First Time Carb Rebuilder - Qudrajet - Any suggestions

[dougfather]

OK, I am at the point where I need to bolt up a carb to my engine. The rotating assembly (crank/rods/pistons) is known to work, but I replaced cam, lifters, and heads. So I need to break in the flat tappet cam and lifters. As my sig suggests, I have a 350 SBC with Edelbrock Perfomer intake and matching cam.

I am considering a quadrajet (non-CCC). I have 2 of them now and may receive more from a buddy of mine who is doing some housecleaning. They need rebuilt, period. This is my first time at rebuilding a carb. Any suggestions? Should I even try it, since I hear how the q-jet is tricky? Here are some books I was considering:

Rochester Carburetors (by Doug Roe)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895863014/?tag=gbody-20

How to Rebuild and Modify Rochester Quadrajet Carburetors (by Cliff Ruggles)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1932494189/?tag=gbody-20

 

[axisg]

my q-jet was not bad to rebuild at all. Mostly they get varnished up from sitting around or some crap gets by the filter and blocks a venturi.

I much prefer the qjet that I used to run over the holley I have now. The holley is great at Full Throttle but the warm startups and idle quality leave a little to be desired.

So yes, read the books or just follow the instructions to a Tee and clean everything really well.

 

[megaladon6]

not only is the ruggles book great for how to modify the q-jet, so's he for the parts. i bought my kit from him and we talked about my engine and usage for about 1/2hr. he told me what mods to do and about how far to go with them and set up a kit with ALL the necessary and correct parts. the rebuild was cake. just take pics of how things came out (order, orientation, etc) and note where adjustment screws were set and you'll be fine. i'd r-blt a couple of carbs before but they were dirt simple ones that a monkey could do blindfolded. i had no probs with the q-jet.
you probably want to get the throttle blade shaft bushing repair kit as they are known to go bad.
IIRC the best cores are the 1705's and some non-ccc 1708's. plus the later ones will have the correct linkage if you're running a 200-4r.

 

[dougfather]

thanks for the info. I just might buy that book, or both of them. I hear both books compliment each other.

 

[billyjack]

I've had the Doug Roe book for over 30 years, highly recommend it. I've built and tuned many a Q-jet, some for economy, some for autocrossing, some for towing and some for street performance. Unless I was building a race-only motor, I'd never run a Holley. That being said, I've also read some very positive comments about the Ruggles book. Gonna have to add it to my library soon.

Bill

 

[79malibu]

carbs

i got a side question on this.

who would i send out my non cc q jet carb to for rebuilding and rejet/tune it for my sbc 355 specd out? thanks.

 

[79loserbluebu]

Either get a rebuild kit with all the gaskets and o-rings, or just get the gaskets and get a large assortment of o-rings from a part store. My dad ripped both o-rings on my (his technically) Holley 600 4 barrell putting the balancing tube in so I went and bought an assortment of metric and standard o-rings. 800 of them for $30 and I will probably use my fair share of o-rings.

 

[megaladon6]

you could send it to JET or cliff ruggles himself, and there are other i just can't think of them.

 

[Phoenyx]

I did my first carb rebuild (quadrajet) last year. I was kinda worried going into it too. But it was actually pretty easy. Just make sure you have a nice clean working area, and take your time. Also, having one of those books will help too. Or you could do it like I did. Just rebuild it close to your computer so you can check on line how to do it lol.

 

[zjchevy1]

I just rebuilt mine a couple weeks ago, the well plugs underneath started leaking gas and the float was heavy. I got an AC Delco kit for mine and had all the parts except a float that I got from Napa. I cleaned it up, reassembled it, and it runs like a million bucks!