i am thinking about switching my factory 4180 holley carb to a new edelbrock 1406 carb. my carb is is getting very poor mileage and it doesnt like to start cold even this time of year. would this be an easy swap? or would i have to change some things on my engine. never done this before so any help would be great . thanks

 

The carb. you now have is nothing more than a Holley. Most likely you'll need a rebuild kit and 'new' power valve & carb. cleaner (2-cans or more). Afterwords, only minor adjustments i.e. float level, idle screw settings & also make sure that the choke is working properly (check cold w/no elec.power). It'll save you several hundred dollars this way.

Holley Modular Carbs Tech Info - The Carburetor Doctor

As for the Edelbrock 1406, well....it's a bit too small in cfm department. You would be better off with a 1407 about $300 bucks. Then you most likely will need a tuning kit for either one anyway, another $70+ bucks

1480 CALIBRATION KIT FOR #1407, #1410, #1412 & #1413 PERFORMER CARBS

And, if your vehicle is an automatic +++++ need I go on!?!

Just by the rebuild kit, power valve and cleaner, and then spend the 'saved $' on replacement cap,rotor,wires & spark plugs. Oh, refreshments for you and your friends...afterwards!

 

The 4180 is the most economical carb Holley has put out. It is a 600 CFM carb. The problem is the 4180 lacks an anti-back fire protection. So every time the carb spits or back fires you risk blowing the Power Valve. The 4180 uses a two stage Power Valve. They are about $35. Rebuilt kits vary up to around $100.
What many of have done is install a 4160 600 CFM. You can go bigger depending on motor mods. I run a 4160 600 CFM on an Edelbrock Performer manifold on my 460.
The 4160 is a direct bolt on even with an auto trans.
As for the Edelbrock They can be expensive to set up & add adapters for an auto trans. Personal I'm not that much of a fan of them. If I didn't want a Holley & would go with the Summit carb. They are a copy of in my opinion one of the great carbs of the early 60s. The Autolite 4 bbl. The were used on the early 60s 390s & others. They are a two piece carb You can pull the top off start the vehicle adj floats etc. Not many carbs will run with the tops off.
Craig

 

i have used the edelbrock carbs and have had no problems..they are easy to install and the adapters for the trans/manifold/etc. are not expensive, and can be found easily.. i used to have a 78 motorhome with a ford 460 that wouldn't pass emissions, and ran like a piece of crap.. i tried rebuilding the carb, didn't improve it much.. went with the edelbrock 750cfm, electric choke(can't remember the model #), and it ran like a dream and passed AZ emissions the first try..i had that edelbrock on there for a long time and put many miles on that motorhome..sold it because it was just too old and too small..got a bigger RV with a chevy 454(yuck.) stuck an edelbrock on that too, because the stock GM carb ran horribly rich..
i can't say anything about the holly 4180's..never owned one
but the motorcraft/autolite 4300's are pieces of worthless junk, same with the GM carbs

 

You will need to redo and block some hoses such as the bowl vent hoses on the 4180. It will run much better with the 1406. You will also need the Ford kickdown linkage adapter. I have a 1407 on my 351W and it is a little big, but I kept it when I sold my old 77 F150 with a 460 in it.

 

The Edelbrock 1406 will work fine in place of the 4180-I've installed many of them. If you have to pass an emission test get the emission legal version. You will need an adapter for an A/T kickdown linkage. Depending on your engine you may need to make some jetting changes.
The 4180 can be rebuilt to work properly as well. If it's never been overhauled before you'll need to remove the plugs covering the idle mixture screws (they're in the baseplate, not the metering block like other Holleys). You have to drill them out or try to chisel them out without destroying the baseplate of the carb.
The dual stage Holley power valves are not nearly as prone to blow out as the regular kind, but if you want, there's several companies that make power valve blow out protecters that are easily installed.

 

ok,i have decided on the 1406.would i have to remove the egr or will that stay functional? if i do remove the egr will that cause any problems?can i use the original air cleaner?would i remove most of the emission stuff? also thinking of changing the intake,which one would be the best one to choose, the one with the provison for the efe valve or just the normal intake. thanks

 

if you upgrade the intake go with what edelbrock has for your year truck to match the carb. they're designed to work together and for you. the emissions stuff all depends on were you live and state smog regulations. i am also a satisfied edelbrock customer. big fan of there carb,intake, and cam kits. all depends on how far you wanna go with it.

 

Which edelbrock would replace a Holley 4160 600 cfm on a 65 Ford 391?

 

1405, manual choke
1406, electric choke
A 391 probably would have had a governed Holley on it from the factory, if you replace it with anything else you'll no longer have a governor.

 

Thank you I greatly appreciate it , it has a Holley 4160 on it currently

 

I tried a elderbrock 1405 bought the calibration kit and after 2 months of trying to getting it to work I rebuilt the stock Holley. The Holley is much easier to tune parts are easier to find.
the elderbrock has a great design but I couldn't get it to run as smooth and fuel mileage wasn't what I was looking for.
That's how it went for me I understand that others have better luck but I didn't.