My T/A had a Edelbrock 1400 on it when I bought it, but the choke flap is gone, and the secondary plate is missing, so basically all four barrels are pumping all the time.

It starts and runs strong, but my milage is like 14-16 mpg on the HIGHWAY.
I will be taking a long distance trip next week and want to increase my mileage substantialy.
Can I seal up the secondaries with a plate of some kind? I was thinking about doing a test with a thick peice of cardboard to see how it reacts.

If it works well I will take the cardboard template and replace it with sheetmetal.
Figured I would put this question to the community to get some more input or ideas.

Any info will be appreciated.
Thanks Guys

 

you can simply disconect the linkage for the rear butterflies. its on the passengerside. IIRC its a small "L" shaped bracket held on with 2 clips.

 

that would cut the fuel delivery from the secondaries, but there would still be air being pulled thru them, wacking out the a/f ratio really lean wouldn't it?

Actually on second thought, I dont even think that would stop the fuel delivery from the secondaries, the fuel is pulled by low pressure air rushing thru the secondaries.

 

Which "secondary plate" is missing?

Edlebrocks have the lower throttle butterflies, which are opened by the link attached to the throttle arm, and above them the "auxiliary valve" butterflies, which are opened by air flow when the throttle butterflies are open.

If you're missing the auxiliary valve butterfies, the secondaries will not flow air or fuel if the link is removed.

A missing choke butterfly won't affect highway fuel economy.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/carb...e-rebuild.html

Click on the .pdf file for the Edelbrock instructions. Included is a parts diagram.

 

Got it, I looked at it yesterday and saw the lower butterflies are present. it is the so called " auxiliary valve" top plate that is missing.

now another question, with the throttle closed it looks like the lower secondary butterfies are open slightly, is this the way they are supposed to be? i notice there is an upward bend in the rear half of the butterfies, confirmed by the looks of it by the pdf you linked, should it be sealed all the way around when the throttle is closed?
I will post a pic this afternoon when I get home.

 

You might want to take another look. The throttle butterflies shouldn't have any bend to them, and aren't shown in the illustration. If what you are looking at don't open when you fully open the throttle, those are the auxiliary valve butterflies.

Tell us more about your ignition system. Most carburetor problems are fixed by getting the ignition to operate properly.