Jon, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. I also have had a quality problem with an Edelbrock item for the engine in my street roadster. I bought a pair of "Performer RPM" heads and one had a lot of aluminum chips in the intake ports. When I contacted Edelbrock directly the rep I spoke with was quite hostile and I didn't pursue it with him. I then called the retailer, Summit Racing, and they sent another head to me immediately. I then totally disassembled both heads to make sure they were OK.
Because I check everything when assembling an engine, I also found that the Hastings rings had an excessive end gap. Hastings themselves took care of that immediately by sending me another set of rings that checked out OK. From this, and other experiences over the decades, I assume that quality control everywhere is lax and must be done at the consumer level.
For a street only vehicle is a dual quad setup of value if it is optimized? I'm thinking of my roadster. It is a 1932 Ford replica with a 350 Chevy engine (mild performance, Crane camshaft 218*/230* @ .050, Performer manifold and carb), 2004R trans, 3.80 rear gear ratio that yields an engine RPM of about 1500 at 65 MPH in OD.
Does correctly calibrating dual quads require a dyno? I got the single Edelbrock AFB style carb on my roadster in the ballpark using a long grade as my "dyno" and reading plugs at the top while experimenting with carburetor and distributor calibrations and trying different spark plug heat ranges. Would this same backyard mechanic method work with dual quads?
On your shop truck, what carbs and manifold do you use? How is a strong vacuum signal maintained at the low RPMs that a street engine runs at?
I also have made the effective metering area calculations that you refer to when I adapted a Thermoquad onto my '71 Dodge van that I bought new and still have. Again, a long grade was used as a "dyno" when trying many combinations of primary jets and metering rods and secondary jets.
You are probably right that most amateur mechanics would not be willing to put in the time to optimize carburetor calibrations, but I, for one, really enjoy the results that come from doing the work.
