Edelbrock 1400 Problem

I've been running a 1400 edelbrock and performed good, this week went to start it and felt slightly rough as it warmed up it got rougher then stalled and wouldn't idle unless give it throttle
Was about 15-13"Hg and when I would rev it up and close till it almost stalls then open the choke it ran normal for a short time (10secs)
Took it apart cleaned with carb cleaner but didn't have my air gun to blow it out. Put it back ran good for a few minutes then got sloppy.
Idle screws do nothing all hoses are connected the port in the back of carb is good
Intake manifold has a leak but does not affect vacuum ive put carb cleaner/water on the flange and idle/vacuum remained consistent, I think its the heatcross over exhaust port.
Regardless it would not affect the idle would it?
Bottom line
Idle screws have no effect
Car has normal vacuum above 1000 rpm
Below runs rough and lower vacuum
The heatriser valve arm bounces back and forth shortly when car is warm
Ive sprayed carb clean down the idle bleed tubes and idle mixture screws but no change
Any help is appreciated

The weak vacuum below 1000rpm sounds like a small leak unless you have a huge cam in there. Edelbrock carbs do not

take well to vacuum leaks at idle.I 've had the 1403 ,1405 and few carters they all will idle fine and put out

normal vacuum (17-21hg) as long as everything else is ok. recheck your Carb mount . check all your hoses and

any connections (ie I just replaced a broken tee that leaked that I missed twice before). Any smoke at all or does it burn

clean at idle?

When I rev it hard when its warm white smoke comes from the rh side intake manifold
But did this before no issues did burn outs and pulled hard idled fine 20" Hg
I doubt I got leaks
Rear port has hardline threaded in and tight
Ported vacuum to dizzy
Use new T provided to run the efe egr
The heatriser valve may be bad since its clanking back and forth when getting warm holding it open or closed with pry bar has little to no affect on issue , one loose end to tie up added to the list
The car start up fine idles good 19-21"Hg steady
Until it gets warmer the 18"-then 17"-then 15"Hg bounces 1-2" Hg
If I rev up eng close choke till close to stalling the let go and let it rev up car runs good
I heard if idle screws do nothing there may be excessive clearance in throttle blades how can I verify this

As for base gaskets Im running the insulator adapter plate the thin base gasket
Car was running great prior to issue
Spark is good got shocked thru the plastic handle on the screwdriver.
When running sloppy I can advance the timing as much as I can and it'll be 19" Hg
But not happy bout it.
Let me know any ideas

When idle is good no smoke
But when it stalls after and extended crank it'll start but smoke a little for a short time (1-3 sec)

Worn throttle shafts and plates are usually easy to spot if you pull the carb and look at the bottom

you can either feel the shaft move or see the plates not sitting right.

Ah the smoke then is just normal Chevy smoke on startup nothing to worry about.

Actually whats the state of the Edelbrock new , used? The only thing that effects idle other than the screws is

ensuring a correct float adjustment . Have you checked the floats any issues going from idle to speed (stalls etc)?

It a supposed "REMAN"'from edelbrock I bought through summit.
I set it to the 7/16" spec from edelbrock states.
No issue on rpm climb/rev , I can spin tires from a dead stop but it would stall right after.
It runs rough when warmed up vacuum drops and ends up stalling at a very low idle 377 rpm.
Fast idle kicked in it runs vacuum is good 21"Hg but at idle nothing.
Closing the choke when reving helps for short time.
But otherwise doesn't want to idle smooth and idle screws do nothing

If it seems to get worse as it warms up maybe you should check your manifold again and or all your hoses connections.

It can be a pain. Also how is your choke function?As I said I had to check my connections and gaskets 2x 3x to resolve

issues to get a smooth idle and I also swapped jets few times but jets wouldn't cause vacuum issues. It has to be leaking

somewhere for vacuum to be low.

If it's not a leak and not your timing you have to start checking your compression for internal issues like worn cam or bad

valve , bad head gasket. But I will say I thought it was internal at first till I fixed my leaks. ( Poor carb mount, bad Tranny

Modulator, Bad vacuum Tee not necessarily in that order ) It might also be worth it to check your carb internal gaskets

maybe someone screwed up on the reman they are only paper gaskets.

When it warmed up I sprayed water into the flange of the manifold to head ,even poured some water in just sizzle off from engine heat and not affect idle and when reving smoke is not visible.
I haven't checked compression in recent months worth a try , last time was around 170-180 psi
Choke works good (electric) no binding or anything
I took it part and sprayed cleaner in the orfices and assembled
Ran better but when warmed up started to drop vacuum

When checking for leaks use Carb cleaner my friend (30yr Mechanic\Service Writer) told me that and he said same thing

check for leaks maybe your riser is bad but he said it should not cause your problem. Unless your manifold cracked from

it being stuck cold , most time it would make your engine hard to start warmed up when they go bad from things like

the fuel percolating in the carb etc.

My friend lent me a 1407 he rebuilt and we put it on, thing ran solid and smooth with minor adjustment. We put it on to see if it even ran and did so pretty good so no vac leaks (21"Hg solid) and gasket leak on manifold is not my issue but does require replacement.
Im gonna re rebuild the car but this time disassemble the throttle assembly and clean polish it. Any tips thanks
Also thats for info on the heat riser since I have had both fuel percolation and hard hot start but I figured it was due to gasohol fuels, will be inspecting my exhaust manifold for cracks.
Saw you post about the fuel pressure regulator and had pondered this before and now am definitely getting one.

The regulator does seem to make a big difference with them, weird but factual. Edelbrocks are easy enough to

rebuild just ensure that every spot comes out clean. I did as you say cleaned then polished (nothing stronger than

3m pad) the entire carbs. I have had good luck downsizing the primary and secondary jets I think Edelbrock goes

fat from the factory but it took me few swaps to get the right rod and jet combo. And I used the Orange springs

I have yet to keep any other color spring in for long. I haven't had any issues with standard kits from 3rd parties

yet (no leaks etc) recently I redid 3 carbs with low priced kits no problem. Compared to Quadrajets or Hollys

these are a breeze.

Weird thing is the 1400 sounded like is cammed and the 1407 idles super smooth, may have to do with the issues the 1400 has.
My main goal is to get it running right but I do have the desire to tune it proper. What color are the stock metering jet spring I think the ones I had are red or maybe orange I'm remember the paint came off with the chem dip

Yellow I believe is stock spring. I think the 750cfm is too big that's what 1407 is this a 350 right? unless it has a HUGE

cam and roller rockers and high compression a 750 is generally too big. I had a friend who built a screaming 350 years ago

made 400+hp (great in 94' no dyno but we had the Camaro doing 160+mph easy I think it would have topped 175) and he

used a 650 double pumper as the 750 double pumper was too big(bog and we tried ).

That what was thinking it shouldn't be so responsive and if I smash the gas on a dead stop it just goes no bog or nothing
I'm still baffled by this stock cam head to my knowledge tops at 110mph but I have plans to build a 350 like your friend most likely vortec heads and lt1 rods pistons with the juice button also a 4 speed overdrive trans
My trend lent me a rebuild DVD so ima check that out for rebuilding the 1400

I was thinking of doing the bowls on this 305 and camming it. I read an article where they got 230rwhp out

of a stock 305 with a cam and some bowl work on these crappy heads from the 70s and early 80s.

At least till I see more growth in my bank account.

But vortec heads on any 350 with a cam should get you at least to 250rwhp maybe more without going crazy

on budget.

That'll work but I'm stuck on the vortec lt1 style runners, fast burn chambers(67cc vs 76 cc) and flows up to 230 cfm stock
Ive seen 882 heads with bigger valves ported and polished flow only 230cfm
Try that with that bowl work could but 250 or more to the wheels and push your luck with some nitrous
Money is always a factor either no money or time it seems

Went along with rebuilding the 1400 was pretty simple only issue was assembling the linkage
I had polished the bores after I filed the ridge in the casting but I may have been a little to careless filing as I got some parts on the other side of the bores below the throttle blades I cleaned it up the best I could looked ok actually but I hope I didn't disturb the air flow too much
I put it on and needed more than 3 turns out to pull 20" on the gauge but it would idle at 16" and rev up fine at about 2-2.5 turns out till on the road hesitation low power , coming off the light stall then start it up the surging until u mash the pedal then it'll go but still lacks power
Took the top check the floats a hair off adjusted as needed surging was minimal now , didn't stall off a stop and still lacks some power
Got home and check the idle screws
I did a test that I found online on a another forum thought I'd share
With engine off turn idle mixture screws all the ways seated then out 1 full turn out, start engine, alternate backing each screw 1/4 turn out until highest vacuum and idle speed is reached (1.5-2.5 turns out) if 2.5+ turns out you have a vacuum leak
So doing this I back out my screws out about 4-5 turns to pull 20"
And went around the carb intake and lines with a propane torch and nothing immediately popped tried it like 3 times
Went back to my water method spraying hose connections and flanges with the spray stream nozzle then squirted down the bolt hole on the manifold and saw the neddle move a hair so I put the torch and nothing so I sprayed water and a little movement so I said f*** unscrewed the top and poured some in there and vacuum was bouncing 20-16" let it get steady the did it again same result
Glad to find the main issue gonna fix and retest

What jets did you use? I eventually went with .098 .095 on my 305 which is the

economy jetting(1406) and I idle 800rpm with 18-19 hg  but with smaller jets in the

primaries (.095) I had to turn out the screws further and had hesitation. In my case .100

which came on the 1405 primaries was much too much. This is with using   .075x.047  

metering rods. If it's all stock 1405 then you would have .100 x .095 jets and .070 x.047

rods. Might try smaller primary jets or smaller metering rods.

Got home from work and go to wrenching right away pulled the intake re gasketed and Damn car ran smooth ..,hesitation/surging gone
MyLoth I left everything stock I'm if it was just the gasket or maybe carb had crud in it but I did have a leaky float which would explain the throttle shaft leaking fuel
So far so good now , gonna re tune tomorrow but pulling 19" right now but I'm sure I can get 20-21" thanks for all the advice

Guess I spoke to soon surging bogging is back
The issue is coming off idle/ part throttle transition on between 1200-3000 rpm
The carb had ran good before tho had issues( leaky shaft, idle screw tight when adjusting ) it had good power when it ran good
I routed my fuel line different to get rid of the linking looks promising.
I ordered the gasket kit for my edelbrock when rebuilding since needle and seat were new and noticed the front primary tubes gasket (no sure the terminology) was different though it did fit well enough I assumed it was a revised design but kept the old ones which are newer as well so ill use them and see what happens
Float level and float drop is good
Any tips
I re gasket the intake no more leak at heat crossover, then found my egr adapters threads were stripping and the failed bolt cause the housing to warp so had to file it flat and helicoil and put new gaskets w large rtv
Pulls 19" steady timing at 8 degrees

Id get that timing to at least 12 base, and set the vacuum advance to run off full manifold vacuum. So you should be at about 26 degrees at idle. those low compression big chambered heads need lots of timing. Sorry but i didnt read all of the posts above, i just read the last one so dont kill me!

I'd have to strongly agree my 305 runs best with 12-13 deg plus full vacuum on the advance not only power but mpg

and I run 87-89 octane without any problem

If your shaft does leak though your idle will never be quite right it wouldn't cause surging etc tho. Those kits work

wonders on those edelbrocks the 1405 I have now barely ran a healthy 350 when I bought it . Now it idles

and cruises on my 305 very smooth after rebuild.

I would advance the timing but i have to smog, yea I can run it advanced between smogs like I've done before but I need to get it dialed in right to pass.
Using some an line I had layin around I changed the fuel line to a longer smother bend , no kinking hose anymore
Helped with surging but still very noticeable
Pulled the top today and found the accelerator pump seal in the bottom of the bowl sitting on the spring under the pump
May be due to my metal lapse as I put a total of 3 springs on the pump one under the assembly one in the assembly where it pumps and one on top of the stem that pokes thru the top of the carb ... Idk what happens maybe a new one came in the kit and I got confused and put it one

I also replaced the gaskets one the primary tubes with the orig. since the kit came with different ones that fit nice but we're clearly different

Surging is much less and has hesitation on transition maybe the pump is no good and need a new assembly

Thanks again guys for bearing with me there is not anyone I know that knows edelbrocks ,or carb in general , very well.

Ah I forgot you are in California even in the anal state of NY any vehicle older than 1996 does not have an OBD and any older than 1991

Do not have to have anything other than safety that's the whole state including NYC.

For the inspection keep your advance vacuum on the ported that's the reason OEMs did that in 70s and 80s.

It was to lower emissions at idle with less advance it's bad for everything else though including MPG.

Drove it a couple days now still noticeable hesitation
If u give light throttle ,under 1/4 pedal travel , it'll go fine but more it's hesitates then goes and has a little imbalance between the transition
Between 1/4 and 1/2 car surges a little and u punch it it'll rev up good and go.
Punch from dead stop its hesitate and go .
1/2 past there are no problems
Idles good not a smooth as I remember tho 19" steady
There might be an issue in the accelerator pump circuit but I just replaced the pump with a new assembly and it helped tremendously just narrowing it down now
Will be cleaning my filter (stainless steel mesh what the best way to clean solvent / air blow &dry?)
Installing fuel pressure regulator

Hoping to get this resolved soon as my vortec heads are coming sooner than I expected