Had a few days of rain and used my 74 Chevy C10 w/350 4Bl - 350 Auto. I arrived at work and noticed the truck "missing" as if it had a dead cylinder or two. Checked it at lunch time and found nothing wrong or out of place. After work I started it up and it was "missing" again. Pulled the air cleaner and started it up again to find fuel coming out the float bowl vent, the accelerator pump, and puddling on the intake. I had been using the stock Quadrajet carb, which now had flooding issues. I thought bad needle and seat or a float that didn't float any more.
Ended up deciding to replace the carb with an Edelbrock 1406 carb that I picked up off of Craig's list last year. I was told it was a running carb and I could just bolt it on and run it. The price was right at $50 and I thought the carb looked ok. I picked up a rebuild kit from Summit and decided I would just rebuild this carb so I could run it problem free on my pick up. Turned out to be a good decision as the carb was clean on the outside, but the float bowls had more dirt in them then I expected. Compared to other carbs I've rebuilt, these carbs are pretty easy to rebuild. I spent most of the time cleaning and checking the circuits. I found the tip of using a drill bit to measure the height of the float a good tip as trying to measure with a ruler is not the easiest method to deploy.
I used an Edelbrock spread bore to square bore adapter and made the change without any issues. I've taken the truck out for a test drive around the southern part of the San Francisco Bay and found what appears to be better fuel mileage - but this is only based on how far I drove and the amount the fuel needle dropped. I'll do a check soon to see if things are better.
When everything was completed and I added in the cost of the fuel filter, additional 3/8" fuel line, used carb and rebuild kit, spread bore to square bore adapter and gaskets - I found my costs just under $100 which is good at this time of year.
Next weekend I'm going to remove the stock intake and throw on the Edelbrock Performer RPM intake I picked up at a swap meet for $50.
Deuce
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