I have a 1406 Edelbrock carb and I'm wondering what the curb idle should be set at, 500 rpm? I have AC on the car, do I need to be in Drive and have the AC on when I set the curb idle? I have a vacuum gauge that I hooked up when I was tuning it yesterday and it was reading steady right under 20 but the curb idle at 500 right now seems a little low, the car stumbles a bit.
It can be set to whatever you are comfortable with. I used to have mine lope at like 450-500 just for the "curb" appeal (get it, "curb"...?) Set your idle to what you like. 750-800 at idle/park should be fine. It will likely drop about 100 rpms in gear with brake on.
The lower you set the curb idle the better your in-town mileage will be - but if the carb choke and mixture are not set properly the car may stall when stopping or on take-off.
I've always just done it by sound, if it sound high then it's high, and if it sound low then it's low...but what is getting me is that when I get in gear it drastically drops...like not just a little but if you're not all the way warmed up and have been running for a while, it will come very close to dying if you go in gear. Is there any way to make the idle higher while in gear, or is it something to do with the trans.?
