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 Restoration Journal

August 16, 2008

I've long feared that the carburetor on the 340, a Holley 4160 with vacuum secondaries, wasn't tuned properly. Several years ago I tried to tune it myself, by using a different size shooter, changing the secondaries spring, and trying different vacuum advance setups (timed, manifold, none). In the end, I probably made things worse; it always seemed to run very rich.

So, I decided to try an Edelbrock Performer. I found a slightly used 1406 on ebay. Replacing the Holley wasn't a big deal. The general procedure was:

  • Buy the Chrysler throttle adapter (also off ebay).
  • Buy new fuel line for the run from the fuel pump to the carb. The Holley inlet was on the driver's side; the Eddy inlet is on the passenger side.
  • Buy new vacuum hose for the run from the PCV to the carb; it's a slightly longer length for the Eddy.
  • Buy a new carb base gasket. I could've used the old one, but it was an open center, which really isn't correct for a dual plane intake.
  • Buy a new fuel filter.
  • Remove alternator.
  • Remove old fuel line.
  • Disconnect throttle cable and all hoses from the Holley.
  • Remove the Holley.
  • Bolt on new gasket and carburetor.
  • Bend new fuel line (I couldn't find the bender I used years ago, so had to purchase a new one from Napa).
  • Attach throttle linkage, vacuum hoses and fuel supply.
  • Re-install alternator.
  • Crank her up!
The fitting at the fuel pump was leaking initially, but other than a partial turn of the wrench and setting the idle, I was ready for a test drive.

It's completely subjective, but the throttle does seem a bit more responsive now. Whether that's the new carb, or the fact that I'm once again using vacuum advance at the distributor (I had it disconnected with the Holley), I can't say. I still need to set the idle screws and double-check the timing.

The Holley before it came off:

New fuel line routing:

The completed project: