Carb and Manifold Advice Needed

[71violetcuda]

Ok , So I have  71 Cuda with a 68 440 in it. There is a lumpy sounding cam in this engine that was rebuilt sometime in the past.So I have no idea of the innards of this engine,other than that it was bored .060 over.It came with a Holley 750 mechanical choke mounted on a Holley Street Dominator intake . Back when I worked at a shop(25yrs ago) that did alot of "Hot Rod" work our boss always had us install Edelbrock Performers on cars that were daily drivers or just for the occasional cruise and the combo worked well. This car is just an occasional ice cream run car and Sunday driver .

Wondering what you guys think as far as what Edelbroc carb/manifold to install . Thanks in advance !

[RUNCHARGER]

You've got a great setup there right now. Not sure if you have a vacuum secondary or double pumper but the best thing you can do is learn to tune it. That manifold isn't worth changing either, if I had nothing I would go with a Performer RPM if the hood would clear or the Holley SD so you can save money there.
Everyone has their own opinion but I've made Edelbrocks and Holleys work and it goes a little quicker with the Holley. I usually like something bigger than a 750 on a warm 440 but you have it and it isn't worth changing it IMO.

[70vert]

I kind of agree, your current setup would not be my first choice from scratch but really nothing wrong with it so why spend the money.

Depending on how long it has been in use (or how long sitting) you probably should have the carb rebuilt as well as tuned.

[Chryco Psycho]

The Holley SD is simply one of the best intakes , & do a lot of porting inside them & generally is my 1st choice for street builds .
I agree with a bigger carb .

[71violetcuda]

Thanks for the responses, appreciated. I left out of my post ,..only to try to keep it short....

The main problem I'm having is both before I rebuilt the carb and now is,..a hard start after a hot soak. You know,kinda like when U pull into an ice cream place ,everybody looks at the car,go in get ur ice cream,come out and sit and eat it,get in the car,and it wont start,..cranks and cranks cause its flooded,so u have to hold it wide open to start it,and it makes a helluva lotta noise and everybody is giving me the look.   
Should have checked fuel pressure and found out why it seems to have so much pressure in the fuel tank when I take the cap off, after a drive and I stop for gas before I posted this. Been messing with the float level and I either get it too rich or to lean it seems.I am not a Holley expert as u can tell.

[Chryco Psycho]

 Well the first thing you need to look at is making sure the tank is vented so there is no pressure or vacuum .
the second thing is to change the intake gasket to a Fel Pro 1215 to block the heat crossover port under the carb .
One more thing is the use of a carb spacer , Coolcarb makes  a 3/16 thick carb spacer that will reflect most of the heat .

[rikkitik]

  When I have had this same issue in the past, I found a somewhat different answer from what I've seen posted.
I had a 383 Cuda (warmed over 383), and I put a fuel pressure guage on it between the mech pump and carb.
What I noticed on that car, (as well as another car I had), was that after shut off the fuel in the line would "heat soak" and raise the pressure to over 9psi. The check valves in the pump will not allow it to bleed back to the tank, so it would push the needle off the seat and overfill the bowels.
I added a return style regulator between the pump and carb, no more issues. I was running an SD manifold and 4779 750DP). I do have to add, modern gas is a PITA! If I don't start my car (440 6 Challenger) at least once a week, the bowels will go completely dry from evaporation. And that's with a "cold" manifold too (TF240's, no heat riser passage).

[71violetcuda]

Thanks again guys.
I have the same carb 4779 750DP and it sounds like the exact scenario as my carb/fuel probs. I have a feeling I'm gonna find 52yrs worth of something blocking my tank vent ,or a "leaking" fuel pump or both, as Rikkitik found.I may not give up on the Holley/Street Dominator after all.More money to spend somewhere else at Carlisle...nice 

[rikkitik]

 If your car has a vapor return line, an OER MF282 or Wix 33040, vapor return filter might fix you up. Unfortunately vented caps are meant to retain pressure/vapor (fumes = emissions), they are vented for vacuum, so when the tank contents cool the vacuum created doesn't collapse the tank. On mine, I hooked up the vapor lines to the trunk mounted recovery can, I don't have a third "return line", so I just vented it to the rear of the car. IIRC, I think I saw something on the manual that tank pressure is not to exceed .5psi(?), not sure about that though.