The 1985 Firebird SE

[ck80]

So, the mini 'preview post I had going was locked out due to age/time inactivity.

*** notice, could use some known good 305 stuff. Preferably 1985****

I REALLY need this old car to see some progress, she's starting to go downhill

Because it was the car I was driving when the wife and I met, and we had so many dates, memories of having the seats all the way flat at nights in the parking lots..... well, it needs saying even as a fbody.

Anyways. Given my current condition, I'm going to try to teach my wife to do some stuff on this one. 69hurstolds had a very inspirational post on carb rebuild on the ccc stuff, but, I think that may be a bit beyond us at this point.

Initial inventory - very old gas, unsafe tires, sloppy front end, massive fuel leakage in carb, then plenty of cosmetic stuff and sorting out how the rings are in the engine itself. Expect slow progress, this one is trying to be done on a shoestring budget

 

[69hurstolds]

Dump the gas tank, make sure it's clean, rebuild the carb, and check the rings out and see where you're at. A lot of that can be done for peanuts and the price of a good carb kit.

Try and find a set of Thexton 362 tools for carb adjustments. You can ALWAYS sell them later to someone who needs them. But these tools are worth their weight in gold.

Thexton 362 GM Computer Control Carburetor Tool - Varajet, Dualjet And Quadrajet | eBay

For 2mm, 7mm, 10mm Double D and 2.5mm hex fittings on Varajet, Dualjet and Quadrajet carburetors. Manufactured by Thexton, part number 362. Thexton 362. They may have been in storage anywhere from 1-30 years.

www.ebay.com

You can make a 1.304" lean stop gage from like 1/4" tubing.

4.5 turns CCW from lightly seated on the idle air bleed valve will get you in about the right place on the carb even if you don't have an IABV gage tool. If you have a shepard's hook gage, it's 1.756" pressed down on the MC Solenoid paddle to just touching the top of the IABV. But you'd still need to dial it in with the engine running anyway along with the idle mixture screws. Same as the TPS. Which for your 85 Firebird would be either 0.48 or 0.54 V setting depending on your carb number.

All that was, in case you wanted to know.

 

[ck80]

Dump the gas tank, make sure it's clean, rebuild the carb, and check the rings out and see where you're at. A lot of that can be done for peanuts and the price of a good carb kit.

Try and find a set of Thexton 362 tools for carb adjustments. You can ALWAYS sell them later to someone who needs them. But these tools are worth their weight in gold.

Thexton 362 GM Computer Control Carburetor Tool - Varajet, Dualjet And Quadrajet | eBay

For 2mm, 7mm, 10mm Double D and 2.5mm hex fittings on Varajet, Dualjet and Quadrajet carburetors. Manufactured by Thexton, part number 362. Thexton 362. They may have been in storage anywhere from 1-30 years.

www.ebay.com

You can make a 1.304" lean stop gage from like 1/4" tubing.

4.5 turns CCW from lightly seated on the idle air bleed valve will get you in about the right place on the carb even if you don't have an IABV gage tool. If you have a shepard's hook gage, it's 1.756" pressed down on the MC Solenoid paddle to just touching the top of the IABV. But you'd still need to dial it in with the engine running anyway along with the idle mixture screws. Same as the TPS. Which for your 85 Firebird would be either 0.48 or 0.54 V setting depending on your carb number.

All that was, in case you wanted to know.

I keep thinking about it, like I said, your thread was a good guide and excellent write-up.

Even found some NOS air horn assemblies and was poking around to look for NOS main body to get ahead of the game but... dunno.

Sold some junk in the last week that would give the missus a budget to work with in this thing, someone bought an old set of her used tires and a c10 front clip we chopped for a trailer.

If she just got it to the drivable status, even if not great, would be a major win. I expect the work will mostly fall to me, but, there's only so much I can attempt in the current state of things

 

[ck80]

Bought a set of 4 rollers with big TAs that hold air and have nominal tread (worn, but street legal) for the firebird for $50. Now I can take the century pace car rim off it.

Not the style I like, but, I figure at the price I can always flip them when I'm done using them as rollers.

Now, to find an affordable 4bbl for this thing that doesnt puke gas.

 

[69hurstolds]

Considered rebuildable. But you know how that goes. 17085204, specifically for your car. 1985 F-body 305 w/Auto transmission. <$60 bucks plus open to offers.

Rochester 4-Barrel Quadrajet Carburetor 17085204 1985 Monte Carlo El Camino RC55 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Rochester 4-Barrel Quadrajet Carburetor 17085204 1985 Monte Carlo El Camino RC55 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Or if you have a manual transmission, you'd need a 17085207, as seen here for <$100 but open to offers. I'm assuming your car is 305 H and not 305 G. That would be carb 17085203 and I'm thinking that would sorta be kinda rare. But I'm not that familiar with F-body and 305s in general.

1981~1987 Chevy Quadrajet Carburetor 305~350 Engine 17085207 CAMARO MONTE CARLO | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1981~1987 Chevy Quadrajet Carburetor 305~350 Engine 17085207 CAMARO MONTE CARLO at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Rebuild kit can be had cheap as well. Unless you just wanted to make sure you got a good one, i.e., an AC Delco one. 17076043. Fits a wide variety of 305 4-bbl. $44.94 plus tax, and they too, are open for offers. So with some luck, carb cleaner, and some effort, for around $100 you can get a renewed carburetor ready for action.

New NOS GM Delco 17076043 #76043 Carburetor Repair Kit 1984-1987 Camaro/Firebird | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for New NOS GM Delco 17076043 #76043 Carburetor Repair Kit 1984-1987 Camaro/Firebird at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

I consider these cheap options to get something better than what you have (a gas puker) but again, roll of the dice. Unless there's some casting flaws or broken sh*t, I'd think there'd be some save-able pieces parts from your old carb enough to make one good one with one of the above options.

If you were looking for an NOS float bowl assembly, that would be p/n 17110899. The body and air horn on all three carbs above are the SAME. In fact, the ONLY parts found different between the 204 and 207 is the throttle plate assembly, probably more like the linkage arm due to being AT vs. MT. Plus the choke housing itself. Choke and cover kit is the same, though. So if you can save your choke housing and throttle plate, you could actually get by with using either carb 204 or 207.

The 207 and 203 carb differences are ONLY the primary rods/jets. This is according to parts info. Probably the secondary jets are different too on the 203 carbed L69 G engine.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

What do you mean about your Qjet puking gas? You can have your original carb rebuilt by a good rebuilder such as Sean Murphy or Cliff Ruggles. Though the E4ME are not really hard to work on. Just need the special tools. You can pretty easily rebush the base plate with Teflon strips, only need to drill the step bore on the driver side a little deeper.

Big thing to remember is that CCC systems really hate vacuum leaks and upstream exhaust leaks.

 

[ck80]

What do you mean about your Qjet puking gas? You can have your original carb rebuilt by a good rebuilder such as Sean Murphy or Cliff Ruggles. Though the E4ME are not really hard to work on. Just need the special tools. You can pretty easily rebush the base plate with Teflon strips, only need to drill the step bore on the driver side a little deeper.

Big thing to remember is that CCC systems really hate vacuum leaks and upstream exhaust leaks.

I mean that the intake manifold gets covered in gasoline with any run time, but, not from the fuel line or fuel inlet area itself.

I do recall about 15 years back in New Orleans it had an issue where one of the nipples that had the something attached to, a return line, a vacuum line, honestly can't really remember, did detach from the body. Looking at it it appeared to be a press-fit so I used a small tack hammer and put some rubber hose around the nipple and tapped on it until it was tight into the body again. It worked, but, it has had issues in the past clearly.

Stopped driving the car much a couple years after that when the rings wore down in the engjne. Ive since obtained a couple 305s one of which will go in as path of least resistance. So, in its current state I also need to do a carb for the car, sort out the rear brakes which don't currently work, recharge the A/C and anything else which I come across and doesn't seem quite right as I go through it.

 

[69hurstolds]

Better find the reason you need to recharge the A/C or you'll waste your time recharging it. My bet is it's that R4 compressor front seal if it sits idle for that long. The shell o-rings are also prime culprits for leaking.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

I mean that the intake manifold gets covered in gasoline with any run time, but, not from the fuel line or fuel inlet area itself.

I do recall about 15 years back in New Orleans it had an issue where one of the nipples that had the something attached to, a return line, a vacuum line, honestly can't really remember, did detach from the body. Looking at it it appeared to be a press-fit so I used a small tack hammer and put some rubber hose around the nipple and tapped on it until it was tight into the body again. It worked, but, it has had issues in the past clearly.

Stopped driving the car much a couple years after that when the rings wore down in the engjne. Ive since obtained a couple 305s one of which will go in as path of least resistance. So, in its current state I also need to do a carb for the car, sort out the rear brakes which don't currently work, recharge the A/C and anything else which I come across and doesn't seem quite right as I go through it.

May be the fuel bowl vent line to the EVAP system. If the carburetor is flooding the fuel can spill out the bowl vent.

The fuel return line only goes to the fuel pump. There is a vapor line that goes to the charcoal can from the gas tank which should not have liquid fuel in it.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Better find the reason you need to recharge the A/C or you'll waste your time recharging it. My bet is it's that R4 compressor front seal if it sits idle for that long. The shell o-rings are also prime culprits for leaking.

Yes, probably down on oil as well. Jump it at the switch, probably noisy as well. I am not a fan of the R4 compressor, saw many leak and fail over the years. It is best to send the original carb away, unless you want to gamble on a used one or eliminate the CCC with a new/used carb and vacuum advance distributor.