AED Carb
 

Greetings All,

It's been a long time since I posted here. I was wondering if anyone is running the above carb and welcome your thoughts/impressions. I have a 2000 393" Ford crate stroker. It still has all the "pieces" it came with; GT-40X heads, CC Hyd Roller (232/240 @.050), Performer RPM, 1/2" Phenolic 4-hole spacer and a Holley 750 Vac Sec. carb. This powers a SPF MKIII Cobra. I have the carb set up pretty well regarding throttle response, drivability, etc. Car runs pretty strong. Considering an AED since they can "custom" build a carb based on your engine specs, driveline, etc. Thanks in advance!

You will be in the bag for somewhere between $800 to about $1,000 depending on what you choose to buy from them. At that point you will have a very nice custom carb that is adjustable in terms of air fuel delivery, possibly even as good as you can get with a carburetor. You still need to get the engine dyno tuned and properly match your new carb's fuel delivery capabilities to your engine's fuel appetite. That is about $1,000 of dyno time in round numbers. More if the shop is short on carb talent.

One of the really depressing things you will discover is the best tuned carburetor can only approximate the engine's fueling demands across a wide rpm range like you would drive in on a daily basis. An entry level EFI system can substantially improve on that level of fueling performance. As the years go by there are fewer and fewer people who are capable of doing an excellent tune using a carburetor. Two years, five years from today there will be even less.

I would encourage you to step back from the carbureted solution and embrace an EFI solution. The fuel control is unmatched by any carburetor. The driveability is equally impressive and the number of systems with adequate support for you to do 99% if not the entire job yourself is rapidly expanding. We are well past the point in time that a transition is a good idea.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I have had an AED carb for about 2 years now.
I love it, car runs great. I would recomend them.
BTW i have the same engine as Mike.

Mike,
I have no first hand experience with AED carbs. Looking at their website for the Street/Performance line, it appears they have no provision for a choke, and I assume they have mechanical secondaries rather than vacuum. Those two differences can allow a carb to perform better in wide open throttle / track use scenarios, but they require more patience and driver skill in normal driving. Unless I had a very strong need for absolute top performance, I'd keep what you have. Your first cool day without a choke might be all it would take to convince you.

P.S. I notice you have a dual plane intake. That is an intake more suitable for drivability (e.g., throttle response and and lower RPM torque) than a single plane intake that is better suited for high RPM / peak horsepower applications (e.g., drag racing). As your engine is currently configured in part for drivability on the street, I see even less reason for a new carburetor.

What problem are you trying to solve? It sounds like the car is running OK so it must be that money burning a hole in your pocket. Or the need to satisfy some tinkering needs.

If you're looking for an improvement overall and have the need , e.g., frequent driving with large altitude changes, then look at EFI systems but be aware that the initial setup for these has not been exactly as easy as everyone wants to make it sound, and there can be secondary costs (like replumbing fuel lines, fuel pumps, fuel return lines) that add to what appears as a low entry cost. I actually don't recommend EFI if you have a satisfactory carb setup. And unless you run the MAF-based configuration, you've done nothing but change an analog carb for a digital one.

+1^ with respect to Tony's MAF commentary and conversion costs.

I have the AED 750 mechanical secondary. Purchased for my FE390, worked good out of the box, but I went to a dyno to make sure A/F was in the right range. He tweeked air bleeds. No Choke in SoCal but even on cold mornings 40ish degrees I never had a time when I wished there was a choke. Always started fine...3 half pumps on the pedal, push ignition and varoom. I ended up with a stroked 390 (445ci) and use the same carb. Works good, good response when blipping the throttle, no lag starting from a stop. When I go to the mountains 6000' elevation there is a noticeable change. Takes longer to warm up (probably needs a choke) I have to adjust the rpms at idle for smoother idle.
Oh one more thing I was not looking for the shiny or color anodized look, too blingy for me and this was available in the plain version.

Also regarding the no choke is my air cleaner is the oval 1 3/4" height. The top of my air cleaner was sitting on top of the choke horn when I had my Holly. No good.

John

I have one and my Cobra runs like it’s fuel injected.,, I would buy one again
Jon

Pro systems is my carb of choice. There billet carb is a work of art. Venom
Model.

AED builds awesome carbs., don't let anyone fool you. I have one of their HO Modified versions. For my needs it's a 750 DP. I live in in NE PA. No choke is not a problem. Out of the box minor tweaks. Another thing I did was buy a Wilson's Manifolds 1" tapered cambo.spacer to take some heat off of the carb. Turns out I picked up even more performance and the carb. Is cooler with it.

Your original post asked for thoughts/impressions from owners of an AED carburetor. Three owners responded, and another six people who don't own an AED carb offered opinions.

Are you inclined to buy an AED?

I have an aed. I prefer pro systems. My aed card was sent back 2 times. Pro systems was set up from the box perfect.