Thread: When it’s too good to be true. AFB Kits

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A while back I rebuilt an Edelbrock AFB for the HEMI. The local parts store I stopped at as out of stock on rebuild kits so I figured I’d just order one on line.

I checked Amazon and at the time they didn’t have any of the kits made by Edelbrock. They did carry AFB kits however that not only included the gasket, needles and seats etc they even included a new pair of brass floats…..all for $20. I figured the kit was probably junk but what the heck I’ve wasted $20 on a lot worse.

When the kit arrived and I rebuilt the carb I wasn’t real impressed. The gaskets left a bit to be desired and overall just not a really impressive product (which I kind of expected at the price). The original floats in the carb were already brass so I reused them and just threw the new ones in my float pile.

Anyway I started the HEMI for the first time yesterday (more on that later). After I got everything hooked up on the engine stand I filled the carb with fuel to just to make sure it wasn’t going to flood over. I decided to go to lunch and when I got back started the engine to break in the cam. The old engine fired right off then ran for a few seconds and shut down. A quick check showed that fuel was getting to the carburetor but not in to it.

I just put on a spare carburetor and did the break in. I had some time to do a postmortem on the carb this afternoon and found what I expected. The rubber tips on the needles had swollen and shut off the fuel supply. I stock needle and seats so I threw a new pair in and stuck it back on the engine. Seems to be doing good now.

Long story short I got what I paid for but you never know unless you try. Anyway thought I’d post this in case anybody else is thinking about trying to save a few buck……don’t try it with these kits.



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For the guy that doesn't have your knowledge on how things work that "kit" would be a nightmare!!

As I seem to remember those old Carter kits weren't the best to begin with.

Not sure what kits you’re referring to Ken, most of the kits I’ve used over the years were pretty much all the same and pretty much trouble free. The AFB kits are probably the simplest 4 barrel kits out there (fewest gaskets/seals to replace) and usually about the cheapest. The biggest complaint I had about the Edelbrock kits was they were usually priced way too high for an AFB kit. In the early years my trick for the Edelbrock AFBs was to order a kit for a late 60s MOPAR and use that at about half the price.

I’d actually seen this problem with the needles before. In the mid 90s when Ethanol as was first introduced around here it played holy hell with all the “rubber” products in the fuel system. Guys like me that did a lot of carburetors were pulling their hair out because we couldn’t find needles and seats that would stand up to it. I talked to a few guys in the industry and Carb specialty shops and even tried to find old kits that had steel needles just to find something that would hold up. Fortunately, the industry stepped up and within about 6 months we had ethanol safe kits.


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I hear ya Mike.

Several years ago I had a young friend that wanted me to rebuild his 1407 Edelbrock that he had on a Holley Z-28 knockoff manifold on a 327 in his ’68 Camaro. He had attempted such himself with a $10 kit from Uncle-Billy’s-Bong-in-a-Box parts store. The top gasket and had leaks that he had tried to fix with Permatex. It was a right mess for sure.

At the time, our local independent parts store (run by a prince of a guy named Rich) was struggling to stay in business as a big new chain store had opened and they were selling a lot of imported stock. Rich had finally come to the decision and was having a “going out of business sale” when I stopped by to pick up a kit. He was a stocking Edelbrock dealer and had a box of kits on the counter – all at half price. He had four of the EDL-1477 kits (made in America!) and made me a great deal of $80 for all of them. I also bought all of his Gasgacinch (half dozen or so) as well as a couple T-shirts and an assortment of rods and jet kits.

Long story short – we cleaned up this 1407 and put a new Edelbrock kit in it and she ran like Jack the Bear from idle to 6,000 RPM. I’ve long since used the 1477 kits and a lot of the jets and rods on various 1406/1407 and 1412/1413 and never had an issue with the Edelbrock parts. I still have a can or two of unopened Gasgacinch – good stuff!

Sometime around 67 or 68 I ran into a couple of Carter kits that had poorly cut leather accelerator pumps, maybe just a fluke.

Long time since I saw a real Carter Kit.....every once in a while we used to get them at the dealer I worked at. I actually prefer the leather pumps. A few years back I found a shop that stocked them (the shaft was also brass instead of plastic) and bought a few just to have on hand.


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Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Sometime around 67 or 68 I ran into a couple of Carter kits that had poorly cut leather accelerator pumps, maybe just a fluke.

Ken,
About that time frame I remember an accelerator pump in a kit where the hole in the leather for the retaining screw on top of the brass shaft was punched off center which made one side of the "skirt" very short and the opposite side overly long. I couldn't say if it was a Carter kit or not, but it was for a Carter carb on my old 348. I also don't recall for sure what I did to resolve the issue but your comment triggered the memory.

Originally Posted by rspears

Ken,
About that time frame I remember an accelerator pump in a kit where the hole in the leather for the retaining screw on top of the brass shaft was punched off center which made one side of the "skirt" very short and the opposite side overly long. I couldn't say if it was a Carter kit or not, but it was for a Carter carb on my old 348. I also don't recall for sure what I did to resolve the issue but your comment triggered the memory.

That was my problem as well and I just lightly coated the old one with Vaseline and reused it.
On another note I remember an article in Hot Rod magazine about double springing the accelerator pump. I did one that way, but didn't notice any appreciable improvement though. Might have been a bigger deal on the strip but not so much on the street.