I picked up some new 3/8" hose for the fuel line since the Edelbrock only has a single feed while my braided line is for a dual feed. The new carb came with a cheap plastic see-thru filter which was perfect to replace the defective chrome filter. Eventually I'll look for something that looks nicer but this was the cheapest way to get the carb hooked up. On the Holley the EGR connected to the rear but on the Edelbrock it connects front and center. I needed a longer hose to reach the EGR valve on the passenger side valve cover (upper left corner) so I just used the same 3/8" hose. To the left and right of the EGR connection on the carb are the two idle mixture screws, and next to them are the two vacuum ports. The left port, which is above the throttle plates, is ported vacuum, while the right one supplies manifold vacuum. Edelbrock recommends trying the manifold vacuum port for the distributor advance if you run a big cam so that's what I'll try.
The throttle linkage connected easily; I made sure that I had full travel before the pedal hit the floor. The return spring bracket from the Holley didn't work so I picked up a cheap Spectre Performance 4708 Throttle Return Spring Bracket for $8.10 from Amazon along with a Dorman 59207 Throttle Return Spring assortment for $6.84. I mounted the bracket on the intake manifold in an existing hole pulling from the rear. The springs come very close to the choke linkage at wide-open throttle so I may have to try something different.
Here's the passenger side where the manual choke cable attaches. The Holley had a bracket for attaching the actuating cable but the Edelbrock just has a hole and I didn't want to just bend the wire around the choke lever.
I bent a dogleg in the wire so it can't fall out, but I can still get the wire through the lever coming in from the side.
After double-checking all my new connections it was time to fire things up. I cranked the engine for a few seconds and then looked to see if fuel was filling the filter. Check. I cranked the engine for about 10 seconds to fill the carb bowls. Then I pulled the choke, pumped the pedal once and she fired right up! It idled a little too slow with the choke and when I tried to open the choke a little the idle slowed down too much and it tried to stall. So I kept my foot on the gas pedal until it warmed up enough to idle on it's own. When the engine warmed up all the way it was idling at 1000 rpm so I lowered it down to 850 and adjusted the idle mixture screws to get the fastest idle without being too rich. The only other adjustment I made was to screw in the fast idle screw one full turn to see if that would help with the next cold start.
The next day she started right up and the cold idle worked much better. I drove to the store and back I am amazed at how well the engine runs. The Edelbrock runs smoother than the Holley ever did and it's practically straight out of the box.
