Jet switching wisdom needed

[Triumph215]

So I got my Reman Carb apart and am wondering about the wisdom of swapping jets and metering rods with the factory carb that came with the vehicle. I wouldn't bet my life that it's the factory carb but it sure looks like it.
Also I can't figure out what the Jet sizes are. The Reman ones look like 197 or 26L, the factory carb looks like 12.
They don't look very different orifice wise.
I can't see any marks on the metering rods.

[Triumph215]

Metering rods are within a few thousandths at the base but the Reman rod tips are .025 whereas what was 'in the car' is .035...if they are original.

[tgreese]

You need to tell us more about year and equipment. Only the sixes got metering rod carburetors. A '77 would have had a BBD with a six, but there's not much info about hot rodding the original BBD carb that would have had metering rods. The BBD has a poor reputation and most would junk it rather than try to soup it up. Certainly the mixture gets richer with decreasing needle diameter.

Also note that your reman carb is built to cover as many years and applications as possible. It may not conform to the original specs if the build spec "works" with the application.

[Triumph215]

DOH !
1977 401 with stock manifold and Motorcraft 4350.
I'm drowning in fuel and rebuilding the 4350 but don't see any obvious problems. It's remarkably clean inside.

[Triumph215]

I used the metering rods with the larger tips since it was overly rich at cruise rpm's. I'll be curious the see how it goes tomorrow.
I noticed I don't have the little piston in the choke housing. Do I need to go find one of those?

[fulsizjeep]

I have retired 3 of these carbs over the years. One of them was messed up when I got the Jeep 20 years ago. I fiddled with it and went through twice with kits. They work good for many years but the newest one today is 43 years old. I did finally realize that carb was warped and retired it. Another one was replaced in 2010 at 126k miles with a Holley Truck Avenger on an Edelbrock Performer intake. This probably adds little value to the conversation though.

[Triumph215]

The truck runs much better, still not great but much better.
Idle considerably better. There's a slight hesitation upon acceleration but otherwise it seems like it's going to work out.