How I made an aluminum cover for my Edelbrock electric choke

Edelbrock Choke Cover

I looked for an aftermarket cover that would fit my Edelbrock choke, but no one makes one, or at least, I couldn't find one.

So, I got out a piece of roughly 2" thick aluminum scrap and started the project of making my own.

First step was to cut a slug with my holesaw, with a diameter slightly larger than the plastic body of the choke.

(The pictures only show the hole left after the slug was cut)

You need lots of patience and cutting oil here, but the job really wasn't that hard.

By the way, I looked at all kinds of aluminum billet aftermarket valve cover breathers and oil fillers, but none of them are large enough to accomodate the choke body.

Next was a trip down to my friend's place to use his lathe. That's him supervising me, which was my first time using a metal lathe too.

We first cut the outside to a size about 3/16" larger than the choke body, then proceeded to hollow it out so it would be a nice snug fit over the choke housing.

When the basic lathe work was finished, I then returned home and chucked the piece in my milling machine to cut some grooves to match the Edelbrock air cleaner and valve covers on my engine.

I should mention that we purposely left the end part of the cylinder on the lathe about 1/4" thick to allow this next step.

I cut the grooves with a 1/4" round-end cutter.

Here's the finished cover, with the grooves painted to match the other parts.

There was a lot of final sanding and buffing to polish up the roughed out part too. When it was done, I used Zoop-Seal to preserve the shine. (no, that's not a crack in the cover, just a reflection from the patio table)

Also, notice the cut-outs around the inner circumference, which accomodate the lean/rich adjustment on the choke.

Finally, not pictured, I used a bit of double-sided carpet tape around the choke body and a set screw to retain the cover on the choke. There is some work as well on the inside of the end of the cover to recess an area to accomodate the 2 electrical leads, which were bent down flat against the body to fit between it and the cover.