I happen to go see what was going on in the Yahoo Group for 215 v8′s and there was a post about tuning an Edelbrock 1403 carb, seeing as I just got done doing it on mine I posted this reply:
I just got in 5 minutes ago from working with my 215 and the Edelbrock 1405. I can relate to the watery eyes.
The 1405 is a bit big for my application but I was able to get it tuned so it runs so much better than it did stock and I’m now very pleased with it. If I new then what I know now – yada yada yada.
No drilling or anything, it’s one of the easiest carbs to do. First thing I did was get the kit, didn’t follow the directions and was able to make it run oh so much worse. Then I read the downloadable pdf and followed careful steps and it worked out great. My engine isn’t really beefed up, it’s pretty much stock except for the Edelbrock carb and intake, Mike The Pipe headers. Regular ignition (actually it’s a Lucas coil, original distributor – my cars and MGB).
I have a narrow band bosch o2 sensor with one of those led readouts you can get from autozone and such. Made it much easier. But here’s my settings and maybe it will get you started:
I checked the float height according to the directions – mine was a bit off so I adjusted it with the 7/16 drill bit.
Took it out and ran it for a bit and was running rich everywhere except when I stepped on it it went real lean, then rich and stumbled.
So next I went 2 stages lean on the secondary – I used jet #1424 (.089″). That put me just past ideal when I floored it. My o2 meter just gives colored lights, no numbers – but it felt much better when floored.
It was still rich on the cruise and power modes so I tried (I used the 1405 chart) different numbers. I would do a setup of needels and primary jets, drive it, make note of how it felt and the o2 readings, stop and change it. Nice thing about the Edelbrock is I could pull over to the side of the road and in a couple minutes change them with out a lot of screwing around.
I ended up with the #6 being really good in the power mode but too rich in the cruise mode so I went to #22 (1428 jet (.100″) and 1457 (.073″ x .052″ rod). The cruise (main gas mileage mode) is now about as good as I think it will get, the power mode a touch rich, but I think that’s an evil that can be lived with.
Next and probably the most important in how it feels performance wise was changing the staging springs. I misunderstood how that worked first couple times through and it didn’t seem to help. Could also have been a combination of not having the correct rod/jet and spring I was seeing. I ended upwith the Blue (3″hg) springs and it made a huge difference.
Stumble is gone, pull is good and partial and wide open and according to the o2 gauge the mileage should be up there.
In looking at the 1403 chart I would go to #6 rod/jet and the .089 secodary, change the spring – that was really important for me, and take it out and run it.
Good luck, any questions, let me know.
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