K20 upgrades. EDELBROCK AVS II. Why so negative ?

[Nasty-LSX]

My holley on my k20 with a 350 really sucked. Gas, performance, everything. I pulled the trigger on a Edelbrock 1906 even after
reading bad reviews and hearing negative remarks here on the forum. I figure why not, summit will let me return with no hassle
if there is a issue. Well let me tell you. Right out of the box, bolted up and on the road was amazing. Best upgrade ever. I did this in
june 2024. and of right now it runs amazing with only idle screw adjustments when first installed. Not sure where all the bad rap
of this carb comes from or if its a hit and miss, But im more than happy. I also picked up more MPG.

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[Rustisbest]

Because the internet is an echo chamber. What happens in the real world doesn't matter as long as a few people agree with you lol

 

[84GMCSierra]

My holley on my k20 with a 350 really sucked. Gas, performance, everything. I pulled the trigger on a Edelbrock 1906 even after
reading bad reviews and hearing negative remarks here on the forum. I figure why not, summit will let me return with no hassle
if there is a issue. Well let me tell you. Right out of the box, bolted up and on the road was amazing. Best upgrade ever. I did this in
june 2024. and of right now it runs amazing with only idle screw adjustments when first installed. Not sure where all the bad rap
of this carb comes from or if its a hit and miss, But im more than happy. I also picked up more MPG.

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I'm happy with mine. Bought it in 2019 when I bought my 84 Sierra, bolted it on in place of the beat up QJet, and works perfectly

 

[bucket]

Oh great, a carb thread lol. The Holley folk feud with the Edelbrock folk and then shortly after, the Quadrajet folk come in and say y'all are stupid.

In reality, there's a bunch of happy Edelbrock, Holley and Quadrajet owners. There's also a bunch of unhappy Edelbrock, Holley and Quadrajet owners. Experiences and mileage vary.

 

[JD Miller]

Thanks for your positive review. I would also buy and run a Edelbrock 1906 on my small block chevy. My brother runs one on his 68 elcamino and it is great.
If you ask over at HAMB many thumbs up reports on edelbrock carbs. IMHO anyone that bad reviews a edelbrock carb really doesnt know what he is doing

Sure a nicely rebuilt Quadrajet is cool, but good ones that are even rebuild-able are getting pretty scarce, time consuming to build properly, and parts are only available from a couple small ify venders.

 

[75BEASTK20]

Never had an issue with an Edelbrock carb. Quadrajets are great carbs when set up right. Don't care much for Holleys though. To each their own.
Off subject, but does ANYONE know what the roads are like from Montana straight down the middle to Texas? Lots of snow? Ice? Usually once I get past Salina Kansas, she's a straight shot. 16 hours to Houston from Salina.

 

[75BEASTK20]

It's a fricken skating rink up here in BC. Freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, repeat ad nauseum.

 

[fast 99]

and parts are only available from a couple small ify venders.

Agree q jets are becoming harder and more expensive to rebuild. Last q jet I did took 2 cores to make 1 carb. Choke housing was bent, metering rod adjuster stuck. Just checked at NAPA. Kits are available.........expensive but available. I actually prefer NAPA kits over some others. Today, buying a kit, float and 2 pull-offs going to cost in the area of $200 plus a 1/2 day to rebuild and set up correctly.

To folks not versed on Q jets I can see the attraction for a new Edlebrock or Holley. However, those usually require some conversion and set up as well. There is something to keeping a vehicle stock. Harder in most cases.

Knew decent cores were going to dry up eventually. Have been hoarding for 5 years. Have enough for my little circle of friends and personal trucks. That is as long as the parts are available.

Think the future will be injected TBI's on these older vehicles. The technology is advancing at a rapid pace and cost may continue to come down.

 

[75gmck25]

I have not looked at the Edelbrock 1906 AVS2 specs for rods/jets and springs, but maybe they richened it all up a little. Also, the annular boosters are suppose to be much more effective at lower throttle, so maybe that is why it seems to be excellent off the line.

I think the Edelbrock 1406 was the most common model purchased over the years and it got a bad rap because folks didn't really understand the tuning and how to resolve a part throttle bog. Having the correct step-up springs are really key to having good off idle and mid-throttle response, and it seemed to be the last item folks tried to tune. Changing jets, fixing idle mixture and playing with the accelerator lever may not completely fix the bog, but it may go away as soon as you swap to higher vacuum rated step-up springs.

The springs are rated by vacuum, and they determine when and how quickly the rods move from cruise (lean) mode to power (rich) mode. Idle vacuum pulls the rods down so that the larger cruise section goes into the jet and limits the flow. During very light throttle you are often still working off the idle circuit and the cruise part of the rods, so it runs fine. When you hit the throttle a little harder, the vacuum drops and the springs push the rods up so that the smaller power section is into the jet. Basically you are unplugging the jet and allowing more flow. When you switch to a higher rated spring (maybe from a stock 5" to a 7"), this means that when vacuum drops, the rods start to move sooner up into the rich/power mode. This quicker transition to power mode fills in the gap and reduces the bog when you hit the throttle.

 

[Nasty-LSX]

I have not looked at the Edelbrock 1906 AVS2 specs for rods/jets and springs, but maybe they richened it all up a little. Also, the annular boosters are suppose to be much more effective at lower throttle, so maybe that is why it seems to be excellent off the line.

I think the Edelbrock 1406 was the most common model purchased over the years and it got a bad rap because folks didn't really understand the tuning and how to resolve a part throttle bog. Having the correct step-up springs are really key to having good off idle and mid-throttle response, and it seemed to be the last item folks tried to tune. Changing jets, fixing idle mixture and playing with the accelerator lever may not completely fix the bog, but it may go away as soon as you swap to higher vacuum rated step-up springs.

The springs are rated by vacuum, and they determine when and how quickly the rods move from cruise (lean) mode to power (rich) mode. Idle vacuum pulls the rods down so that the larger cruise section goes into the jet and limits the flow. During very light throttle you are often still working off the idle circuit and the cruise part of the rods, so it runs fine. When you hit the throttle a little harder, the vacuum drops and the springs push the rods up so that the smaller power section is into the jet. Basically you are unplugging the jet and allowing more flow. When you switch to a higher rated spring (maybe from a stock 5" to a 7"), this means that when vacuum drops, the rods start to move sooner up into the rich/power mode. This quicker transition to power mode fills in the gap and reduces the bog when you hit the throttle.

I tell you what, off the line with 410's is like driving a sports car. it moves effortlessly for a big ass truck as seen in the video.
I did tune it with a vaccum and thats all I have done since the install. My tail pipes used to have heavy black soot
when I washed them (stainless tips). now they just stay polished. No more soot.

 

[84_c10_GMC]

Never had an issue with an Edelbrock carb. Quadrajets are great carbs when set up right. Don't care much for Holleys though. To each their own.
Off subject, but does ANYONE know what the roads are like from Montana straight down the middle to Texas? Lots of snow? Ice? Usually once I get past Salina Kansas, she's a straight shot. 16 hours to Houston from Salina.

You better get to moving. Eastern Kansas has rain and cold weather coming this weekend. Single digit lows coming

 

[75BEASTK20]

I see that. Thanks

 

[75BEASTK20]

You better get to moving. Eastern Kansas has rain and cold weather coming this weekend. Single digit lows coming

Glad we're going down in the new truck. Winter tires. Winter ready.

 

[rich weyand]

I ran with the Edelbrock. I played with the springs to get the mixture change to kick in at the right spot. I also put an AFR meter on it and played with the jets and rods to tune the AFR to precise values. Together with a thermac air cleaner and cold-air induction, I was giving it 95-degree air all the time. Made the mixture perfect, and, after a couple of minutes of warm-up, it ran like a top winter and summer regardless of outside temperature.

 

[andybflo]

My holley on my k20 with a 350 really sucked. Gas, performance, everything. I pulled the trigger on a Edelbrock 1906 even after
reading bad reviews and hearing negative remarks here on the forum. I figure why not, summit will let me return with no hassle
if there is a issue. Well let me tell you. Right out of the box, bolted up and on the road was amazing. Best upgrade ever. I did this in
june 2024. and of right now it runs amazing with only idle screw adjustments when first installed. Not sure where all the bad rap
of this carb comes from or if its a hit and miss, But im more than happy. I also picked up more MPG.

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The issue is rarely the carburetor; it's usually the person setting it up. I have Q-Jets, AFB/AVSs, and 1450s running in my fleet right now. Just about anything can be made to work anywhere, as long as you have physical room for it, and roughly sized fuel/air for your motor.

The only thing I've had problems with on AFB style carbs is heat soak/vapor lock. You can cure it with a thermal gasket (usually) if you have hood clearance. The 800/AVS and my '69 Corvette didn't get along; there wasn't hood clearance for a thermal break, so it got hot, and the throttle blades were too far open (too much cam) to get it to idle; the transition circuit was too far exposed. None the fault of Edelbrock/Carter. I could have made adjustments (drill plates, fab up a heat reflector), but went with a Holley 1450/HP instead.

That AVS has been on several cars in the interim as a "runner" carb, and works great. The adjustable secondary tip-in is great for dialing in how hard/soon those big bores hit. That's one huge advantage.

Personally, I do love Q-jets, but good cores are getting rare. I too have been stocking up on clean(ish) cores, even though I'm running out of spreadbore manifolds to put things on...