Edelbrock Carbs

[Scott Johnson]

What's up Fellas,

I'm getting ready to do a carburetor change on the 390. Which do you think would be the best for it, the 600 or 750. Don't want to over carb it but want to make sure get enough cfm for it also. Just wanted to get some opinions on it. I'm going to be do it the the "Jason Way" for installing everything.  Thanks

[Tony and Ginny 429]

The 600 is closest to the stock Carter carb —that is 550 cfm

the 600 bolts on to the top of the intake with no modification to the Top of the manifold —using the same gaskets if you now have the Carter carb on the 390

you  will have to acquire those gaskets and  the heat spacer   for the Carter if you have another kind of carb on your engine 

to use the 750 you will need to open the the holes in the Top of the intake manifold or the butterflys at the bottom of the carb will not be able to open fully 

the top of the manifold holes need to be enlarged for the 750 and  might be best to have a machine shop do that 

for either carb you need to —pull otf the intake and —block off the  OLD choke tube —OR —the heat passage from the head to the intake manifold  as you now have an electric choke 

you May have to rejet the 600 — mine required that 

a lot of  basic mechanical skills required 

your stock air cleaner will require an adapter to work with the Edelbrock  OR a non stock after market air cleaner is required 

 If the 63 was mine I would choose to have the carb you have  now —Rebuilt !

the reason being  the trans shifting is controled by a rod ( atv rod ) attached to the carb 

either Edelbrock will NOT HAve a bracket for that rod —and you will have to Design one for the trans to work as it should 

more than I would like to be doing myself to be sure the trans remains sound with no issues at all 

the very simplest least expensive hassle free way to keep your 390 running good with a new carb replacement 

I have a 600 cfm on my 64 429 ( has a completely different trans than you 390 - no shift arm to the carb ) and the carb is perfect for my needs as a stock replacement 

I do get 15 miles per gallon with the carb which is what I always got with the original stock carb and engine 

one big advantage to the Edelbrock is it has a special vacuum port ( has two ) that the dist timing advance gets connected to that changes the stock timing curve to increase the engines performance ( more advance )

Edelbrock bought the wrights  to produce the Carter carb but did enlarge the top of the carb so that is why the stock air cleaner will no longer fit without a special adapter 

Enjoy —-what ever direction you choose to go 

[Jason Edge]

I think the 600 cfm is a great match for the 390, and the 429.  My research for cfm ratings, which I posted on the Carburetors Used Help Page, indicates 553 cfm for the Rochester 4GC and 575 for the Carter AFB.  If you are looking for all out HP gain, the 750 is a beast and will give you a bit more power when you nail it to the floor. I come from a hot-rod background and wanted more power and wasn't too concerned with gas mileage. If you want something that is more suitable to drop and go, the Edelbrock 1406 600cfm is a great carb. The front venturi and butterflies on the 600 better match the stock intake front primaries, and do not require the beveling out or porting the front primary like the 750 does.  So I guess it is more into how you want to drive the car, and if HP gain, perhaps at loss of a bit of fuel efficiency is something you are after.  When I 1st started working on my 64 CDV 22+ years ago, I was more into duals exhaust (now back to single exhaust) and as much power as I could get, however, now I would  probably be just as comfortable running the the 600... until some young whipper-snapper tries to pass me in some little import and gives me that looking like I'm some old slow poke! That's when my hot rod heart starts pounding and poke it at 85 mph or so and let them know this 5000 piece of metal will GET 'ER DONE! lol

[Scott Johnson]

Hey Guys Thanks,

That is what I was wondering about on the Rochester and Carter carbs. I figured You all could tell me faster then me searching for it, plus I'm lazy when it comes to doing a search.

I was thinking the 600 also but wanted to get opinions. I found the Intake Gaskets that have the crossover ports blocked off built into the gasket so I'll be good there. Just have to pull out the heat riser butterfly and bolt everything on. Will probably still drill out the the "gutter" and thread plugs into those and the Choke tubes. I've messed with TV rods and cables a lot on overdrive transmissions so I know what you mean about getting them set right. I think the rod is a lil bit easier to get set than the cables. Thanks for your opinions Men.

[Tony and Ginny 429]

You can wire the heat riser open to keep it open
SB easier than taking it apart and removing the butterfly or putting in a solid spacer there unless doing other exhaust work
Once you plug the heat passage from the head with the gasket you have plug the choke tube on both ends and put bolts in the intake valley you will be reducing a great deal of heat from reaching the carb to warm it
Thst will inrease performance but will effect the way the engine runs until it warm up a bit (a rougher idle than stock )
Both the carbs heat passage and the heat risers purpose is warm a cold engine more quickly and they will be gone

I to come from a hot rod background and and did as much as is possible to cool the carb and engine operating temps of my Race car
I have a need to keep my 64 429 engine as stock as is possible ( i do have an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb with electric choke on mine )
I see no need to mess with perfection in my own opinion
The way the engine performs in front of the turbo 400 trans leaves very little to be desired regarding its performance for me
A lot of smooth power available any time and place its required
Just my very own opinion and everybody does have one ( belly buttons and A --holes as well --LOL !!!

Enjoy

[Tony and Ginny 429]

OH i forgot

While driving with ---( drum roll !! ) ONE FINGER -----LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tony and Ginny 429]

My own opinion is that the Carter carb ( or the Edelbrock replacement ) is the better of the two stock carbs available for our year cars
since the Carter first came out that carb and the holly are the high performance carbs used the most for high performance applications even as we speak today and thats a very long time
I had two Carter 4 barrel carbs on my 409 Chevy race car (Super Stock track record holder ) in 63 stock from the factory

A fresh carb any way you choose to go is a real nice thing to maintain the like new performance of your engine restoration
In hein sight i would have rebuilt my orginal Carter carb myself and been just as happy with that result if i was doing that task again from the begining
The electric choke on the Edelbrock does work a lot better than the stock choke set up but still leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion
Using my car only sometimes i remove the air cleaner -- set the choke by hand ( open 1/8 inch per the Edelbrock techs ) prime the carb with some gas and she fires up strong with a touch of the key every time
Unnecessary starter or battery overheating wear issues are eliminated that way for the long haul

Enjoy