Carb 400 bb

[wagonwedge330]

Once again, I’m digging up stuff that’s already been talked to death.....I believe buying a new Carburetor to sit atop the 400 bb in my ‘63 Polara will solve several issues.....Originally, the 400 was built for a ‘65 Coronet, however, my love for all things MoPar offered in ‘63, led me to a poly equipped ‘63 Polara drop top I had tried to buy before with 66,000 miles. I replaced the K member and also swapped out the rest of the ‘65 Coronet’s running gear my MoPar Bud rebuilt for street and long hauls.
The 400bb was built to run on pump gas (which was much better 20 yrs ago I believe), with a eng kit Mancini recommended for longevity all around driving, yet fun, and has clocked approximately 7,000 miles.
The piston are 9.5:1, factory 906 heads redone by a machine shop with 46 years exp, hardened seats, etc, etc.a Comp Cam (similar to the purple), motor has always preferred 90-93 octane), and I only used the ethanol mix crap fuel if I had to, or as recent happening, accidentally. The ethanol mixed crap would stink, cause the car to run like ****, and burn the eyes. The car sat driven rarely during a three yr stint 2014-2016 ish while I dealt with a major health thing, a shop replaced the carb gasket, and intake gasket, (no longer in business), which was probably a mistake. I’ve also had a trans shifting problem, which I’ve posted, and had many members offer tons of greet help, but a member recently sent me looking at kick down linkage as the culprit I believe were on to something or headed in the right direction to fix, obviously the shop did NOT reconnect anything properly, but it has ran great until recently, moving from 2000 ft above sea level to 840 ft, it runs fair, but seem lean or gassy as hell.
My question, Or what I would like opinions on first...... has anyone else had issues with gas / fuel, finding ethanol fee gas, and my main issue, has anyone else recently bought/installed either a Holley Carb or Carter, and which offers more options for detent, accel linkage / cable brackets, etc. to be connected and work smoothly? I guess I’m sorta picking up where I left things half a&@ done over the years, I’m hoping for easier cold starts, a working idle switch to help when the AC compressor cycles, and properly connect the passing gear hardware/ detention/kick down etc, back so all to that works properly, the ...Holley or Carter? I’ve read through many previous threads about similar issues, but never found anything that really addressed all the shizzle I’m trying to nail on mine here, probably not many are as dumb as I feel like I am these days.....ThankYou again, and I’m very grateful for everyone’s time opinions, input!

 

[Darter6]

It is hard to give on line advice. Nothing better than being hands on when trying to figure out a problem.
That said,when it comes to "Which One ? " It all comes down to personal preference.For me it's the Carter/Edelbrock carb.
Nothing wrong with a Holley.It's like saying "What oil is best ?" or "What oil filter ?" you will get plenty of different answers.
In your statement above you hit on several items such as kick down linkage and A/C idle control.
Edelbrock has the A/C solenoid with bracket and throttle arm adapter for their carbs.Kick down linkage,the rod type can be made to work with a bit of bending/adapting.Thats if you have all the parts.Now most just use the cable type kit that most all vendors carry.
Most often mistake is the size of the Carb. This is again a "what are you looking to do " question.
For street daily driving (this is just my personal opinion) the smaller the better. The smaller carb will give you better throttle response for street driving. Chrysler in the early 60's used AFB carbs that were around the 600 CFM range.Are they great above say,5000 RPM ? No . But they never were intended to be.
I ran a 500 CFM Edelbrock on a 451 stroker that was a monster on the street,but for top end a switch to a 750 was necessary.
If I was winging past 6000 rpm then it may need even a bigger carb.
These are just my thoughts. Again it's what your plan will be for the car/type of driving you will be doing.Oh yeah, pump gas is a problem now a days.My old cars and truck smell terrible but it's what we are stuck with unless you blend up your own.

 

[bee71]

I'm running a Carter AVS which was a factory midyear replacement for Holley. IMO I'm getting better response and better fuel mileage on a 383.

 

[wagonwedge330]

As always, I appreciate the awesome FBBO members sharing info, feedback, experiences and time...small details help solve many a issue with these heaps. It’s been around 15 years since I’ve been carburetor “shopping”, if you will, thanks again, Happy Holidays!
This ‘63 Polara has been a jump in drive down the highway 70-75 all day with the Air Cond on, but I really want to get the passing gear **** hooked up properly, (I believe this might fix a Torque Flight missing second when cold issue), thanks to a bunch of the FBBO community who dug in deep to help me...the answer may be the carburetor as the detent is half *** connected, and certainly not adjusted. Anyway, I believe I’m going with the Carter /Edelbrock, with the humidity in the South east, I agree this will a carb easily adjusted, and to install everything I mentioned correctly. I’m believe I’m going with a 600 cfm, is this not a good all around Road trip / in town traffic carb? And I would definitely dig a red light bruiser, to burn the tires on the Dodge a little and piss off all the 60’s 70’s GMs round here who love to rev up they’re crate motors at every red light, but I believe a lower ratio diff would be in order (currently a 2.90), although the engine has easily 350-400 HP with engine parts, head work, Machine Shop, cam etc done, the car run sounds great, has less 8,000 miles since going through it completely. Fuel Air is really the biggest issue. My 84 year old neighbor looked at the carb a bit ago, he says it’s a Marine QuadraJet for sure, and that many his old school buds mostly racers loved these damned carbs, the Marine QuadraJets. according to him was a common swap, back in the late 60’s very early 70’s due to the “lack” of adjustability....I have never heard such... but he was there, and I was not, and I’m not arguing with him because I certainly don’t know ..
Anyone with feedback on 600cfm is appreciated Thanks everyone!

 

[wagonwedge330]

It is hard to give on line advice. Nothing better than being hands on when trying to figure out a problem.
That said,when it comes to "Which One ? " It all comes down to personal preference.For me it's the Carter/Edelbrock carb.
Nothing wrong with a Holley.It's like saying "What oil is best ?" or "What oil filter ?" you will get plenty of different answers.
In your statement above you hit on several items such as kick down linkage and A/C idle control.
Edelbrock has the A/C solenoid with bracket and throttle arm adapter for their carbs.Kick down linkage,the rod type can be made to work with a bit of bending/adapting.Thats if you have all the parts.Now most just use the cable type kit that most all vendors carry.
Most often mistake is the size of the Carb. This is again a "what are you looking to do " question.
For street daily driving (this is just my personal opinion) the smaller the better. The smaller carb will give you better throttle response for street driving. Chrysler in the early 60's used AFB carbs that were around the 600 CFM range.Are they great above say,5000 RPM ? No . But they never were intended to be.
I ran a 500 CFM Edelbrock on a 451 stroker that was a monster on the street,but for top end a switch to a 750 was necessary.
If I was winging past 6000 rpm then it may need even a bigger carb.
These are just my thoughts. Again it's what your plan will be for the car/type of driving you will be doing.Oh yeah, pump gas is a problem now a days.My old cars and truck smell terrible but it's what we are stuck with unless you blend up your own.

Thanks so much for your input...I wanted a car that would be a fun little burn a tire/blister it a little from the red light, but continue to be the interstate cruiser as well, but it has a 2.90 rear....probably great for highway but not as good ti piss off the local Mustang club lol..
Getting back to the carb is the 600 cfm a good all round carb?
Yeah I agree I hate the fuel situation as well, but I’m glad you mentioned this, I know that it’s not just me...A convenience store near me started selling 90 octane NO ethanol gas, which I recently filled up. Maybe part of my problem, isn’t really a problem...it might I need to pull the carpet, start top of fire wall and put some of that stuff (Les Noise), makes the interior quieter, cooler, the stuff, also blocks a little engine exhaust as well....I might be chasing a problem that don’t exist.

 

[Darter6]

The 600 is, just as you said a good all around carb for street use.
So you have a spread bore intake ? Stock iron or aftermarket aluminum ?
Chrysler started using Quadrajets around 1988 when Carter went out of business.
You may want to look at the adapter spacer that Edelbrock has to mount their AFB.That's if you plan on using the manifold you have.Maybe click off a photo so we can see what you are dealing with.Plenty of good eyes on this site.
Some manifolds will work just using their thick gasket spacer.Others may not.
The Chrysler 2.94 is a nice all around gear.3.23 is very close in ratio and may be the limit for the 75 mph + speed limits these days.Again I can't stress enough it's "What you plan to do with the car."My car was built back when I lived in rural Pa.I ran 3.73 gears there. Not to many straight high speed roads even on the interstates.Out here in Nevada the speed limits start at 75 mph just 3 miles from where I live and go on for miles with nary a turn.Depending on what my choice/planed use of the car,I ran 2.76,2.94 and now I run 3.23 in my 65 with a 30'' rear tire height.I have no plans to ever race so a deep gear (for me) isn't necessary.
Nice you have non ethanol that you can buy.Don't know if your state has what they call "Winter Blend" pump gas like we do.When they switch blends my old truck pukes black soot on start up And it doesn't even have a choke.I hate that stuff.

 

[Geff McCarthy]

Don't bend the kick down shaft! I was also tempted, until I diagnosed the absence of the extension rod for the Eddie. E will sell you a proper short extension, but i made one from a sawed-off 1/4x28 bolt and similar, opposite thread tightener (is there a proper name for those ubiquitous tighteners?)