sakins.02vert

I just bought a 76 L-82 that has a performer RPM manifold and an Edlebrock 1411 1979 carb. The persone I bought it from said it was rebuilt in 1999. He did't have much detail other than that he said it had 400HP. Which I don't think it does.

What's happening is the car idles a little rough but does not stall when cold. After driving it for a while (20 minutes or so) I'm finding that when I sit at a light or park it is stalling out on me.

It does not blow smoke. I just put in a new fuel filter and 93 gas with a Lucas fuel system cleaner. That hasnt healped.

Any thoughts?

Here are a couple pics

sakins.02vert

Oh ya. And it does hesitate when I start driving too. That happens even when it's cold, pretty much all the time.

phildawg19

sounds as if a rebuild is order again to me. there could be a number of things wrong but more than likely after 10 years there has been some debris to get into the carb which is preventing one or several of the pathways to NOT function properly. 40 bucks for a rebuild and a new accelerator pump and get some berryman carb cleaner.. you cant go wrong

sakins.02vert

Ya, that's what I was wondering. I've never done a carb rebuild before and wondering if that is a hard job. If there are good instructions I can probably figure it out but might not be able to tune it correctly. Or I could just buy a new one for some more $$$.

Also, I've bene seeing some people on this site saying this might not be the right carb for a 350 sb. My engine was rebuilt and has the Edelbrock carf and a performer RPM manifold. Not sure what else was done. Exhast was new in 1999 too. Do you think the carb just needs to be rebuilt or maybe it's possible this is the wrong carb for this engine?

fishfryer

Carb rebuild may not be a job for a novice. The quadrajet style carbs are more complicated than Holleys, I didn't have luck when I tried to do mine, so sometimes you just have to spend some money. I have the same carb on my big block but I don't think it is too much for your car does it bog when the secondaries kick in or bog off of the start. I had mine rebuilt and then my guy did some tricks to it when tuning that really helped.

sakins.02vert

What i've found is it hesitates on acceleration from zero. Once driving it seems fine. But after driving for a while, as I mentioned, if I stop at a light, or wait in drive while stopped or in park, the idle is all over the place and starts to stall unless I give it some gas to keep it running.

Ya, I just looked at the Edelbrock 1477 rebuilt kit instructions, didn't look too bad. My concern is tuning. Will this be tuned correctly for me or do I have to do it? Is this something I need a guru for? So whether I rebuild or buy a new one I still have the tuning concern.

Maybe I should buy a new carb, bring it to an expert and have him install it and spend time tuning it for me. Rather than having him rebuild mine.

What do you think?

phildawg19

Well, I did my rebuild on my carb for the first time about a month ago the kit comes with instructions as to what piece goes where but it is indeed kind of overwhelming as there are about 50 tiny pieces that make the carb. If you want to rebuild it just be sure to have someone on call or maybe guiding you through the process. it should only take you about an hour or so.

As for the right size i couldnt be sure. do you know what heads you have on? do you know your compression ratio? 750 cfm would be a little much for stock heads and such. so this could be a possibility. for a mostly stock 350 engine a 600 cfm is just right

Also, if you wanted to get a new carb, rebuild the 750. sell it and have that money to spend on the new carb!

SH-60B

I would just go thru it to make sure it's all adjusted right 1st. Have you set the idle, idle mixture, adjusted the choke at least? Check to be sure the choke is getting 12 volts with the key on too. Lots of "carb problems" are really ignition problems. I would verify correct ignition timing, initial, mechanical, and vacuum before touching the carb.
When you start work on the Edelbrock "baseline" the metering rods then do the adjustments. You can buy a kit with different metering rods, make sure the kit you get includes the baseline rods before you buy, assuming you don't have them in the carb now. They're easy to change.

BTW, I've heard that the aircleaner you have there can catch on fire, I don't know if it's true, just something I heard.

sakins.02vert

Hi phildawg19, I took a look at the receipts the previous owner gave me, looks like this is what was done to the engine in 1999:

1. Timing chain cover
2. Timing tab
3. Edelbrock Carg 1411
4. Edelbrock Manifold 7101
5. Edelbrock water pump
6. Hamonic balancer
7. Distributer
8. Cater fuel pump
9. Check line bore
10. Bore 030
11. hone to fit piston
12. install cam bearings
13. install freeze plugs
14. resize rods
15. free float rods
16. install piston rods
17. install ARP rod bolts
18. balance assembly
19. polish cranckshaft
20. bearings 0020 - .003
21. install heat tab
22. recondition heads, machine, set spring height
23. steel crankshaft 030/020
24. main bearings, rod bearings
25. 8 moly rings hypereutectic pistons
26. melling high performance cam 480 lift
27. 16 lifters high volume oil pump
28. pickup screen oil pump shaft
30. felpro gasket set
31. 16 valve springs hardened lock
32. double roller timing set
33. 16 rod bolts ARP wave loc
34. dist motor
35. motor mount
36. spark plugs
37. ingnition wire set
38. pipe plugs
39. torque converter

Not sur eif this helps explain what I have but it's all I know.

sakins.02vert

Hi SH-60B, Thanks for the info. Sounds like I have some work to do..

sakins.02vert

Hi SH-60B, Can I change the aircleaner to whatever I want? Do you have any suggestions? Guess at a minimum I need to make sure it has enought clearance to close the hood.

Turbotrad

Well you have an electric choke that seems to be working since you said it starts and idles fine when cold.

You might just have an old dirty carb...or...Once it heats up and you stop at a light you might have a fuel boiling problem. Under hood temps might be heating the fuel up a little too much.

I have that problem with an aluminum Holley 650. I installed an aluminum heat shield and spacer to help out.

But...The project isn't done yet since I convinced myself to re-design the fuel lines from the pump to the carb with stainless steel and a bypass regulator instead of rubber lines.

Also, my old rubber fuel lines came very close to my heater core hose that runs off of the intake manifold. When I bend the stainless line I'm going to make sure to avoid that rubber heater hose by a good distance.

Let's just say Lars is a very convincing and extrememly helpful forum member.

phildawg19

check your fuel filter see how dirty it is if any. if its dirty at all and you dont have any idea how long it has been on the car then go ahead and change it out. get that 1477 rebuild kit and maybe a good idea to go ahead and get a new accelerator pump. which is only 8 bucks. rebuild the carb and you shouldnt have any more problems! your carb being gunked up is going to be your problem im sure as it hasnt had a rebuild in 10 years. there is no tellin what all could be in those pathways.

as for the air cleaner. yes, definitely replace that as soon as possible. any 3 inch cleaner will fit if that one has enough hood clearance. if your carb has any backfire ever those types of cleaners will catch on fire quick.

but yeah, get the 1477 kit, accelerator pump which is 1470 i believe. total should be around 42 bucks. rebuild that bad boy and hopefully you wont have anymore problems. your carb size of 750 should be ok with all of the work that has been done to the engine. good luck!

sakins.02vert

Cool, great information, thanks.. So the question is if I rebuild the carb. What if any tuning will I need to do to it? Wondering how hard that will be.

fishfryer

This could also be an ignition issue I think, my car did the same one day, the next day with an MSD it didn't. I don't know if it is an idle circuit problem being covered up or if it was a weak ignition spark from low voltage or something at idle but mine is cured now.

I guess what I am trying to say is there may be two issues going on.

Quick search yielded this http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/edel...ng-138441.html

batmedic

I would make sure all was done correctly during the re-build as well. If TDC wasn't established properly during install, that would screw things up as well. As far as tuning goes, read the "sticky" above for timing. I knew nothing before reading that, now am pretty comfortable. I always say start from the beginning and move forward one step at a time. Timing is very important and can clear up a lot. It's simple and will open the next door if it's right. You need to find out if it's ignition over mixture. Otherwise, your just spending money and getting frustrated when the results don't change. Good Luck, ask questions.

Couple other questions:
Distributor? How old? Rotor and cap good?
Plugs and wires? How old? Any good?
Air cleaner? How old? Any good?

Could be these too. I guess I'm thinking if it idles ok some of the time, then is the carb bad? Or just set up wrong? Don't spend money until you need to. $0.02

sakins.02vert

Thanks guys. All great info. Nothing has been done to the car since 1999 so maybe it may need a few things.

I'll read the sticky on timing. Looks like a long read..:-) But important to understand before messing with things.

Manuel Azevedo

Check for any vac. leaks frist thing. Probaly good though. Sounds like it is just loading up at idle. Go to the Edlebrock web sute and they have a good write up of how to best tune for your car.

rcread

I would suggest getting a used quadrajet and rebuilding that instead. The Edelbrock carbs are inferior to quadrajets even when tuned right. You can get a rebildable Q-Jet for around $50, rebuild it and it should solve any carb related problems. You should be able to recoup the cost of that Q-Jet by selling your 1411.

sakins.02vert

What is the best way to check for vacuum leaks? Is there a write-up on that?

As for the Q-jet carb. Is it OK to do this even though the engine was rebuilt with Edelbrock performer RPM manifold and who knows what else. I thought I heard you can't put any carb on any engine. What are the guidelines there?

If I went the Q-jet route, is there a specific model of the Q-Jet carb I should look for?