Finally getting to my winter project, my 1406 is now off the cat and in the house. I’m going to hit up google to search for written walkthroughs, youtube for video walkthroughs, and of course see if I can find any official edelbrock documentation of how to properly do this. But I thought I’d ask here first if anyone has a link to what they consider “the” resource to use to guide me through the process. Heck I’m even open to links to threads on MCN 
Many pics to follow, of course!
Here ya go http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=435754
There is a link to the Edelbrock owners manual and parts numbers.
Thanks much, that thread had some good info as well as assurances of how easy it is to rebuild. I have to admit, after disassembling it somewhat just to see what’s what, it does seem awfully easy.
I’ve got my first question though. 
The needle/seat assembly from the replacement kit seems to have a noticeably larger opening in the seat than the ones that are in there now. The ones in there are marked with the number 42 stamped on the seat. The ones in the rebuild kit have no marking on them.
I’ve searched on google and can’t seem to find any reference to this number 42, their seat specs are all in their typical four digit numbering system.
I used the chuck-end of drill bits (not the metal gouging drillin’ end) to find the size of the openings. The ones in there now are 0.093" and the ones in the replacement kit are 0.109"— according to the instruction manual for the performer series carbs it’s supposed to be a 0.0935" seat. So the ones in the kit I got are apparently wrong, seems like they are the increased fuel flow seats that the manual mentions only using if absolutely required due to fuel starvation.
So, send the needle/seat assemblies back and get the right ones, right? Is there any benefit to having the increased fuel flow seats? The manual makes it sound like no, it’s a fix for a problem, not an improvement over stock.
So I’m guessing the silence means “yeah it should be obvious, make sure to have the stock seats!”
Actually, it won’t matter. They’ll fill the bowls more quckly, but as soon as the float rises they will shut off tight.
It will, however help with some starvation, should you decide to do more with the engine. But, whatever. Just use them.
No plans to mess with the cam or valves or anything. I did just get the jet and rod kit in the mail today, so am going to either have to just mess around with that myself or hopefully get some input from someone else who has a 1406 on an old 302. A friend has convinced me that it’s possible to increase fuel economy while losing little if any power, so I figured why not. The rods that are in there now seem okay but no matter how much I clean them they’re not looking as clean as I would like.
Almost forgot two other things that came up during the process.
One, the riser is 1" and based on the weight I have to say it’s aluminum and not steel. Has a part number stamped on it that seems to be Ford
Is it worth swapping this out for a non-metallic riser in the interest of keeping the carb from getting as hot? I was having percolation issues back when my floats were set wrong last year and fuel would drip in after shutting it down. Switch risers now while I have it all off, or stick with this one?
And the other thing I had forgotten all about, I took the idle mixture screws out just to have a look at them, haven’t sprayed carb cleaner or compressed air in there yet… But one screw has a more silvery sort of hue to it and the other is a more brass/bronze hue. Other than that they look identical and stock and all. Is this symptomatic of some kind of issue, or just nothing to pay any mind to?
Man, I’m always asking questions. Noob and proud, I guess, gotta own it, right?
Everything has been disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled, including the new gaskets from the kit of course. I got the rod and jet kit just to mess with it and see what sort of trouble that can get me into once driving season is back on, which hopefully will be in the next few weeks.
Questions at this point:
the riser. I really wanna get a non-metallic riser in there because from what I understand it goes a long way toward ensuring no percolation/boiling fuel when the engine is hot. Does anyone have any input at all?
I already fully reassembled the carb including putting the air horn back on, but my gut is telling me I’ll wanna mount the main body and then fill the bowls up at least a bit with fuel before putting the top back on and going to fire her up for the first time. Is that unnecessary? Just start with em empty? Or is it best to start with some fuel in the bowls?
Wow, Scott, wish I’d known you were about to start this, we could have trod the path at the same time! Just did a “psuedo” rebuild on my 1406 trying to cure a fat(rich) condition. I did not do a FULL rebuild, after queerying multiple sources, sounded like mine just needed a good cleaning. The engine had sat idle for some time, so the theory was, the step-up springs and needles had probably gummed up. Pulled it apart and cleaned er up, threw SOME new parts in “while I was there”, and it seems quite a lot better. Spent some time yesterday with a newly acquired vac gauge and RPM/Dwell meter “tweaking” the idle. IIRC, I read somewhere to “start” with the idle mixture screws at 1.5 turns from all the way in, and dial it down from there. Counted when running them in, and they were double that! There’s one cause to the fat-run!
For the riser, mine is that phenolic/non-metal material, and the rationale makes sense to me, so while you’ve got it off…might as well.
As for the pre-filling of the bowls, whether it was “right” or not, I let mine fill while cranking. Didn’t seem to hurt it any, but I’ll digress to the more learned on the board. My carb experience prior to this entailed 2 stroke nitro powered R/C engines…
Continued success!
I think I have been in good shape idle-wise all along. I’ve tweaked the idle mixture a couple times and it was set pretty well right-on when the car came to me and has never made much difference the tweaking I’ve done-- manifold vacuum is pretty much always right around 18.5 which is plenty good from what I understand.
I don’t know how much my carb even needed to be cleaned/rebuilt; it wasn’t really dirty or anything. But just because it had all those tiny rust flakes accumulated in the bowls, and since I’ve replaced every single piece of the fuel system from the tank forward except for hadn’t done anything with the carb, I wanted it done just to know the fuel system is 100%.
The one thing that struck me as maybe a symptom of a leaking gasket was that the chambered out areas where the counterweights are (in the secondary system) were full of dirty-as-hell fuel, when I would have thought there should be nothing at all in there except the counterweights.
Either way, I’m glad I did it, as long as the car actually runs once I get the carb back on.
Todd as far as the phenolic spacer, what’s that like? Is it 1"? Or thinner? I was really hoping to get some expert info before I go randomly buying something. But I’d be curious to hear what you have to say too. >:-P
I have a 1" phenolic spacer on mine. It cured the “hot start” problem I used to have immediately.
I have only just got through the first video and according to what he says, a 750 CFM 1407 carb is more for a modified motor, big block. I have a 351C and it is .030 over balanced and blueprinted. The cam is a XE262H Comp Cams. The pistons are flat top and the heads are Australian 302 closed chamber heads with stainless valves and ported.
Is the 1407 (750cfm) ok or is this too beg and I should go to the 650CFM?
Scott, my spacer is also 1" phenolic…
Ok good enough for me, two smart fellers confirming what I already believed to be the case = 1" phenolic spacer ordered. In choosing between the four hole vs open varieties, I read up a bit and between the four holers apparently favoring low rpm’s and the fact that the existing spacer is a four holer, that’s what I went with. Only thing left is to pick up a gasket, since the carb rebuild kit only came with one and with a riser I need two, one between the carb and riser and one between the riser and intake, right? Since the one that came in the kit is an open hole style, I’m assuming I’ll use that between the riser and intake and then need a four-hole gasket for between the carb and riser?
I’ll defer to others on that one…mine is an open. Sorry!
Wouldn’t you need the 4 hole if you manifold has 4 hole? If you using a single plain (one hole) intake then the single hole gasket I think would be fine, but if your intake has 4 holes, then the gasket I would thing should match. Let me know if Im wrong.
Makes sense. Here’s a shot I had taken when I pulled the carb, looks like four hole gaskets above and below the riser and I can throw that wide open gasket in a drawer and forget about it.
Installed new 1" phenolic riser (4-hole) and reinstalled the carb. Went to fire her up and the battery was dead even though it was sitting on a tender for months. I thought it was going last year but when napa tested it, it showed lower cca than spec but still in a useable range. Jumped it with my bronco and got her started. Ran good right out of the gate. Manifold vac was around 18, a little lower than the 18.5 I was seeing last year, and idle was right where I had left it. Since I had pulled the fuel mix screws and put them back in at 1.5 turns out, that was the difference, that and presumably better seals with all the new gaskets. When I went to check the idle rpm in gear, the car died instantly when I hit the brakes and when I went to restart it the lights barely lit. Knew that meant bad battery since it should have charged at least a bit after running for like 15 or 20 mins. Hit autozone and picked up a battery that isn’t green like the Interstate that came with the car, which made me happy. New battery did the trick. Fired right up and stayed running. Tweaked the idle mixture and vac at idle is now 19 to 19.5, even better than before. Took her out for a spin and everything was great. Plenty of get-up, happy to squeal the tires. Then I remembered I deactivated my insurance for the winter so came home. Gotta give them a call on Monday. All good, couldn’t be happier!
One question though. When I rebuilt it I put in a rod/jet combination that is stock WOT but one stage lean cruise. But I’m a noob and have no idea what I’m doing. Other than checking the plugs after I reactivate my insurance and do some more driving, with no sensors or Dyno or anything, is there anything I can do to make sure I didn’t do something stupid changing the rods and jets from stock?
I’d think you would be ok with only being one stage lean. Keep an eye on the temp gauge, and you should be kosher, IMO.