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I posted this first under "engine" but did't really get any hits. Thought someone here might have some good info. for me.
OK...Try to contain your chuckles. Yes, I'm 36 yrs old, owned a '69 Camaro, now my '71 Chevelle, and have never tuned a 4-barrel. Never had to touch the carb on the Camaro and last spring the carb on the Chevelle had a sticking needle so I did my first carb rebuild. It's an Edelbrock Model 1409 (elec. choke, though not hooked up) 600 cfm. I will admit that I am among those who viewed the ins-and-outs of carb tuning as some sort of voodoo magic that I am incapable of understanding. So as the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The car ran just fine so I kept my paws off. Anyway, the rebuild went smoothly and the car fired up and purred, so I didn't screw it up. But I also didn't make any changes in jet or metering rods. I now have an annoying flat spot that I must deal with by finessing the pedal. I tweaked the mixture a bit and it seems to be a little better. My plugs aren't quite fouled but they're not clean either and I believe my mileage should be better. So here's the thing...I see all of the postings about vacuum readings. Can someone please tell me what type of gauge I should have, where I attach it, and how I begin taking readings? (under what conditions) From what I've read it seems like I need to know this before I can go much further into experimenting with different jets/rods/nozzles. Anyone care to help a 36 year old beginner??
OK...Try to contain your chuckles. Yes, I'm 36 yrs old, owned a '69 Camaro, now my '71 Chevelle, and have never tuned a 4-barrel. Never had to touch the carb on the Camaro and last spring the carb on the Chevelle had a sticking needle so I did my first carb rebuild. It's an Edelbrock Model 1409 (elec. choke, though not hooked up) 600 cfm. I will admit that I am among those who viewed the ins-and-outs of carb tuning as some sort of voodoo magic that I am incapable of understanding. So as the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The car ran just fine so I kept my paws off. Anyway, the rebuild went smoothly and the car fired up and purred, so I didn't screw it up. But I also didn't make any changes in jet or metering rods. I now have an annoying flat spot that I must deal with by finessing the pedal. I tweaked the mixture a bit and it seems to be a little better. My plugs aren't quite fouled but they're not clean either and I believe my mileage should be better. So here's the thing...I see all of the postings about vacuum readings. Can someone please tell me what type of gauge I should have, where I attach it, and how I begin taking readings? (under what conditions) From what I've read it seems like I need to know this before I can go much further into experimenting with different jets/rods/nozzles. Anyone care to help a 36 year old beginner??
