When I was running a 600cfm Edelbrock, I found the chart that listed the effective orfice at cruise and power setting to be the easiest way to tune. I ordered several sets of rods and without changing jets I was able to look at the wideband and adjust rods by looking at the orfice size. I had it pretty damn good too when I decide to go with a double pumper and now EFI. It cranked up, cruised at 14.5-15.5 and WOT was 12.7-13.0. It got 14-15 in town and 18-20 on the highway. (The double pumper got 10-11 in town HAHA)
1985 GT, Sunroof, 5 Lug, Rear Discs, 01 Graphite Bullets, 88 forged piston shortblock, 2.02/1.60 Alum heads, Weiand Stealth, Holley C950 TBI, BBK Long tubes
Bump for those of us who are new to this site. What a good write-up!
1983 Mustang G.T. No-option stripper- I like strippers.
5.0, GT40P heads, Comp Cams XE270HR-12 on 1.6 rockers, TFI spring kit, Weiand 174 blower, Holley 750 mechanical secondarys, Mishimoto radiator, Edelbrock street performer mechanical pump, BBK shortys, T-5 conversion, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, carbon fiber clutches, SS Machine lowers, Maximum Motorsport XL subframes, "B" springs.
Excellent info in this thread, I have searched high and low on the internet for the past month and have found very very little info about edelbrock performer/thunder series carbs on a mild/street/strip 302. Thanks to all that have contributed.
It amazes me after messing with my 85 for hours today how much fuel (even at cruise/light throttle conditions) these engines need. I noticed on my 85 it doesn't like anything leaner than mid 15's for more than a few seconds. I have my gti tuned at light throttle it runs around 16-18, but peg the gas and it drops down to 11.8 - 12.1 at 3k rpms. The gti runs great even that lean, and can get 34mpg (did so on a recent trip).
I just purchased a 1806 Thunder series avs for my 85 GT. I also bought the calibration kit cause I knew I was going to be messing around with it. While currently my car is "stock" save for a performer intake and a set of shorty headers/h-pipe and flowmaster catback, I knew I was going to be leaning out the carb a bit. I have a wideband, and am also going by "feel" as I did on the last car I built and tuned (89 VW GTI 16v). Currently I am running .92 primary jets, and .065x.047 rods and the stiffest spring and the stock secondary jets which i believe are .95. Its pretty good at idle/cruise/part throttle, but wot crashes in, and runs real rich initially. After reading this thread, and through the book (performer series book, aparently its the same carb besides my adjustable secondary control), I am going to try some other things tmw, and rejet/change metering rods to different settings and try to get the .92 jets in on the secondary side to see if it helps. I believe this carb is a bit overkill for my stock engine, but I knew this going into it and have a set of gt40p heads that have bigger valves I plan to install later on this year along with a cam and bigger intake.
2015 Ford Fiesta ST
2015 Jeep Renegade Latitude
1997 Ford Explorer 5.0L
1985 Ford Mustang GT
1983 VW Rabbit GTi 16v
1983 Mercury Capri CC
It's not overkill, I ran a 750 on my 302 in an 84 LTD wagon and it worked great once it was dialed in.
1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56
Absolutely, I got the same mileage and better performance with the larger carb. I had the kit, to get it dialed in too, even used a single wire O2 sensor to help with the tune, read plugs too to make sure it was right. if I had it to do over again I'd do the 750 right off the bat, instead of fooling with the 600 and 650 edelbrock and holley carbs.
1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56
Finlay got to do the jet changes on my car. Just the stock setting 1405 jets make it like a different car!
1983 Mustang G.T. No-option stripper- I like strippers.
5.0, GT40P heads, Comp Cams XE270HR-12 on 1.6 rockers, TFI spring kit, Weiand 174 blower, Holley 750 mechanical secondarys, Mishimoto radiator, Edelbrock street performer mechanical pump, BBK shortys, T-5 conversion, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, carbon fiber clutches, SS Machine lowers, Maximum Motorsport XL subframes, "B" springs.
Excellent news.
Craig "IDMooseMan" Peters
1979 Mustang Ghia Notchback, 2.3L, Holley 5200, 4-spd, 3.08:1 7.5" diff, A/C, PS, PB, AM/FM/8-Track, Sunroof, Rear Defroster
USAF SSgt 63170 1983 - 1992; Co-Founder, Vice President, Omega Delta Sigma, ID-A 2/2015
To those that serve and have served, "Thank You", to those that haven't, "You're Welcome"
2.3L Horsepower Potential Thread
Buyer/Seller Experience Link
Build Thread
The Four-Eyed Game - 2018 Version
Bump for the new guys on the site. This is great info for the Edelbrock users.
1983 Mustang G.T. No-option stripper- I like strippers.
5.0, GT40P heads, Comp Cams XE270HR-12 on 1.6 rockers, TFI spring kit, Weiand 174 blower, Holley 750 mechanical secondarys, Mishimoto radiator, Edelbrock street performer mechanical pump, BBK shortys, T-5 conversion, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, carbon fiber clutches, SS Machine lowers, Maximum Motorsport XL subframes, "B" springs.
This is great info. I bought a 1406 last fall and although it seems to work OK I'm honestly not too impressed with the performance overall. Now it's surging at light load which I think is an intake gasket leak but overall it has a lot less punch than the tired stock motor in my 85 had.
86 Notch under construction
2011 4Runner Trail edition
2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Willing to bet it is the step up springs.Have you tried re-jetting it to a 1405? Made a huge difference on mine.
1983 Mustang G.T. No-option stripper- I like strippers.
5.0, GT40P heads, Comp Cams XE270HR-12 on 1.6 rockers, TFI spring kit, Weiand 174 blower, Holley 750 mechanical secondarys, Mishimoto radiator, Edelbrock street performer mechanical pump, BBK shortys, T-5 conversion, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, carbon fiber clutches, SS Machine lowers, Maximum Motorsport XL subframes, "B" springs.
I haven't found a vacuum leak so I'm starting to suspect the carb itself. Idles perfect. It just about stalls taking off from a stop if you don't ride the clutch a little too. Seems fine under load just a little weak. But it is a stock motor with nothing but dual exhaust too. I'm going to play with it some more next weekend but I'm starting to think reworking it to stock 1405 specs is a good move. The regular off the shelf holley 600 worked PERFECT on my 85 which was basically stock. Kind of kicking myself for not just buying another one of those.
86 Notch under construction
2011 4Runner Trail edition
2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
86 Notch under construction
2011 4Runner Trail edition
2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
It's a completely stock 84 motor with 82k miles. I just pulled the smog&egr stuff off, put on an edelbrock carb spacer and the 1406. And it's got dual exhaust. Otherwise bone stock. timing is at 10 degrees BTDC I believe. It runs fine just seems like it should have a bit more punch and the surging in 4th on secondary roads is really annoying. Engine vacuum still seems a little low though. It only pulls 16hg at idle. Rock steady though.
86 Notch under construction
2011 4Runner Trail edition
2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
16 is low enough to need heavier springs. I suspect it is low because of some mechanical
problem, or possibly just from high miles. But I wouldn't try tuning the carb until you get
that sorted out as much as possible. Have you done a compression test?
Also do you have the vacuum advance connected to timed port or manifold port?
It should be connected to the timed port (front passenger side port)
Yep hooked up to the timed port on the carb. No I haven't done a compression test. But it idles smooth as can be and doesn't burn any oil. Honestly I'm a bit apprehensive to do a leakdown or compression test on it. I won't have the funds to do motor work on this car for quite a while. Don't want to depress myself. It did sit without being run for at least 3-4 years before I bought it though.
86 Notch under construction
2011 4Runner Trail edition
2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Okay, well, the valves and rings could just be gummed up. It can't hurt anything to pour
some Seafoam into the intake manifold and see what comes out. Myself, I like to remove
the coil wire and crank it to get it good and worked in before starting. Also dump some in
the oil then change the oil after you run it for a few minutes.
After you do that and check for vacuum leaks we can proceed to tune the carb
as best we can given the current state of the engine.
Also wanted to say, 16" isn't terrible, just a little low, we'd like to have 18-19" on a stock 302
I think once you do the Seafoam, and tune the carb to 1405 specs, it will run better!
Install the 1405 spec springs, rods and jets, and let's see what we get.
I installed the 1405 jets, metering rods, and springs on Sunday. HUGE difference! Lots more midrange punch and a very noticeable difference in power and sound at WOT. No more surging either. It is a little stinkier too which was expected but I plan on putting some Magnaflow spun cats on it soon anyhow. Of course I dropped one of the linkage clips so now I have a piece of welding wire on my choke linkage.... Need to check a few friend's garages to see if they have one I can steal. Edelbrock only sells them in kits.
86 Notch under construction
2011 4Runner Trail edition
2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Connect With Us