Hot Rod Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Edelbrock VS Carter AFB

71K views 22 replies 12 participants last post by  ccstevejr 
#1 ·
Okay Hotrodders...so what's the deal? What is really the difference between Edelbrock and Carter AFB? I'm thinking of purchasing an Edelbrock 1406, but my buddy is swearing by Carter! he says they are the same carb but with different stickers. If this is true, what is the Carter AFB equivalent to the Edelbrock 1406?
 
#8 ·
Both carbs are manufactured on the same line at Weber the only real difference is the metering rods. The Edelbrock has a slightly different step sequence than the Carter. Both are excellent carbs and require very little tinkering to get them to run right, unlike Holleys that require a whole lot of adjusting to run correctly.
 
#12 ·
I have a 750 cfm edelbrock carb with the electric choke. I have been extremely pleased with the performance with it. Decent fuel mileage, good performance. It is on a mild 454 that was built for a daily driver. If it was me I would go with a carter/edelbrock/q-jet for some heavy street/ light strip performance. But if it is going to only a strip car Holley. Remember that all carbs do the same thing and the difference is in your ability to tune the carb to do what you want.

John
 
#14 ·
I had two Edelbrock carbs on two different engines and they both vapor locked in the summer and they both had sticky accelerator pumps. It seems to me that the aluminum bodies not only cool down quicker but also heat up more. Also, both accelerator pump seals dug into the soft aluminum accelerator pump cylinders, causing the throttles to feel jerky. After less than a year of use, I threw both relatively new carbs in the trash can and bought a couple of holleys and had no more carb problems for the last 5 years.

Edelbrock makes great intakes but they should be embarrassed about that carb. They are selling a cheaply made carb for little money, and in this case, you get what you pay for. It looks like they decided to spend more money on advertisement than building a better carb.

If you don't what a Holley than get a Q-jet. But stay away from edelbrock/carter carbs.
 
#15 ·
I have had at least 6 Edelbrock 600 or 750 CFM versions and have found them to be a great carb. The only problems that I have had is dirt. Since the carbs don't make dirt, it had to have come from my fuel system. My solution to the dirt problem is to take off the dinky in-line fuel filter and install a professional racer catridge type.

While the Edelbrocks run well right out of the box, to get optimum performance you have to spend a few hours setting up the various spring rates, jets and metering rods - NBD - part of the process of making a performance engine reach its potential. You need the manual choke version of the tuning kit for enough choices

The carbs that I have used have never been affected by vapor lock, but in all cases but one, I had no carb heat (the one exception was on my ancient F350/460cid) plus I always run a 1" phynolic manifold spacer for isolation from engine heat and performance enhancement (dubious value).

Also, many years ago, I ran a 401 cid Buick Carter carb on my
'53 Ford w/312 - an it ran great. My '64 Grand Prix had a Carter as well - and this car was a bear after a bit of surgery on the secondary air operated throttle plates.

To sum it up, I have sold all my Holley leakers but two, and they will be gone shortly. I got tired of screwing around with float levels, power valves, accelerator pumps and secondary springs and diaphragms, plus leaky(air) throttle shafts and base gaskets. I will agree that for full out competition they work well - I really dislike them for a daily driver.

Dave
 
#18 ·
It is funny how people have the total opposite experience with the same carb. Crazy world.

I never had a Holley leak anything, air fuel, or dirt. And I do take them apart a few times to replace jets, power valves, squirter's, ect,and drive them daily.

Yes, I could have used a heat insulator but the sticky throttle got on my nerves and I didn't see a cure for that.

I wonder why car magazines don't compare Edelbrock carbs to Holleys carbs using a dyno, dragstrip, or just for mpg. They compare heads, cams, intake, headers, but not different carb brands. I have seen them do a little Holley versus demon but those carbs are very similar. I'm betting that Edelbrock doesn't what a test like that done and puts pressure on the car magazines to NOT do a test like that.

It would be nice to see three different engine levels (mild, moderate, wild) tested with a 750 holley, 750 demon, and 750 edelbrock. But I doubt they will ever do a test like that because it could jeopardize advertising dollars.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top