Thread: Carb Spacer???

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Need some help. I'm running a 600 cfm Edelbrock Perfomer carb (electric choke) on a Weiand Manifold on my SBC 355 inn my A bone. I was considering adding one of those 1 or 2 inch phenolic carb spacers. Are there any advantages, or disadvantages of running one of those on the street? The car is fast as it is, but like any true rodder, I want a little more horsepower for little $$$$.

Thanks in advance!

Pat

Well they ain't very costly or difficult to install if you got hood clearance so give it a shot and see if it changes the personality of the engine at all. The theory is the longer the charge travel the better for power.

Added a 1 inch spacer to mine--improved idle quality(which i needed), little bit of help on the low end--but greatly helped as far as hot start heat soak is.

I like the phenolics, I'm sure they do add a bit of power, and as a bonus they help insulate the carb a bit from the engine heat. Cool fuel is happy fuel !!!!

i have always heard they seem to help the big block engines more with helping the higher flow transition into the manifold runners ,especially on a flatter low profile intake.
was looking at 2 inch thick unit for my caddy 500 but have not gotten yet.

I have a 1/2 in spacer between the Holley 600 and the Wiend on my '75 Duster and it makes a noticeable difference. I also have a square plate between the spacer and the manifold. I read somewhere that Holley's don't work real well on spread bore manifolds and I've run it both ways and there is quite a performance drop off without the plate and spacer.

I have a 1" open spacer on my Edelbrock EGR. The spacer is needed for the EGR clearance on the manifold.. I built my engine for low end torque, and the open space made the engine hard to tune.
I am now going with a 2" Edelbrock spacer, with four ports. The open spacer is great for mid range, but for the bottom, the four port spacer is what is needed.

I was looking into a 1" spacer and the owner of the local speed shop here said it's not worth it on a street motor and a 1" isn't going to do nothing or not much but just cool it down. He said you have to go with a 2" for you to tell a difference.

Thank you to all that responded. Looks like I might try one to see how it affects my performance.

Denny...thanks for sharing your experience. I'll defintely try the 1". Don't think the 2" will allow the air cleaner to fit under the hood. Would you recommend aluminum or phenolic?

Thanks

Pat

Hmm I need to try that out then. The guy at the shop just told me he doesn't think a 1" is worth it and to just put my carb on and that's it. Which to me was a surprise because normally shops WANT to sell you stuff you know. I have an edelbrock 500cfm performer series carb now too and between the 2 barrel and this 4 barrel one I dont tell much of a difference in bottom end or mid... Arent these things supposed to already be set and tuned too? I messed with the mixture screws, etc and brought it to a shop and the guy tuned it up a bit and made it idle better but that's it.