An Edelbrock carburetor is modeled after the old Carter AFB. It's a reliable carburetor and is a good carburetor for gas mileage. They are not the hottest thing for hot-rodders, because they are limited in their accelerator pump output and the availability to change jet sizes easily. Overall, it's largely a trouble-free unit.
Check the choke (with the engine off). The choke mechanism consists of a choke spring in a black housing on the side of the carburetor. There is a choke plate on the top front over the primaries and a vacuum pull-off toward the back of the carburetor. The way the choke works is, the spring contracts when it is cold and pulls on the rod to the choke plate. The throttle stops the choke from closing completely until the throttle is tapped a small amount, which allows the choke to close completely. This creates enough vacuum for the engine to suck fuel out of the carburetor as it attempts to start. Once started, the vacuum produced by the engine is applied to the choke pull-off to open the choke--enough for the engine to get enough air to run but still applying enough choke to help the cold engine get enough fuel.
When the engine warms up, the spring expands from the electrical circuit heater in the choke. The spring expands and pushes the rod to open the choke all the way. Push the throttle a little and see if the choke snaps closed. If not, the spring is out of adjustment or broken. Loosen the screws on the black housing and rotate the housing until the choke just closes, and tighten the screws. Start the car and see if the pull-off works. The choke should have opened about a quarter of the way. If not, check the vacuum hose to the pull-off. Make sure there is a vacuum and put the hose on and off the unit and see if the rod moves in and out. If not, the unit is bad and needs a pull-off.
Shine a flashlight into the front primaries; you'll see a set of nozzles. Look for fuel dripping from these nozzles. If fuel is dripping from the nozzles, the float is stuck and the carburetor is flooding out the engine. That means that the float--like in a toilet bowl--is stuck and the fuel will not shut off when the bowl is full and it overflows.
If the car runs well except at an idle, the idle jets may need to be adjusted or are dirty. In this case, shooting carburetor cleaner through a plastic tube in the holes of the mixture screws will probably cure this problem. If the screws are taken out to clean the jets, install them 2 1/2 turns, then with the engine running turn the driver's side screw in until the engine slows down slightly. Turn it out just until the engine stops picking up RPM, and at that point turn the screw 1/2 turn further out. Do the passenger side, then repeat the process one more time.
If the car idles fine but not when the gas pedal is pushed to the floor (bogs down for a few seconds an then accelerates), the accelerator pump is bad and the carburetor needs rebuilding. If the engine gets no fuel and there is nothing evident on the carburetor, check the fuel filter. If that's OK, the carburetor must be rebuilt.
