my 56' chevy's carburator has been giving me some problems. my buddy has a brand new chrysler carburator that he'd like to mail to me. i have a 283 corvette engine...would the new carburator fit or am i just wasting my time. im open for any suggestions and tips  

What brand?  Throttle linkage and bolt pattern are your main concerns.   WIEDER  

its an eddlebrock 650, 4 barrel  

Unless your 283 is around 300-350hp it's to big.Do you have a OEM spreadbore pattern intake? For a mild 283 a 500cfm edelbrock is better if you have aftermarket intake #1803 AVS has a electric choke #1804 is manual.Get the calibration kit #1486.The orignal 500cfm is #1403 and #1404 with same tuning kit. WIEDER  

Many of the original Chevy's Rochester 4Jets won't run well on today's crappy additive filled gasolines. They have a tendacy to lean out at higher rpm's and speed. If you have a good rebuild place near you; they may be able to get you bigger jets.

I just switched the original 4Jet to an Edelbrock 600 on my friends 58 Caddy whose engine was otherwise stock. It works fantastic and even increased the power. It even fits on the factory 4Jet's small bolt pattern. Depending on your 283's power level; you may want to lean a 600 out or go with a 500 cfm carb.

One thing to note if you switch to the Edelbrock especially if the exhaust gas crossover hits the base of the 4Jet's iron base plate. You'll want a heat shield of some sort or the Edelbrock's base may warp from the heat over time.  

A lot of the early dual quad motors came form the factory with Carter AFBs (main carb supplier of Chrysler) and I think a few single four barrel engines came with them too, if not a Rochester 4-Jet (Father of the Quadrajet carb).  

The Rochester 4 Jet has more in common with the AFB and Edelbrock version than the Q-Jet.