Author Topic: carb choices HELP (Read 4064 times)

spoonman · « **on:** July 08, 2006, 01:23:34 PM »

:twisted: hi guys , brand new to this site ,very kool !!
i,m thinking of changing my sad old Q jet on my 78 TA & possibly the intake bu still want to keep under the hood looking pretty much stock any suggestions please

ta78w72 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2006, 01:26:54 PM »

Stick with the Q Jet. What engine do you have? If the Rochester is rebuilt correctly, it's a great carb.

But you need to understand that I believe in keeping these cars original. So I do have a bias.

spoonman · « **Reply #2 on:** July 08, 2006, 02:01:16 PM »

It's the pontiac 400 & the car is pretty much stock but i've been havin' a bit of trouble with the carb & have kinda fell out with it ( you know how it is !!!)+ would like something a bit BIGGER !

ta78w72 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2006, 02:38:54 PM »

Do you have an auto or a manual transmission? The manual had an 800 CFM carb and the auto had a 650 CFM carb. Plenty for your engine.

Jonnyscotti · « **Reply #4 on:** July 08, 2006, 04:18:32 PM »

You might just need to rebuild your carb, I agree with keeping the original carb.

1onehotTA · « **Reply #5 on:** July 09, 2006, 10:24:10 PM »

I think alike, I wanted to update the old Qjet to modern technology somewhat and installed a Edelbrock performer 650CFM I installed and it ran good out of the box. I have a few minor tuning issues since, but they were related to my ignition timing more than my new carb. Sell the old one on Ebay, I sold mine for the same price as the new carb cost. AMAZING!

spoonman · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2006, 12:14:08 PM »

hi 1onehot TA , do you still use the stock air cleaner set up with that performer carb ??

1onehotTA · « **Reply #7 on:** July 11, 2006, 04:24:49 PM »

Yes, you can use the stock aircleaner, I did, if you use the edelbrock performer manifold and carb, you have to get a air cleaner riser, I had to anyway, but then I got a carb with an electric choke, not certain if the vacuum choke would need the riser or not. Without the riser my choke would rub the lower of the cleaner housing, and I didnt want to have to bolt the shaker to the hood, I like it to shake.

brads1978ta · « **Reply #8 on:** July 12, 2006, 12:39:39 PM »

the best way to go is to buy an 850 cfm holley. they sell a spreadbore so the shaker will still fit under the hood without having to mount it to the hood. one of these carbs runs about $320.00. you can get them from jegs or auto zone.

MacT/A80 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 01, 2006, 04:42:10 PM »

stick with the q-jet, i'm having an original q-jet from a 70 gto rebuilt for 300 bucks and thats including the carb itself, thats cheap for one of these carbs!!! originals are getting hard to find so i would keep it. i have a holley street avenger on there now i bought a year ago and it never ran right. so going new doesn't mean you'll be better off.

HughJass · « **Reply #10 on:** November 01, 2006, 05:08:02 PM »

I'd say get rid of the Q-jet, it's no good, ship it to me and I'll take care of it for you :lol: :lol:

chitownTA · « **Reply #11 on:** November 02, 2006, 12:32:24 AM »

I had a lot of problems with my qjet holding a good idle/ bogging with acceleration. I rebuilt it, had it rebuilt by professionals and monkied with it for 2 months. Had problems with vaccum being too low and the rpms would bounce. My neighbor who is a mechanic for a long time and has been working with pontiacs kept telling me to dump the qjet and get a holley like he has on his 67 gto. We picked out a 750cfm (3310) and it felt like I had 10x more power. Ran so good I fried my trans a month later. That qjet ran ok until I changed things like exhaust and cam, but never could get it tuned right, but I really am not into a stock restoration so it was cheaper to buy a new carb and have it run great with just setting the idle screws than trying to get the right settings on a qjet or send it out. The holley on a performer manifold fits fine with the stock air cleaner but i did have to bend in a part of it to get the throttle bracket to fit until I realized I could buy a holley one that would fit. But the shaker sits in the same spot.

My car does not have the original numbers matching engine and I am not into collectibles so I don't mind modifying little details to get the car to run right which I am more concerned about. But keep the original parts laying around in case you do want to return it to a stocker or sell it to someone who does. You can't even see the carb with the aircleaner on.

trukstera · « **Reply #12 on:** November 26, 2006, 06:23:03 PM »

Quote from: "1onehotTA"

Yes, you can use the stock aircleaner, I did, if you use the edelbrock performer manifold and carb, you have to get a air cleaner riser, I had to anyway, but then I got a carb with an electric choke, not certain if the vacuum choke would need the riser or not. Without the riser my choke would rub the lower of the cleaner housing, and I didnt want to have to bolt the shaker to the hood, I like it to shake.

I want to do the same thing. I got a edelbrock 600 cfm with manual choke but I want to add an electric to it. I got the performer intake. I have heard the edelbrock is a half inch shorter than a quadrajet. How big of a spacer do you need. I was thinking a half inch or so to clear the electric choke. Can you go like a inch or will the shaker still work?

joeq28 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 27, 2006, 03:57:49 PM »

Not into keeping everything stock, but not against it either. I personally really like the quad, but hey my opinion depends on what your doing to the car. Had mine rejeted and rebuilt by a shop about 2 years ago that all they do is work on old quads, maybe I got lucky? Maybe it ain't to bad a carb! :wink:

1onehotTA · « **Reply #14 on:** December 09, 2006, 09:26:21 PM »

I had to add about 1/2 of rise to make my air cleaner setup clear the new electric choke assy on my e-brcok performer 650cfm carb, which is way enuf cfm for street use of my W72. I bought one of those Mr Gasket air cleaner riser thingys and dremel tooled it down to half of its orig. height, I really really didnt like the idea of bolting the scoop to the hood, I thought that was kinda way too extreme, I love opening the hood and seeing the shiny red under there, that and hitting the throttle and seeing the shaker move, even if it is only a small amount of movement. I went to an auto parts supplier to get my paint matched and I took the shaker to do it, the guy there said, WOW I dont see many of these anymore, and he was right, that made up my mind to keep my shaker, well a shaker.