Edelbrock questions

[Jeff]

I got a 1970 Fury last week. We drove it onto and off the trailer but it otherwise has not been driven or run for many years. I tried to start it yesterday and was unable to. I've been looking at it and found that one vacuum port was open, the electric choke is not connected, and the choke is wired into the open position. The engine is a 383 with an Edelbrock 1406 4-barrel on it. It's originally a 4-barrel motor. The throttle kickdown to the transmission is also completely disconnected. I fixed the vacuum leak and want to connect the electric choke today. What is a good place to connect the hot wire? The manual says to a keyed, 12-volt source, but not to use the coil, ballast resistor, or alternator.

As for the kickdown, should I get the Edelbrock throttle lever adapter kit (#1481)?

Thanks!

 

[Dobalovr]

You will need the 1481 throttle adapter for sure but you may have to monkey around with the stock kickdown adjustment to get it set properly. As for the electric choke I don't bother hooking it up as I only drive mine during summer. You will need keyed power and yes do not pull it from the start circuit. Also driving without the kickdown will harm your transmission so if you suspect it has been driven like this alot you should definitely inspect it for condition.

Here is a thread where we discussed some of what you are looking for

1966 300 & Similar: Kickdown Linkage Questions

 

[Jeff]

Thank you. Is your choke wired open like mine? Without the choke, do you do anything special to get it started, like pump the gas a few times first? I tried again briefly yesterday after letting it sit 24 hours and without giving it any pedal and it fired up immediately but just for a few seconds.

I won't drive it until I get the kickdown figured out. I really have no idea whether it was driven like this. It had been sitting for a long time and the carb is nice and shiny, in contrast to the rest of the motor. My hope is that means it was not driven much or at all.

 

[Dobalovr]

My choke has only the ground wire attached at the moment. I do plan on connecting the choke in the future but for now it is not a priority. 2 pumps and turn key. Starts every time....as long as I don't mess with it lol....referring to my electronic conversion troubles in another thread.

 

[65sporty]

I think you should be able to use the ignition supply to the ballast resistor, you just don't want to use the resistance side of the resistor to the coil.

 

[Jeff]

Thanks for this help. As a point of clarification, when I said mine was wired in the open position, I meant that there is literally a thick piece of wire wrapped around the lever part of the choke mechanism so the choke valves are fixed in the open position. If you look close, you can see the wire in the first pic. If I understand how the electric choke works, it seems like yours would always be in the closed position. I think there is a heater in the choke body that causes a metal spring to coil or uncoil, which then causes the choke valves to open. If the choke is not hooked up to power and not wired open, it seems like it would always be closed and in the choke position. In any event, even though it doesn't get very cold here, I am going to take that wire off the lever arm and connect the power, maybe at the ballast resistor as 65sporty suggests.

 

[Jeff]

Does this look like a fuel pressure regulator? It makes a fairly loud clicking sound when the key is in the accessory position and the fuel line shakes at the same frequency. If a regulator, is that ok?

 

[Jeff]

I guess this is the fuel pump itself and should probably be mounted near the gas tank instead of in the engine compartment. The wiring gives me another option to connect the electric choke because it is "keyed."

 

[65sporty]

Yes, that is a fuel pump. Most electric fuel pumps do better pushing fuel then pulling. So closer to the fuel tank is better.

 

[Jeff]

I removed that wire holding the choke open and it fired up like a champ.

 

[Jeff]

I'm thinking about tapping into the fuel pump hot wire to run the electric choke. I would just cut the wire and run it to the choke and then continue on to the fuel pump. Is there anything wrong with doing that? Thx, Jeff

 

[Jeff]

I'm thinking about tapping into the fuel pump hot wire to run the electric choke. I would just cut the wire and run it to the choke and then continue on to the fuel pump. Is there anything wrong with doing that? Thx, Jeff

I'm circling back to this again. The hot wire on the fuel pump goes directly to the accessory terminal at the bottom of the fuse box. Nothing else is connected to the wire or that accessory terminal. Do you think it's OK to utilize this wire for the electric choke too?

As for the ballast resistor, is there a way to tell by looking at it which side is the "ignition supply" side? The blue wire from the coil that should go to the ballast resistor disappears in a bundle and near the ballast resistor, two blue wires emerge from a bundle and attach to opposite ends of the BR. On one side there is a second brown or black wire. I think when 65sporty said I should connect to the ignition supply side, he meant the side not connected directly to the coil.

I prefer using the fuel pump wire though because that will be easier to tap in to.

Thx.

 

[Dobalovr]

Jeff I am not sure if you said you had done the electronic conversion or not but the single blue wire off the ballast should be the run side. The Blue and Brown wire are the start side IIRC. Here is the schematic for an electronic system.

 

[Jeff]

OK, if I'm interpreting all the posts right, I should connect to the run side of the ballast resistor, as shown in the diagram, and that should be the side of the BR with the single blue wire. I think this is because I need 12 volts and there will be less than 12 volts on the side of the BR that goes to the coil. Thx for the help.

 

[Jeff]

Mission accomplished. Thx all.

 

[65sporty]

Glad it works