1974 Camaro Z28
Discussion
I bought a carb rebuild kit last year because the car was running so rich I knew it would probably need one soon. Partly through lack of time but largely also through fear, I've left it alone and put up with the intermittent bogging down under load and retina-burning smell of fuel. The last couple of times I drove it though, there has been a gargling sound and a small fuel leak from the top of the carb. Time to get it sorted.
Armed with one YouTube video, I had an initial surge of confidence. Once I started taking it apart and I saw how complicated the instructions looked in the kit, that confidence waivered.
With the carb apart, it's actually quite easy to see how the whole thing works. It's a 4-barrel Edelbrock 1407 (750CFM) which has two primary barrels for pottering about, with two much larger secondary barrels for being anti-social and dumping great gobs of bang juice into the engine. The components that came out were actually in good nick and despite the internals being desperate for a good clean, it seems clear this carb has been apart recently. There were notably a couple of crucial smaller parts missing which goes some way to explaining the awful performance I've been getting from the carb.
It was actually really therapeutic reassembling everything and relatively straightforward!
With a bit of mixture tweaking, the performance now is night and day!
Armed with one YouTube video, I had an initial surge of confidence. Once I started taking it apart and I saw how complicated the instructions looked in the kit, that confidence waivered.
With the carb apart, it's actually quite easy to see how the whole thing works. It's a 4-barrel Edelbrock 1407 (750CFM) which has two primary barrels for pottering about, with two much larger secondary barrels for being anti-social and dumping great gobs of bang juice into the engine. The components that came out were actually in good nick and despite the internals being desperate for a good clean, it seems clear this carb has been apart recently. There were notably a couple of crucial smaller parts missing which goes some way to explaining the awful performance I've been getting from the carb.
It was actually really therapeutic reassembling everything and relatively straightforward!
With a bit of mixture tweaking, the performance now is night and day!
In my opinion the good old days of muscle cars ended in 1971. There's very little made after that that floats my boat, when Mopar switched to E body, and Ford went oversize, it all just seemed less about the joy of making a racket going fast and more about marketing with OPEC strangled motors. But i have to say your car is just wonderful. It must be the last "real" muscle car shape on the market in 74. and all that you have done to it has made it even nicer. Bravo and thanks for sharing.
Jake899 said:
In my opinion the good old days of muscle cars ended in 1971. There's very little made after that that floats my boat.
I'd agree for the most part to be honest. 74 really was the first year that manufacturers started to strangle the engines with emissions gear in order to sell them in California. Thankfully mine has had that ripped out I took the car out for its first proper drive since the carb rebuild - a YSOC day at the DMB Collection at the former RAF Church Fenton Airfield. Trying to keep up with friends in a Cayman GT4 and an MSO HS in a 47 year old muscle car on twisty back-roads is about the most terrifying experience I've had with it so far, but the noise the car made makes it all worthwhile!
However one thing I did notice is that under full throttle I'm still getting some of the 'bogging down' I had before when I'm waiting for the secondary barrels to engage.
I figured before I take it somewhere to have the carb properly looked at and set up, there are things I can check myself first. So I bought an adjustable fuel-pressure regulator (a Malpassi filter king) and roughly plumbed it in to see how the fuel pump was faring.
The Edelbrock pump should be kicking out around 6PSI with the carb itself running best at 5.5PSI. Assuming I've done it right (having never done this before!) the gauge showed 2.5PSI.
After adjusting it to 5.5PSI, the idle noticeably smoothed out and the car sounded much happier. Next test then is to find somewhere solid to mount it to and go for a drive (as well as order a new Edelbrock pump...)
In the meantime though I've bought something I absolutely dont need; a workshop flag for the garage wall.
However one thing I did notice is that under full throttle I'm still getting some of the 'bogging down' I had before when I'm waiting for the secondary barrels to engage.
I figured before I take it somewhere to have the carb properly looked at and set up, there are things I can check myself first. So I bought an adjustable fuel-pressure regulator (a Malpassi filter king) and roughly plumbed it in to see how the fuel pump was faring.
The Edelbrock pump should be kicking out around 6PSI with the carb itself running best at 5.5PSI. Assuming I've done it right (having never done this before!) the gauge showed 2.5PSI.
After adjusting it to 5.5PSI, the idle noticeably smoothed out and the car sounded much happier. Next test then is to find somewhere solid to mount it to and go for a drive (as well as order a new Edelbrock pump...)
In the meantime though I've bought something I absolutely dont need; a workshop flag for the garage wall.
Rogue86 said:
I took the car out for its first proper drive since the carb rebuild - a YSOC day at the DMB Collection at the former RAF Church Fenton Airfield. Trying to keep up with friends in a Cayman GT4 and an MSO HS in a 47 year old muscle car on twisty back-roads is about the most terrifying experience I've had with it so far, but the noise the car made makes it all worthwhile!
Your car looks great, I must say you're a braver man than me to tackle that carb rebuild, I wouldn't know where to start. I'm just a few weeks into owning a muscle car, after years and years wanting one. As I expected, it's an 'experience' driving it, vague steering, crap brakes (drums!), but ooh, the noise and looks. I love it.
LeighW said:
Your car looks great, I must say you're a braver man than me to tackle that carb rebuild, I wouldn't know where to start.
I'm just a few weeks into owning a muscle car, after years and years wanting one. As I expected, it's an 'experience' driving it, vague steering, crap brakes (drums!), but ooh, the noise and looks. I love it.
To be honest the fuel leak necessitated my involvement, I've been happy to leave the carb alone for over a year. In reality though its not a bad job!I'm just a few weeks into owning a muscle car, after years and years wanting one. As I expected, it's an 'experience' driving it, vague steering, crap brakes (drums!), but ooh, the noise and looks. I love it.
What have you got yourself? That about describes it perfectly
Rogue86 said:
LeighW said:
'68 Firebird. 
About as pretty as they get! Do you have a build thread for it yet?
68 Firebird by LeighW, on Flickr
68 Firebird by LeighW, on FlickrLeighW said:
Rogue86 said:
LeighW said:
'68 Firebird.
About as pretty as they get! Do you have a build thread for it yet?68 Firebird by LeighW, on Flickr68 Firebird by LeighW, on Flickr
LeighW said:
Probably the best front end of any American car ever made!Swervin_Mervin said:
LeighW said:
Rogue86 said:
LeighW said:
'68 Firebird.
About as pretty as they get! Do you have a build thread for it yet?68 Firebird by LeighW, on Flickr68 Firebird by LeighW, on FlickrJust read this from start to finish - very enjoyable! Hats off to you for putting all the time and effort into making it yours. Mega photos too.
And now you've got me pining after some American muscle. I can image the sense of occasion even just sitting in this must be immense.
Please let me know if you plan on using Leeds as a photo back drop again. Would love to see the car and have a natter about your ownership experience. I could quite likely show you some good photo spots too.
And now you've got me pining after some American muscle. I can image the sense of occasion even just sitting in this must be immense.
Please let me know if you plan on using Leeds as a photo back drop again. Would love to see the car and have a natter about your ownership experience. I could quite likely show you some good photo spots too.
ECG1000 said:
Just read this from start to finish - very enjoyable! Hats off to you for putting all the time and effort into making it yours. Mega photos too.
And now you've got me pining after some American muscle. I can image the sense of occasion even just sitting in this must be immense.
Please let me know if you plan on using Leeds as a photo back drop again. Would love to see the car and have a natter about your ownership experience. I could quite likely show you some good photo spots too.
Glad you like it! There's a lot more I'd like to do to it (especially in terms of how it looks) but I'm at the point now where anything I do potentially takes value away from what is essentially a working, original car. You're right though, it's a great thing to be in.And now you've got me pining after some American muscle. I can image the sense of occasion even just sitting in this must be immense.
Please let me know if you plan on using Leeds as a photo back drop again. Would love to see the car and have a natter about your ownership experience. I could quite likely show you some good photo spots too.
When all the madness subsides I'd be happy to show you the car. I'm always open to new photo locations too, especially in Leeds!
Rogue86 said:
SturdyHSV said:
Sod that, they were modified in period and should be modified now, have fun All this numbers matching chuff is for dullards 
I'll remind you of that when it sells for 12k less All this numbers matching chuff is for dullards LeighW said:
What would you like to do to it? If it's reversible you could always just keep the original parts to put back on if you sold it.
I'd like to do some more extensive mods to be honest, ridetech do some really trick suspension bits and I'd like to go for some bigger wheels as these get a bit lost. At the moment I'm trying to do exactly as you've said - modify bits that either considerably improve the driveability of the car or bits that are easy enough to return to standard if the time comes.On that note, I've finally got the AFPR fitted. Im still considering this a bit of a temporary bodge but Edelbrock seem to be having some supply issues at the moment so a new fuel pump is out of the question for now. I was up at Motorsport and Performance quoting for some work and Ben kindly bent the bracket and mounted it for me while he was waiting.
With the hoses all plumbed back in and the pressure set correctly there's been a significant performance increase over where it was before.
I've just recently shot/edited these images for the outside of their building too, so it was a nice excuse to get some photos of the old girl in front of them. Even nicer that the RX7 is my old car which is now sadly very dead, so at least it's immortalised somewhere.
My old Chevy very much in the wrong part of town!
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