Turbogus
Active member
SweetPeet, I'm sorry you're having such trouble, 'Betty' when I first got her, had one of these "Edelbrock Carter clones" and I had much of the same issues you have. Even after taking care of a couple of vacuum leaks and a rebuild of this carburetor, it just would not run well. Ultimately dieing on a secondary highway I pulled off the air cleaner to have a look, retried the starter and a backfire through the carburetor caught the primary throat on fire. Luckily I had a fire extinguisher on board so I was able to douse the fire before it spread. After cleaning up the engine compartment I bought back from my best friend a 'real' Carter AFB that several years ago I ran on a Chevy 350 with a big hydraulic cam.
I got the metering rod and jet chart from online and made my calculations as I needed to lean this out for the mild 360 in 'Betty.' Once rejetted and slightly stiffer metering rod springs and this AFB has been running like a top. Since this chain of events I've not trusted these Edelbrock Carter clones.
From the Carter Carburetors manual by Dave Emanuel;
"Until a few years ago (this manual published in 1983) rotating an idle mixture scres (on just about any carburetor) counter-clockwise always meant that more air/fuel mix would be dishcharged and a richer idle mixture would result. But when the bureaucrats in Washington began increasing their stranglhold on Detroit, carburetor manufacturers found that a new system offered advantages for meeting emissions standards. Some companies incorporated a second air bleed into the idle system, which was adjustable. By changing a few passages, the mixture screw could be used to adjust bleed air, rather than fuel.
Carburetors incorporating this system are commonly refferred to as "reverse idle" models since the engine receives a richer mixture when the screws are turned clockwise, and a leaner mixture when they're rotated counter-clockwise.....And to further complicate the issue, some "reverse idle" carburators are equipped with left hand threaded adjusting screws, so they may still be adjusted by the "clockwise lean. counter-clockwise rich" procedure.....
Because the the adjustable air bleed controls the amount of air admitted inti the entire idle circuit not just at the idle port. Fuel flow out of the idle port is therefore no longer adjustable, andvolume is stricktly the result of idle feed restriction calibration. This is why it is almost impossible to kill the engine when adjusting the idle mixture on a "reverse idle" carburetor. Regradless of the screw setting the engine will be supplied with sufficient idle fuel."
I know some of this reads like lawyerese but essentially to make marked adjustments as to lean/rich it becomes a metering rod and jet issue.
I got the metering rod and jet chart from online and made my calculations as I needed to lean this out for the mild 360 in 'Betty.' Once rejetted and slightly stiffer metering rod springs and this AFB has been running like a top. Since this chain of events I've not trusted these Edelbrock Carter clones.
From the Carter Carburetors manual by Dave Emanuel;
"Until a few years ago (this manual published in 1983) rotating an idle mixture scres (on just about any carburetor) counter-clockwise always meant that more air/fuel mix would be dishcharged and a richer idle mixture would result. But when the bureaucrats in Washington began increasing their stranglhold on Detroit, carburetor manufacturers found that a new system offered advantages for meeting emissions standards. Some companies incorporated a second air bleed into the idle system, which was adjustable. By changing a few passages, the mixture screw could be used to adjust bleed air, rather than fuel.
Carburetors incorporating this system are commonly refferred to as "reverse idle" models since the engine receives a richer mixture when the screws are turned clockwise, and a leaner mixture when they're rotated counter-clockwise.....And to further complicate the issue, some "reverse idle" carburators are equipped with left hand threaded adjusting screws, so they may still be adjusted by the "clockwise lean. counter-clockwise rich" procedure.....
Because the the adjustable air bleed controls the amount of air admitted inti the entire idle circuit not just at the idle port. Fuel flow out of the idle port is therefore no longer adjustable, andvolume is stricktly the result of idle feed restriction calibration. This is why it is almost impossible to kill the engine when adjusting the idle mixture on a "reverse idle" carburetor. Regradless of the screw setting the engine will be supplied with sufficient idle fuel."
I know some of this reads like lawyerese but essentially to make marked adjustments as to lean/rich it becomes a metering rod and jet issue.
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