak,Is the carb old? You should be able to get her to run good.
 
rebuilt the Edelbrock last year.
So let me clarify.
it idles ok but when you get it up to 65-70 mph it chugges almost like vapor locking. Also in the morning even after a 10 min warm up it displays the same chugging and learching episodes at 40mph. When it warms up and you drive it and then shut it off for a while and restart it stops doing it and it runs pretty decent.
Can i have the wrong pins in the carb regarding fuel flow ?
Again this is sporadic yesterday i started it up and she ran like a dream seals are solid i keep thinking its a fuel issue/ mixture/ too rich? or lean ?????
again gas in california is not big block gas guzzler friendly
 
Edelbrocks are usually lean. A heat riser block off valley pan and a strip kit try larger primary jets.
What cam is in it?
That will determine your metering rod springs.
Fuel injection will likely cure it but the fuel system is a problem. You'll have to research a good deal pump / tank setup.
 
My friends 440 GTX with edelbrock was surging when going down the road. When he brought the car to me the initial timing was at 5 degrees BTDC before I set the timing to 16. That's when it got the surging issue. I backed it down to 14 and put a vacuum gauge on the carb and tuned it to get max vacuum and he says the problem went away.
 
EFI is definitely friendlier on the heat related issues since the fuel stays in flow and isn't sitting on top of a 180 degree motor. I agree with the rest though, no reason you can't get your current setup running properly either.
 
My friends 440 GTX with edelbrock was surging when going down the road. When he brought the car to me the initial timing was at 5 degrees BTDC before I set the timing to 16. That's when it got the surging issue. I backed it down to 14 and put a vacuum gauge on the carb and tuned it to get max vacuum and he says the problem went away.
I see many vehicles with the vac gauges it all makes sense i was also thinking that it may be the distributor in general. Cap came with car when i got it 5 years ago was thinking just replacing it completely and going to a Pertronix system
 
Check for vacuum leaks around the intake. Also I had the same issue with a 383 roadrunner did switch to Holley sniper and it ran great until the cam got wiped out. Still haven't figured out whey only the rear most lifter and lobe were toast. I still have to dissect it to find the issue. Some will say the cam wasn't properly broken in.
I lost a cam in my 493 and it was due to a misaligned cam tunnel. After bushing and correction of bore centerlines it works fine.
Mike
 
Would injecting be the fix?

Unfortunately in my case, I tried to "fix" an issue with EFI and just created more issues. More expensive and time consuming issues.
And on my other car, I was having carb issues even after rebuilding it. Bought a new carb and it solved the problem.
 
Is it that bad out there?
You don't say what type of carburetor you are trying to run.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a carburetor.
And if someone wants to spend the money, I guess EFI is fine as well if that's what you want.
I may convert one to EFI someday.
But the weather says "95" there today.
It's 90 here today and I just drove 35 miles with no trouble like I do everyday of the year.
I'll repeat that tonight.
Quadrajet and stock cast intake and it will run on dog dish water.
For my money, I'd say fix what ever is wrong with your car.

 
You don't say what type of carburetor you are trying to run.
Yes he did say.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with a carbeurator but they do require more maintenance than fuel injection.
Typically all I do on an efi system is change the fuel filter at around 100k, you can't do that with a carb.
Perhaps I'm judgemental but letting the fuel line get so bad it cracks at the fuel pump doesn't seem like a good role model to me.
Fuel injection is probably the biggest reason cars these days can go over 300K and still run fine.
 
Yes he did say.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with a carbeurator but they do require more maintenance than fuel injection.
Typically all I do on an efi system is change the fuel filter at around 100k, you can't do that with a carb.
Perhaps I'm judgemental but letting the fuel line get so bad it cracks at the fuel pump doesn't seem like a good role model to me.
Fuel injection is probably the biggest reason cars these days can go over 300K and still run fine.

Yeh it’s strange. When we purchased car 5 years ago we replaced everything that was rubber. Shop replaced the fuel and oil pumps.
all new. New fuel lines and linkage. it’s not driven daily but it does rule the road twice a week
I’m beginning to think more and more it’s a fuel vacuum thing. Not enough pressure or too much ?
 
Yes he did say.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with a carbeurator but they do require more maintenance than fuel injection.
Typically all I do on an efi system is change the fuel filter at around 100k, you can't do that with a carb.
Perhaps I'm judgemental but letting the fuel line get so bad it cracks at the fuel pump doesn't seem like a good role model to me.
Fuel injection is probably the biggest reason cars these days can go over 300K and still run fine.

Standard 4 bbl "edelbrock" what?
My bad for reading fast and not making a (logical) assumption.
https://www.summitracing.com/search...MIitO318iB6wIViIbACh1K3Ql8EAAYASAAEgLoe_D_BwE

If someone actually drives a 40 or 50 year old car daily, stuff happens.
Especially if you are maintaining a fleet of them.
And making "How To Videos" on the side.
Ask me how I know.
It's the real world.
My particular experience involved a complete under hood rewire after an original firewall wire fried on the off ramp .
 
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