I bumped all of the posts I could find using the search for my previous posts. The most in depth carter/edelbrock carb tunning guide is a dead link now, which sucks cuz it was a good thread.
I'll write up another for you. I've personally rebuilt the carter and edelbrock carbs at least ten times over the last ten years. They are pretty easy to rebuild and tune for outstanding performance (in my opinion they are a better carb than the holley style, but that's just my opinion and not anything scientific).
If you've seen the manual than you know how it goes together, and what parts are involved. Mainly right now you should be concerned with your idle circuit, well and your choke setting. you can look in that manual for the base choke setting and set your carb there. The choke effects when, and how far your throttle blades open after the heating element in the electric choke warms up, and to a surprising degree your part throttle drivebility.
You wanna get a vacuum gauge as suggested, use a vacuum line to hook it up to a vacuum source on your manifold and it will help you tune your carb's idle circuit.
1. "with the engine off turn the screws at the bottom (Idle air screws) all the way in. Then back them both out 1 1/2 turns."
2. Start the engine and allow it to warm up.
3. Hook up vacuum gauge
4. Check your vacuum gauge to see if it is getting a reading (mine would usually be around 9-11lb)
5. Adjust your idle mixture screws by turning each of them an equal amount (you ideally want the two mixture controls at the same setting. You will hear, smell and, thanks to the vacuum gauge, see the effect this has on your engine.
6. As you adjust the mixture towards the perfect air/fuel ratio you engine vacuum will increase. Past that point the vacuum level will fall. So, you want to play with it till the mixture screw setting gives you the highest vacuum reading on the gauge.
Other considerations are your engine idles speed, which I'm pretty certain you will have to decrease once you get your mixture optimized, and your choke setting which is definitely going to affect your idle mixture. I generally set my choke one to two ticks past the central point mark, and my idle speed/Rpm at 700-800 RPM.
Good Luck!!
