Eldebrock question

[87454westernhauler]

I'm looking at buying a 79 c10/ big ten with a four bolt main 350, it has a new eldebrock 600 electric choke carb and intake on it. my question is, are these carburetors good on gas mileage or are they guzzlers like the carters are? I'm just looking for some extra input.

[bigchevyc30]

ehhh my truck gets 9mpg but its a dually and my carb aint tuned right its running really rich and if i have the electric choke hooked up and its cold it will bogg the motor down to where it shuts off if u give it a very little bit of throttle. i need to take my truck in to have the carb done but i would think it shoulnt be to bad for gas as mines on a 366 tall deck with a low geared axle running rich and still gets 9mpg

[Donut]

Like with any carb, take the time to tune it and it'll work well.  Lot's of folks run them with good results.  I'd prefer the Q-Jet, but the Edelbrock wouldn't be a deal breaker. 
I personally haven't run the Edelbrock. but imo, they are basically a Carter.  Even the old AFB's I was able to pull decent mileage out of them with some quality time invested.

[bake74]

     Donut is right, Edelbrock and many after market Carbs work great, but are not "tuneable" as much as a Q-Jet carb is.  It also depends on the model of carb it has, as with any 4 barrel carb, if you keep the secondaries closed most of the time you will get better gas mileage than if you are always flooring it.

[VileZambonie]

The Edelbrock carb is basically the Carter AFB and are probably one of the easiest carbs to tune and get great results out of. You can buy a calibration kit fairly inexpensively.

[87454westernhauler]

i had a carter AFB on my  85 when i got it and that just guzzled gas, so i went back to a quadrojet still not great milege but its alot better. the truck im looking at has a 600 Edelbrock with electric choke on it. I know there is alot of different factors involved but ive heard people geting beter milege with these carbs. just curiose on what u guys know.

[VileZambonie]

If you don't have a lead foot and have the ability / are so equipped to do so, the non feedback Q-jet will give you both decent mileage and performance. For ease of tuning and or by trial and error if you don't have all of the necessary equipment to properly tune the Edelbrock is really simple and user friendly. Both are capable of similar results.

[87454westernhauler]

ok.

[454k30]

I have the 600cfm edelbrock with electric choke.  On a motor with a mild cam, headers and dual plane intake I have to run it super rich.  When the motor is cold there is a really bad stumble that is often followed by a backfire through the carb.  Once it is warmed up this carb is great on the road.  Mileage is miserable; 9mpg would be a good day.  I am acutally in the process of rebuilding a q-jet that will take it's place.  The edelbrocks are not hard to tune at all but, like I said, the tune for my motor is so rich I don't care for it.  Just my $0.02.

[jaredts]

454k30:  I have the same problem with mine stumbling and backfiring when cold.  After some research, I'm thinking the next stiffer step up spring should fix it.  I ordered the calibration kit last night so I have everything if I need it.  The 1406 (600cfm, electric choke) is tuned so lean out of the box its ridiculous.  Compare it to the tune of all of the other Edelbrock carb.'s on the instructions and its kind of obvious.  If your truck's a 454 k30 I wouldn't think the quadrajet would yield a whole lot better.  When you say your carb. is tuned rich, are you just talking about idle mixture screws on the front, or just the fact that it maybe smells rich?

[87454westernhauler]

the carter i had in my 85 when i got it ran rich no matter how i set it or drove it and the best i could get for milege was only 60miles per tank. with the quadrajet back on it im geting more like 170 miles per tank. Im just wondering if the eldebrocks are that bad or not??

[VileZambonie]

How were you setting it? What were you doing to acheive different results? Let's state a few things here:

The idle mixture screws are for fine tuning idle quality -that's about the extent of it. If you are calibrating a carburetor you should start with a properly tuned & timed healthy engine. The best method for calibration is on a chassis dyno with an exhaust gas analyzer. A calibration kit consisting of different booster progressions, metering combinations and jets will be needed. If you are tuning in your back yard, an O2 sensor can help you with your calibrations and lots of trial and error. If you can run warmed up as close to stoichiometric in all loaded modes you will get the best fuel economy. Anything over 15:1 is going to be too lean for these engines.

[Dr_Snooz]

I'm happier with my 1411 now than when I first got it. They aren't wonderful carbs, but with persistence, they can be made to work fairly well. They are very tuneable in a variety of different ways, so if I ever get to the point of trying HHO, woodgas, water injection, etc., it will be a great carb to have.

The very, very best thing you can do is sit down with the owner's manual and read how to tune it. Read the theory part too as it will help you understand what you're doing when you adjust.

[chevyjoe_99]

The very, very best thing you can do is sit down with the owner's manual and read how to tune it. Read the theory part too as it will help you understand what you're doing when you adjust.

x2

[87454westernhauler]

ok.. not sure how much this guy has adjusted carb. ill have to just check and see..