Edelbrock 1406 whistling
OK....I tried two, new square bore gaskets on the plate, and it made no difference.
I put the Ford 1406 carb on again, with the plate and gaskets, still no change.
Then I did the ultimate no-no (hey, I'm desperate), and used Permatex No. 2 on the old gasket with the carb in question....still no change. I pulled it off and cleaned it up.
Then, being totally exasperated, and thinking about what Duster Dude had suggested about the intake possibly leaking (and feeling like a total dumb-***, because I thought I tried this last week), I used my carb spray to individually focus on each intake runner mating surface, and discovered that the whistling disappears completely, and the idle smooths out perfectly, when I spray at a small, rectangular hole in the gasket (between the manifold and the head), near the end on the manifold, at the first set of runners on the passenger side (see pic)... I then used a water hose with a spray nozzle, started the car, and focused the stream on that spot, again...the car picked up a little using the water, too.
I'm not sure why that hole is there...it has always been there, but I noticed that the intake bolts were also a bit loose....not "falling out" loose, but "extra-1/4" turn-to-tighten" loose. I dunno....maybe the combination of the loose bolts and the vibration has caused a breach in the gasket sealing surface. Also, those two spark plugs at those cylinders don't seem to be firing as well as the others.
Sooooo....it looks like I've been monkeying around with this goddamn carb all this time, and the source of the whistle is the @#!$!! intake.
Sonofabitch.
I'm putting a new Felpro set on tonight, and I'll let you know what happens. :wink:
Rob