Looking for some recommendations. Have a stock 73 with 302. Car is and will be purely for street use. Everything is currently stock. The carb is shot...leaking all over the place. But, I want room to upgrade over time (intake, mild cam, etc.). Are the Edelbrock 1405 or Edelbrock 1406 a direct bolt on to the stock 302 manifold? Any pros or cons with this combination? Thoughts on choosing manual or electric choke? Which do you prefer and why? Any other recommended carbs?
No the edelbrocks are 4v (4 venturi aka 4 barrel carburetor) carburetors and the stock carburetor is a 2v carb. You would be better off at this point in time and getting a rebuilt 2v carburetor and saving your pennies up and buying a carburetor intake combinations. yes you want an electric choke so you dont have to mess with it every time you want to start the car up, its worth the extra couple bucks. As I am assuming you are an extreme novice(due too the question) the edelbrock 1406 is a good choice for the stock 302 along with a dual plane intake like an edelbrock performer for the street. For the most part it is a bolt and go setup, it wont produce as much power as the holley carburetors in the long run but untill you start becoming more mechanically aware the holley has the potential to be more of a problem untill you become more proficient at cars.(please dont take offense we were all there) But the edelbrock is a good choice for a street driven car that doesnt see allot of track use. It requires minimal maintinance and isnt as touchy to tune as some of the holley style carburetors can be.(usually for most people they are a bolt and go, they arent optimal but they are a big increase over the stock setup)
1406 is a great carb for a stock or just better than stock car. Easy to adjust, and for the most part, will run fine right out of the box. You might be able to snag a decent used edelbrock intake for $75-100.
My preference for a mild 302 daily is 650 ED with an airgap ED intake. Cuase it works well for now and for future upgrades to the motor. I think Ryan has a 650 manual choke hes selling. Edelbrocks saying in my day was "Jet IT Set It and Forget it". Ive had some 750s on my 351W Broncos in the past, Great right out of the box, never had any trouble. Down here we have an agree to disagree truce on the Holley Vs Edelbrock issue sumed up by the saying. "You Drive an Edelbrock But you Race a Holley" PS 1 3/4" headers will help that 302 exhale alot better.
Mine ran great right out of the box. I never had to mess with it at all. Then I started swapping cams, heads, etc, and it got a bit lean on me. I got it up to around 360 hp before I had to go to a holley double pump 750. But the Edelbrock kept up with me til around 300 hp. It just ran out of jetting when I hit that power range.
Thanks for the responses. I found the leak. The accelerator pump diaphragm had a hole in it. I replaced and no more leaks. But, the car will still not stay running until it gets warmed up. Seems to be starving for fuel. So I'm assuming something inside is gummed up and isn't moving until it gets warm. The cheapest rebuilt I could find was $139 with a $50 core at Rockauto, then shipping, etc. So, instead of that, I will rebuild the carb I have this weekend and see what happens. I'll wait on the Edelbrock stuff for a while until I sort out other gremlins.
