It is an Edelbrock Carburetor...

[Dawn Michelle]

Alrighty, Rick F., yes, took off the air filter housing and found the Edelbrock tag.  That was kind of nice to know I hadn't wasted your time!  To bring forward from the previous thread you mentioned you suspected it might be this one here and to get this calibration kit.  I'm bringing it over here for ease of reference.

Today, she started up beautifully.  My usual once-a-week-on-Sunday start up.  I did one pump prior to start, ignition on, and she didn't turn over.  Did a second pump, ignition off, and she came pretty much right up, maybe a 1 sec off when I started cranking (I don't usually crank long at all).  Kind of took me by surprise. Didn't even need to rev like I usually do to try to get her to catch and then not die off. I'm now wondering if all these times prior I wasn't flooding her.?? After a few minutes of idling did seem she was idling high, so I gave her a little nudge on the pedal and she did come down a little. 

I'm attaching pictures.  I'm hoping after today might be able to eliminate hard start off the list - put it up to operator error - but what the mechanic will be looking at (besides a whole 'go over') will the be stall off idle, again at the risk of repetition so we have the info in the right place, the thinking at the mechanic in Kansas was that that issue was the accelerator pump.  It was gone over by carb specialists in Denver (added the electric choke, fixed vacuum hoses, some loose wires, etc.) and ran beautifully from there to Hays (about 339 miles if I remember right) and then in bitterly cold temps - it was like 9 degrees is when she almost couldn't pull through intersections.  So cold is a factor and she came down quite a bit in altitude (according to Uncle Google "Elevation of Hays is 2023.64 feet or 616.81 meters and the elevation of Denver is 5238.43 feet or 1596.67 meters, which is a difference of 3214.79 feet or 979.87 meters.")  We elected not to have them order the kit and do it there - everyone thought she'd make it home.  She did, but she also left the BF stranded once on side of the road (at that point we determined she was flooded, after twenty minutes was able to get her moving).  That time it was about 35 degrees.  She runs better warm apparently, but in the cold, there can be tense moments feathering it off idle.

I'm afraid I couldn't run down where the hose of the crimped fuel filter line goes to - it runs between some sort of housing that I can't see from either above or below.  I've attached (rather than embedded) another picture but I don't think it offers any other clues.

My other issue is a PVC (spelling?) valve.  In Hays they cleaned it up and replaced the air filter, but I think you can see by the air filter (attached rather than embedded) that I need to replace it again and deal with that.  I'm wondering if that might be something I could attempt on my own.  That said I'm not even sure I've identified the power steering fluid cap (it doesn't say power steering so I'm leery) so maybe considering changing out a part is a tad optimistic.  "Easy" is relative.

As always - any thoughts are appreciated -is this the model you were thinking, Rick?  

I'm really kind of tickled about her easy start today and that I found the tag on the carb - no way though I was going to be able to get to the back to see if there is a number, though...

Don't know if the side view tells anything, but including them in case they are helpful:

[Rick Faunce]

Ok, You gave me the perfect information for the flooding.

[She did, but she also left the BF stranded once on side of the road (at that point we determined she was flooded, after twenty minutes was able to get her moving).  That time it was about 35 degrees.  She runs better warm apparently, but in the cold, there can be tense moments feathering it off idle.]

I will bet that you do not have a black cardboard hose from the air cleaner down to the exhaust manifold, probably on the passenger side do you? There should be a place for that to hook into the air horn coming out of the air cleaner and also a place on the exhaust manifold for that hose. That hose is to bring warm air up from the manifold to prevent icing in the carburetor on those cold damp days. What was happening is that the air gets colder as it flows through the venturis of the carburetor and then the moisture in the air freezes and the ice that is formed actually chokes off the air supply into the carburetor. There should also be a vacuum line going to a little dashpot on the air cleaner snorkel right above that hose connection, this is the control for that warm air valve in the air cleaner. I jsut noticed the picture of the air filter as an attachment, you see the little metal disc in there? Under the air cleaner there will be a vacuum hose from the that disc to the snorkel that is sticking out to the left where the air comes in. There will be another vacuum line from that disc to the manifold or a vacuum source, the lines should be in a diagram possibly on that label on the air cleaner.

[Dawn Michelle]

Hmm. You used a lot of terms here (dashpot?) that I'm unfamiliar with, but I think I get the gist of it. A black cardboard hose doesn't sound like something I saw. However, here's a picture (attached) from the passenger side with the air cleaner back on if it's of any use. Other than the big main hose to the air cleaner (snorkel?) there is that one tube you can see here. You've given me things to look for, though, the vacuum lines, attachment to the snorkel and the diagram. I will get back in a day or three and see if I can shed any light on what's there.

[Rick Faunce]

Michelle, your pictures are fantastic and very helpful. You do not have the tube I am talking about but in the picture I can see that the vacuum lines I was talking about appear to be there. You can see the silver round piece on top of the snorkel and under that on the bottom of the snorkel is a place for the hot air riser tube (the cardboard tube) to attach. I can not quite see the exhaust manifold but their would normally be a sheet metal piece around part of the manifold that would have a corresponding spot for the tube to attach to, probably between the first and second exhaust ports. This sheet metal piece rots and falls off a lot of times over the years. You have a couple of options. The most common is to buy the tube at any auto parts store and clamp it to the air cleaner and run it down and tuck it in close as you can to the exhaust or the second option is to take the hose from the air cleaner that is on the snorkel and either remove it or run it so that it gets warm air from the top of the engine. You want cold air during the warmer months but if it is at 40 degrees or below then you need warmer air to the carb to prevent icing.

[Dawn Michelle]

Again, excellent description of what I'm looking for - I'll work through it this weekend and see what I have, come back with questions.  You know I'll have some :-)

[Rick Faunce]

I was looking through your posts on the "meet my battery" and I saw the air cleaner intake tube. It will not hurt anything where it is but my suggestion is to just disconnect it at the air cleaner until summer. That will allow warm air from the top of the engine and the radiator to get to the air cleaner and prevent the icing problems you had in the past. Just something you can do while poking around in there. You don't even have to totally remove it, just tie it off to the side and it is ready for summer heat.

[Dawn Michelle]

Awesome, appreciate that info!