Another step towards something resembling fuel economy!

[jcp123]

Got the stuff (hopefully) the other day to lean out my carb. I had been pretty sure it was running too rich, and the straw that broke the camel's back was when I had some carbon make one of my valves stick a couple of weeks back.

I got the jets and metering rods for an Edelbrock 1406, which is a 600cfm electric choke model just like mine. I'm pretty sure they'll be the right ones for my Carter. If the stock calibration is the same, I'll be going a stage and a half leaner on the cruise circuit and remain axactly the same on the power circuit. Who knows, I might get to average 15 after all?

[rust collector]

Yeah, the eb and carter use the same parts.
Good luck with that!

[dkjones96]

I see no reason why your setup can't average 15. A buddy of mine with an early 70's Aspen Wagon and a 318 was able to get 25 on the freeway with a little adjustment to the timing.

[Wyldesoul]

I don't know if they'll fit, but I know the Quadrajet carb is an excellent carb for power and economy. Had a friend who put a big Holly 4 barrel onto his 350 Camaro, and had it set up like everyone thinks for "big power", but when he went back to the old quadrajet, and got it properly tuned, it increased his 1/4 time, and it also significantly increased his fuel mileage.

And with a 302, unless you're going for all out drag setup, 600cfm is seriously over carburated, and you're sucking far more gas than you need to.

[jcp123]

Yeah, I didn't pick out the carb, they stuck it on there in place of the 2bbl when the motor got rebuilt. Heck, I was 16, I didn't know jack about engines then. But the more I learn, the less I trust the folks who did the work (bore was ,010" larger than they said, the PN# on the carb revealed a Chevy design, etc.). Anyway, there's a few 4bbl carbs under 600cfm, but that number seems to be the baseline and since I do mileage to save money...it's hard to justify laying out the $$ for a new carb. I agree that Quadrajets are some seriously underrated carbs, I never figured out why the spreadbore never became the standard. But the intake I have is firmly set up for squarebore carbs, and I don't know if the spreadbore secondaries would clear. If not, I don't know of any SB Ford intakes for spreadbore carbs.

In any case, I guessed wrong on the equivalent Edelbrock carb, so I'm back to searching for the right setup. The ones I had gotten were pretty seriously wimpy compared to the fat metering rods my Carter has.