ready to ditch my Qjet, Which Holley is ideal?

[Eddie H.]

Send me your old Q jet. I've been looking for a good rebuildable one. I actually like them. (It could be because I rebuilt a few hundred back in the day when I worked at Chevy dealers.) If you set one up correctly, they're hard to beat.

I've worked on and ran Holley, Qjet, Edlebrock, Carter, and just about every other flavor of carb. As far as simplicity, the CarterAFB/Edelbrock design ( also used on 60's muscle cars) is one of my favorites. They work well right out of the box and can be tuned relative easily.

[Jim_PA]

Some qjets 1976+ came equipped with an altitude compensation system. That would have been ideal candidate.

[Mertz]

I switched from a 1406 which ran fine and I never had to tune it after I set it up right the first time, to a qjet which runs better than the 1406, has more power and gets better gas mileage. It took a lot of tuning with an LC-1 but it was worth it. SMI or Cliffs Performance can build one for the application and that would eliminate a lot of the tuning I went through. The good thing about what I did was that I learned alot about qjets and how they work and how to rebuild them so I can put them on some of my other vehicles.

[ramey]

give me a Q-Jet anyday. thats what ive always ran on my 69 cst, and my dad's had alot of our model trucks and always had Q-Jets. i never have to worry with them. if you get a holley you'll be adjusting it all the time

[cdowns]

have never cared too much for holley 4barells
but thier 2barrells rock great gas milage lots o topend

[capev86]

you can get high performance parts for use when rebuilding a Q-jet that include an improve accelerator pump, etc. Edelbrock makes some of these pieces but the best most complete kit comes from Cliff's High Performance....they have brass bushings to repair worn throttle shaft holes in the base plate too.

the q-jet spread bore design gets better mpg, throttle response and lower emissions because of those small primaries. when the secondaries are open they will pull up to 750cfm which is plenty of air for all but the most extreme street motors. i hear some early big block q-jets could pull 800cfm, but i am partial to late 70's/early 80's carbs that have minor design improvements.

as for an altitude sensitive carb....that is just plain awesome. but if i did a lot of up and down driving (especially while towing) i'd put a fuel injection system in there. i hear a neat trick is to take an 87+ sbc tbi intake, hog it out and mount a 454 tbi throttle body on it. the big block unit could pull 700cfm and with the more precise fuel metering would not need quite as much air as a carb to do the same job.

everyone is crazy about mpi but tbi is more stealthy (looks kind like a carb) and it has better low end response. there are aftermarket companies that combine the best of the two......traditional throttle body arrangement with mpi fuel rails down each side. i may go the factory big block tb / sbc intake on my 406 after i get it installed in my 72 burb in the years to come....if i do a lot of cross country trailer towing.

[prostreetC-10]

Originally Posted by eldogg

I'm gonna be the lone Holley guy.

No your not but when people don't know the difference between a standard and phillips screwdriver, I say get an edelbrock. LOL

[gonzo6869]

Edlebrocks are very easy to work on, I know, just rebuilt my old one yesterday. Its was too easy, making me think I was missing something.

[Bpokey]

I know I am too late but I just have to stick up for Holley. I have a 600 vac secondary on my 350 and I just bolted it on and have driven it daily for over a year with zero problems. Starts first time every time and reading the plugs the mixture is spot on. Switched from a Q-jet to a Edelbrock that constantly boiled the fuel in the bowls and flooded the engine before the Holley. I have a 200r4 and 3.73's and I feel the mileage isn't bad. Just had to put in my 2 cents.