Small Block & Big Block Chevy Specific - Need carb help w/my 79 vette

I'm having a bitch getting this new 79 vette running right. It's a 383 with an edelbrock 1903 carb. I've never worked with anything but EFI so it's a bit of a change.

My issue is the electric choke really. The car will start easily, but it won't idle without help until it warms up for a few minutes. I realy have no idea how these carbs work or what I need to do with the electronic choke to get it working right. Also, the idle after running for a while is pretty high and sometimes the car diesels after I try to shut it off.

Any suggestions or tips? Thanks!
-Josh

yea ive had the same problem on every edelbrock ive had, try looking in the mornin with the car cold and hit the throtle once to engage the choke but dont start the engine, and look to see how tight the choke butterfly is to the carb i bet its to tight, i always run mine loose to where with the choke ingaged you can turn the choke butterfly bout a 1/4 inch, i bet that helps, you should have got a demon i got one for my motor i just built i will never go back to edelbrock, with a decient size cam i would recomend goin to a speed demon 750, get mechanical secondaries if its manuel trans, and vacuum secondaries if its auto trans

Ryan

For your high idle/dieseling problem, your throttle blades are open too far at idle. Running more spark advance at idle will allow you close the blades a bit and keep it from dieseling.

they need some tinkering,maybe with initial timing alterations + the throttle blade stop screw, which is different to the idle speed screw further up the linkage area.
the electric choke has a seperate adjustment parameters too independant of the other 2 adjustments on the otherside of the carburettor.
look real carefully at both sides of the carburettor, once you tweak abit here and there you will understand the effects of each screw,
sure the holleys are much easier and ultimately better performers,but not as much as it seems.at the same time they aint exactly cheap,not for a decent speed demon regardless of the model.maybe a nice dyno tune with a competent carby tuner
is a viable solution if it gets to the stage the hammer must come out.
and you may pick up a few horses too along the way.

check out amazon.com for some carb books. you can get some really decent books for $20 and they'd be well worth it for you since you mention your lack of carb experience. It can really be very simple once you understand carb theory. I highly recommend
http://www.amazon.com/Carburetor-Performance-Modify-Motorbooks-Powertech/dp/0760304211/ref=sr_1_6/103-9297376-6734259?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194318684&sr=8-6

definitely get the used one for $15 !!!! I think they are out of print, I bought mine a couple years ago for $20 and over the last year they were selling for $70+ used. You read this book and understand it, you'll be able to tune any carb, no shit.

http://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Modify-Carter-Edelbrock-Carburetors/dp/1932494367/ref=sr_1_1/103-9297376-6734259?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194318889&sr=1-1
this is the only edelbrock carb book that comes up, fair price, I'm sure it'll explain pretty well how the metering rods work so you'll be able to tune it, i think that's what the edelbrocks have
.
i'm a holley guy, but, the electric choke on the edel. shouldn;t be any different. loosen the screws around the choke cover where the wires are and rotate it to see the choke open and close and feel how much spring tension there is wanting to close the choke. My guess is once the engine is running for 5 seconds it wants the choke fully open, if thats the case then with engine cold rotate the choke cover till it just ever so slightly closes the choke, about 90%. You want the least amount of spring tension closing the choke, so when the engine first starts the choke will open as fast as possible.

after that, the first thing is always always check fuel level in the bowl on the carb, everything runs off fuel level! If the fuel level is too low or too high, any adjustment you make will be in vain.