The power valve should have no impact on the idle circuit.

You size the power valve to open when you are on the gas and under load.

Ok thanks, that's why I asked, seemed like a goofy idea.

P/V`s have nothing to do w/idle and some videos and web sites still preach this bs. It`s purpose is to bring in the needed fuel under LOAD as stated and that`s when the primary jets are comin into action and the boosters to give the additional needed fuel because of the lower/smaller pri. jets. Even if a 3.5 is open at idle, that circuit isn`t working or SHOULDN`T be so it don`t matter.....If you size the p.v.c.r`s accordingly, you can run a wider jet spread for a clean cruise then when you stomp it and the p/v and boosters are active, you are making up or catching up to the sec jet size and and QF 4-window p/v flows more fuel and are more accurate than the typical 2-window Holleys. I run 82-92 jets in my dommy for a clean cruise and the p.v.c.r.`s are .073 to make up the difference.......

thumper and everyone else...... it'sgreat that you share your wisdom!

Don

I live for this stuff more than ever and just pass on what I`ve learned over the years w/WAY more to come.......

The people, myself included, that have to have a lower rated P.V. than it idles in gear have the throttle plates opended enough to be on the transition circiut and not on the idle circuits ONLY Even on the four coner idle circuit carbs with to rich idle circuits, I found that out years ago on a BG 850 Speed Demon carb. that would idle on one screw (right rear on that carb.) turned out 1/2 turn from seated with all the other three screwed in all the way in Restricting the idle fuel feed and the transition fuel feed will help most carbs. on mtors with big cams in them a lot so you can have the throttle plates closed enough to not expose any of the transition slots at idle in gear

That`s another reason we install t-slot jets right Cab.......

Absolutely
BTW, I've ran and used many stock out of the box Holley D.P. type carbs. on motors with big cams with the idle screws turned out between 1/4 and 1/3 of a turn on all four corners to get them to idle well on the idle circuits since then

UPDATE:

The car's been running great this week but I'm still noticing the idle kinda wandering around, mostly depending on water temp.
I'd like to give it a hair more idle in gear but that still seems to make the idle in park go up to 1200 sometimes.

So I finally had time to remove the carb tonite, the transition slots in the primary side are just barely visible and the ones in the secondary aren't really visible at all until I just BARELY move the butterfly, the slot might be lined up with the butterfly at idle.

My metering blocks are cast, and do not have any screw-in bleeds.

Any ideas, or should I just leave it alone? I haven't messed with the distributor yet, I plan to set it up like Sixpackgut suggested.

I'm thinking about closing the small holes in the butterflies with tiny bolts and lock nuts, just to see if it idles better with the butterflies open more. Or maybe just the ones in the secondary since the transition slot isn't showing at all.

If you can, lower the ifr`s..........

That's something I'll probably pay you to do over the winter, I have no idea how to do it. Since the transition slots are barely visible in the primary and not visible in the secondary I think I'm gonna plug those butterfly holes today and see how it runs. If it's better, I'll weld the butterflies or buy new ones.

You also need t-slot jets in the main body combined w/less emulsion etc. No biggie and did it come w/holes in the butterfly`s or did you add them?

It came with 5/64" holes in all 4 butterflies.

Done a few here lately that had holes drilled in the butterfly`s mostly HP Holleys and once sorted out,they are fine w/the holes as long as the idle circuit is close.......

I plugged the 2 secondary butterfly holes since the sec t-slot wasn't showing at all, then I opened the sec butterfly just a tiny bit. It seems like it helped a tiny bit but not much. It seems like as soon as my 160 thermostat opens the idle drops a bit, when everythings up to temp. At that point, it's idling at about 850-900 in gear but wants to stumble a bit and it's about 1000 in neutral.
If I open either butterfly a hair more it idles better in gear at 900 but then it tries to go for 1200 or more in neutral. Just having a hard time making it perfect but like Thumper said at the beginning of the thread, a close idle may be hard to accomplish with my combo.

I final tune my car at temp.........only way to do it right imo. What I meant was, it may be hard to get a 100-150 rpm drop w/a tighter very but apparently you did so that`s good.

Ok thanks, still gonna play with the timing but I'm learning this street tuning stuff lol. The cool thing is that I've cruised alot the past 4 evenings.

I think it`s time for a WB so you can really dig into gains/losses when tuning each circuit and wfo.......Should of brought this up earlier.

That would be nice, might have to ask Santa for one! And some new carpet, and rear seat cover, and drag radials, and new front radials, and a Dana.... Ugh.

I understand, however if I had to choose between running good and LOOKING good, I`ll take running good and a WB get`s you closer SOONER........Money well spent, less wear n tear, oil consumption and a WB and a vac. gauge can help ya pick the perfect p/v for your application........