QuickFuel vs Q-Jet - spacer & manifold

[gbody79malibu]

Thank you guys
for your thoughts. The pnly reason why I want to exchange the Q-jet is that it`s leaky and it cannot get any power put of the engine. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone around who is able to fix these Q-jets. As an option to thst: has anyone experience withese Holley-produced Q-jet replacements?! With that I'd circumvent the manifold exchange at least.
Thanks for the Demon 625 hint, I will look into that as well.
Cheers.

 

[pontiacgp]

I had one of the holley spreadbore carbs and it was junk, had to take it apart every two weeks and holley tech was no help. I threw it in the garbage. Have you considered buying a book on quadrajets tp learn how to rebuild yours. Or there are companies out there that offer rebuilt quadrajets and they can build one to suit your car and needs

 

[crotchss]

Back about 7-10 years ago I ran a circle track car in a class that specified using a Q-jet carb. I learned to rebuild, fix, and hop them up for racing and on a budget. They worked great for putting a $20 dollar kit in them and a little epoxy to fix plug leaks, plus the little jetting and other tweaks. After I ran out of good cores I bought one from SMI and it worked like a champ for me also. They ask all the questions any custom carb builder does to build the carb to meet your needs, but if your engine is stock a simple stage 1 or 2 should work just fine for you. Or like stated earlier, learn to rebuild it yourself. It gives me a certain amount of pride and satisfaction when I rebuild and fix something that some people would just throw away. Get a book, read it, and learn; that's how a lot of us get the knowledge we have. Just my two cents.

 

[jacobdavis1979]

Hey man i figured id chime in. And first thing i wanna say if this is goin on a bone stock 305 in my honest opinion id take a crack at either rebuilding this Qjet what you got to lose right if your wanting to buy another carb anyway or finding a good reman one alot of the guys on here will tell you that remans are garbage but hey every Qjet ive had has been a reman and theve always worked great!
As for the Quickfuel with an adapter spacer id say no to me the adapter plate will cancel out any hp gains your looking to get with that carb so if you had too get an intake man you would be alot better off.
Now i saw someone who mentioned the street demon 625. Now im a Qjet fan till the end cuz they are the best carbs ive ever had but if there was one to come in a close second its the street demon. Some guys might chime in here and say demon is junk and i would agree with that the holley version of demon in fact is garbage but man i will say that street demon isnt a holley its a thermoquad so alot of its issues they've adressed and they almost had this quadrajet fan converted im a believer.

Il name off some carbs ive owned and give you my opinions on them
#1 Quadrajet. Ive owned many on many cars best carb ive had and the closest thing ive had to an out of the box carb and best mileage.
#2 Street Demon. Only bought one so far but as stated above im a believer and will buy another for my LS im building.
#3 Edelbrock 1406 and 1407. Not perfect had issues but once dialed in they were reliable got me from A to B.
#4 Holley. This hits number 4 on my list just cuz they make great trashcan decoration after you get tired of changing jets every season! And i love watching my friends brag about how good they are even while tuning them everyday of the week! But like i said great trashcan decoration.

 

[DRIVEN]

I've never understood why guys are so afraid to rebuild a Q-jet. Aside from getting dirty inside, about the only things that go wrong with them is worn throttle shafts and sometimes leaky plugs in the bottom of the main body. If the shaft doesn't have a bunch of play it's just a matter of taking it apart, cleaning everything, epoxy the plugs, reassemble, and run it. If it came on your car there is no need for rejetting. A stock, clean, properly adjusted Quadrajet is as good as it gets without EFI. Period.
Over the last 25 years I've played with Holleys (and their aftermarket variants), Carter/Edelbrock, Motorcraft, etc. and found that on most stock(ish) applications a Quadrajet shines brightest. I have no hate for any of the others and sometimes they are a better option but GM really did their homework and got it right.

 

[Bonnewagon]

That's what I love about this site. The guys here have all been through the "carb of the month" and have figured out that the carb that came from the factory and worked great for 30 odd years is the right carb to use- the Q-jet or even the Dual-jet. Rochester Products Division spent zillions on engineering, testing, and development so that the things worked great and lasted 100k without issue. Then when it acts up, and usually it's just dirty, the cost of a new one, or the complexity of a rebuild cause the average guy to want an aftermarket carb. How in the world can a generic off-the-shelf carb be right for all the cars it is advertised for? If you open a factory manual you see dozens of different model numbers for any given engine, all just a bit different depending on options and applications. That's why I say there is nothing as valuable as the original unmolested carb that came on your car! So why not learn to service it yourself and have the best running carb in town?

 

[olds307 and 403]

I agree, the Rochester Quadrajet is by far the best factory carb. The Motorcraft and Carter carbs had some major issues, some unfixable. The sophistication is so much better. The choke is so much more adjustable and GM did constant improvements through out. The Carter carbs I ran, the choke set ups were a joke, a big deal in a cold climate. The only aftermarket carb to consider on a street car is the Street Demon series. It goes on any manifold and has some some important improvements and options over the Thermoquad it was designed after. Like eliminating the leaky O rings, much better choke, no special tools to adjust the secondary door and a linkage with the proper hook ups for the 2004R and 700R4 trans. Add in bowl material options, 2 sizes and complete tuning kits, make it very attractive.