Im putting a new engine in my car, swapping in a 350 from a 305. Should i keep the stock original carb with the electric choke, all those electric plug ins, etc. Or should i swap over to a manual choke? I have a holley 700 cfm carb my uncle gave me, how easy would it be to swap in the new carb?

 

Some more details on the 350 would help.

Generally, for a mainly-street or daily driver, the stock carb is your best bet. For a mainly-strip or weekend warrior, the Holley would be fine, but probably no better than the stock carb on a mild 350.

Switching over to the Holley requires a spreadbore to squarebore adapter or an aftermarket intake manifold, and a different distributor (assuming this isn't a Canada-delivered car). If you have an automatic transmission (TH700R-4, specifically), you will need a throttle valve cable geometry corrector to attach to the Holley throttle arm, and rig up means to lock up the torque converter clutch.

 

I think i'll stick with the stock carb, i'm no pro on switching out all that stuff. But i have a problem with the carb. I think its the choke. If i haven't started the car for like 12+ hours, when it does start up it idles at like 1500 - 2500rpm until i rev it up for a while or just let it idle for a couple minutes. Would a simple carb rebuild kit work? I can buy one at napa for 40 bucks hopefully that will help me. Or do you think i need a new electric choke cause mines faulty?

 

Doesn't sound faulty. The idle speed is higher when the engine is cold and the choke engaged, until the choke and engine warm up and the high idle cam is disengaged.

 

The thing is it never used to do that until i replaced my lower intake manifold gasket and had to yank everything off the top of my engine and retime my ignition.

 

i think the electric chokes are pretty good. But if you buy an eldebrock the lectric choke ones are leaner

 

Lean would be nice my car runs really rich right now. How much do those carbs usually go? Do you think rebuilding the stock one would be worth it? The car had been sitting for almost three years before i bought it so a lot of junk could have built up and gaskets could be bad. I don't think it would hurt...

Thanks for your help five7kid

 

well what carb is on the stock one? if its a quadrajet id get rid of it but thats cos i don't like quadrajets. If its the computer controlled junk one than definetly get rid of it. The edelbrocks are nice, very simple carbs nice to work on, easy to tune, stay tuned, affordable, (about 200 some bucks new, 50 used) its a really nice carb for a street car, they are pretty popular where i am. I like holley's personally, I like to tune them, they make quicker times at the track than an edelbrock. Sometimes can be a pain on the street though because they require more tuning and won't preform the same on a hot day as a cold day. vac secondaries are better for the street but the more preformance option is double pumper. You really can't go wrong with any of them youll find out what you like. it really depends on what your going to be doing with this too

 

Yea its the stock Rochester Q-jet carb no computer, no vacum. I have a holley 700cfm carb but i dont know anything about tuning them in, is it difficult to do yourself or expensive to have someone do it?
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Its a generation 1 350 off of a '76 chevy c20 truck. Edelbrock tm-1 "tarantula" intake manifold rated at 3500-6500rpm (junk for my setup, im trading the stock cast iron 350 intake manifold for a stock aluminum 305 intake manifold, lose weight and set up good for street and mild driving and gives performance when needed). Erson high flow 1-h camshaft, hydraulic lifters, as far as i know thats the mods but i can't remember too well. Engine is now at my uncles about an hour away where im swapping it in this winter.

 

The only carb that will mount to a stock aluminum 305 intake is a q-jet, unless you use a spreadbore to squarebore adapter (which raises the carb up). Dislike for q-jets is nothing more than an unwillingness to learn how they work. Well, perhaps a little previous owner abuse can be thrown in (such as not removing the two air horn screws in the choke tower and trying to pry the air horn off - instant death to a q-jet). A truck 350 doesn't warrant any other carb. An Edelbrock is an expensive downgrade (even though it's the cheapest aftermarket carb out there).

 

Remove the air horn screws? Are those on the stock camaro carb? Is there a thread already on how to remove them?

 

Can someone give some info about the question in the title?

What's the pros and cons of a manual vs. electric choke, assuming installation on the same carb?

Would the only difference be the cable actuator? I have an e-choke now and would like to "downgrade" to a manual choke to eliminate complexity.

 

Pros of an electric choke: It works.

Cons of an electric choke: It may take longer to open than you'd like in certain circumstances - rarely a problem with a street driver.

Pros of a manual choke: Allows you to live out your control freak nature.

Cons of a manual choke: Routing the cable; needing to fiddle with another control while trying to merge into traffic; learning to use it.

 

I can live with this. I don't drive the car with the choke closed any way so it's not a big deal.

I guess it's manual choke then.

 

Okay, let me add another "Pro" to the "Electric" list:

Incrementally opens as the engine warms up.