SBO Edelbrock Performer RPM Q-Jet Questions

[Minion1186]

I'm gonna upgrade (or down grade depending on how you look at things) to an almost stock 350 olds or a 403 since my street/strip 350 is done for. I'm basically taking the top end off of my old 350 (manifold, distributor, valve covers, crankcase breathers and 4 corner cooling) and throwing these parts on the new one and I want to use my 7111 small block olds performer rpm manifold on the new motor over the stock cast iron unit. I dont think I'm going to use the 4150 750 cfm holley double pumper off of my old 350 because I'll be driving the car more on the street than before and I'm thinking of getting a remanned quadrajet for the 350, the only thing is I dont know if it will physically bolt on the manifold or even fit right without an adapter plate. So my questions are- Can I get away with using the RPM manifold and qjet without an adapter plate? And If so would a spread bore carb spacer work correctly with the manifold/carburetor?

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Never, ever buy a reman carb, they are all POS. You want a rebuilt Qjet that is built to match the specs of your motor.

 

[DoubleV]

Never, ever buy a reman carb, they are all POS. You want a rebuilt Qjet that is built to match the specs of your motor.

This is SO true. Call Dean Oliver for a PRO level rebuild for a good price not to mention quick turn around time. I'm sure there are other quality rebuilders out there, but Dean is very easy to deal with and had my carb done in a week. Some places like Cliff Ruggles have a waiting period of 1 year....

To answer your question, just look at the carb mounting area on the Performer RPM intake and you'll see the 'cut-out' portion where the secondaries of the carb would be is wider than the front. This allows you to use a spreadbore carb without an adaptor. The regular Performer is the same way. I'm currently running an RPM intake and a Dean Oliver built Qjet on my engine myself.

 

[Oldsmoletick]

I wouldn't use a spacer under the carb, when I went from an afb, to a qjet on my rpm manifold, I had to go with a lower profile air cleaner to fit under the hood. Unless the cutlass has more under hood clearence than a malibu, you may run into that issue. Q jets aren't that complicated, why not just rebuild one yourself? It would be much better than a reman from a chain store.

 

[Minion1186]

awesome. Only thing is now that i'm getting another motor, my budget is extremely tight, cant afford a carburetor built and tuned specifically for my stock 350. I would rebuild a carb, but i dont have any qjets laying around anymore. Hood clearance isnt an issue with a 4 1/2" tall cowl induction scoop, just a bit of overkill.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

awesome. Only thing is now that i'm getting another motor, my budget is extremely tight, cant afford a carburetor built and tuned specifically for my stock 350. I would rebuild a carb, but i dont have any qjets laying around anymore. Hood clearance isnt an issue with a 4 1/2" tall cowl induction scoop, just a bit of overkill.

Just don't waste money on a reman unit, it's just like flushing money down the crapper except it can also gas wash damage the engine. You probably should just save the money up for a properly built Qjet.

 

[DoubleV]

I'm thinking of getting a remanned quadrajet for the 350

If you got the scratch for a 'reman', then you got enough for one with a proper rebuild. For a simple stock Qjet rebuild, you'll pay the same or only a little more than you would for a 'reman', so do NOT get a reman or you'll just end up spending more in the long run trying to get it to work right. Being on a tight budget is all the more reason to spend the money once ( even if it's a little more ) and be done with it.

You could always finance your Qjet rebuild by selling your old carb/parts.

 

[Minion1186]

Have any of you guys had experiences with remanned qjets? or is it speculation from a couple guys that ran remanned qjets that every single one is junk? Just a question. You're all probably right though about them being crap, only problem is finding a good qjet core. I may have to post in wanted section.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Have any of you guys had experiences with remanned qjets? or is it speculation from a couple guys that ran remanned qjets that every single one is junk? Just a question. You're all probably right though about them being crap, only problem is finding a good qjet core. I may have to post in wanted section.

There is a long list of why remans are junk, main factor is instead of rebuilding them to GM factory specs for your model car and engine, they reman all their Qjets to the same generic specs so they don't have to stock all the different parts. They just stock generic spec parts that are usually not well made or E10 proof. They cobble together mismatching core parts to form a "working" Qjet. Often they acid dip the cores which really softens the pot metal alloy. Reman carbs have a very rich idle to mask their shoddy work which causes wastes gas and gas washs the engine. Plus some of the stuff they do are irreversible.

 

[Peter]

Have any of you guys had experiences with remanned qjets? or is it speculation from a couple guys that ran remanned qjets that every single one is junk? Just a question. You're all probably right though about them being crap, only problem is finding a good qjet core. I may have to post in wanted section.

i bought a holley reman quadrajet from summit. i dont understand what all the fuss is, I've had good luck with mine