Air Cleaners; Section 2 : Tuning Procedure; Revising The Calibration - Edelbrock 1403-1413 Owner's Manual

1403-1413 Perf Series Carburetor Owner's Manual.qxd

Air Cleaners

Your Edelbrock carburetor was originally calibrated with a low restriction open element air cleaner
configuration; a 14"x3" Edelbrock Signature Series unit. It was also evaluated for proper metering and
vehicle performance using a variety of other air cleaner designs and will perform as intended with
nearly any reasonable air cleaner design. While the Edelbrock Performer Series carburetor does not
exhibit excessive sensitivity to the air cleaner, there are several guidelines you should follow when
selecting an air cleaner:
• Running without an air cleaner is strongly discouraged for a street-driven vehicle. Dirt and
varnish will accumulate in critical bleeds and upset the fuel metering. Dirt and debris may easily
get into the fuel bowl through the bowl vents or larger bleeds and cause a multitude of
problems.
• Any calibration testing should be performed with the air cleaner in place. Depending upon the air
cleaner used, the metering typically will be leaner with the air cleaner in place.
— A large 14"x3" open element air cleaner, such as Edelbrock Elite Series, Signature Series and
Pro-Flo air cleaners, offers almost no resistance to air flow. Flow bench results show virtually no
reduction in air flow. Also, this design should cause no change to the fuel metering.
— A 10"x2" open element design will result in some definite air flow restriction but little change to
the fuel metering.
— Elements smaller than 10"x2" are more restrictive and have the most effect upon
metering. The fuel metering at WOT will be shifted LEANER, especially at higher rpm ranges.
• If you have a dual-purpose vehicle that is sometimes used in competition without an air cleaner,
it may be necessary to have two separate calibrations. If you are running a smaller air cleaner
and have optimized the WOT with it in place, do not be surprised to find that the metering shifts
RICHER when the air cleaner is removed. This may require you to calibrate the WOT with leaner
Jets and Rods at the drag strip.
• DO NOT allow the vehicle air-stream to blow across the top of the carburetor(s) such as on an
open-bodied car or full-bodied vehicle with a tunnel-ram manifold. The flow of air across the
carburetor will result in an upset to the fuel metering that cannot be accommodated by
recalibration since the change to the A/F Ratio will be different for every vehicle speed.

SECTION 2 : TUNING PROCEDURE

Before proceeding please ensure you have installed your Edelbrock Performer Series
Carburetor according to the Carburetor Installation Instructions included with the carburetor

REVISING THE CALIBRATION

The Edelbrock Performer Series Carburetor is designed to allow quick and easy changes to the
metering. Virtually any change imaginable can be performed without removing the carburetor from
the manifold, and the most common changes may be performed in less than five minutes without
removal of the airhorn (bowl cover).
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