Installing a quadrajet on new engine questions

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The original plan was to remove the 350 I had so I could restore my truck and clean it up and replace a few parts. I took pictures during the teardown to reference on putting it all back together. It ended up though being that I needed a new engine. So I got an L31 vortec and a edelbrock instake for a the quadrajet I had and now I need to reinstall the carb and throttle linkages and all. There may be better ways to reset the manifold and carb up this time. If anyone has any better routing or connection setups please let me know. I just dont know this stuff very well.

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Here is where I am at right now, looking to get the needed parts to reconnect it all and wrap up the intake manifold. Ill be using the same delco remy distributor and replace the gear with a melonized one. I also have included in my gauge cluster a vacuum gauge. I assume I would connect it to the third port on the vacuum port tee that I need to replace.

[notsolo]

I thought this set up looked decent, I have been making my own bracket for carb and trans linkage ...cardboard 1st then cut out of aluminum and stainless for the brackets .....this would take some drilling and tapping to get stainless rod and pivots. ..where did you get the L31? Looks nice.

[msg]

That looks sharp! Is that a quadrajet? The return spring is setup differently than mine was. I also like the vacuum line being metal then connecting to the brake booster hose. I bought the engine from Summit last year.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-12681432

The members on this site have really helped me out a lot, the engine was recommended as the replacement from this thread after I learned that my 350 was not doing so good. Here is a link to that part of the journey.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=797172

[nsb29]

I would ditch the Q and go with a Holly

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For the short term I was hoping to reuse the Q and spend the extra dough later on. I assume that I could reuse the Q and when the time comes that I can better afford the new carb that whatever throttle linkages and vacuum ports and stuff that would be in place for the Q would work as well for the new carb. Not safe to assume this?

[geezer#99]

Throttle linkage and brackets might be different from different carbs.
Vac lines no problem.
We assume you’re making a new tubing fuel line.
And putting your pcv valve on the drivers side with a breather on the passenger side.
Using a vacuum tree for vac gauge works.

What trans are you using?

[cwcarpenter98]

I have a Qjet on my 283. In stock form and set properly, they are great carbs. You can easily set up the hoses to work with whatever carb you go with, so starting with the Qjet is not a problem.

I would run the brake booster and vac gauge to the 3 port you have on the manifold. Run the PCV valve to the large front port on the carb. I would put the PCV valve on the passenger side valve cover so you don't have to run a hose from the back of the engine to the front of the carb.

In the pic of my engine, you can see where I ran the hose for the dizzy. That and the PCV valve is the only connections I have since I don't have power brakes, a vac gauge, or any emissions related components. Any unused port that you have can be capped off

[msg]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

Throttle linkage and brackets might be different from different carbs.
Vac lines no problem.
We assume you’re making a new tubing fuel line.
And putting your pcv valve on the drivers side with a breather on the passenger side.
Using a vacuum tree for vac gauge works.

What trans are you using?

Good to know on the linkage and brackets, and yes sir I have another puzzle to figure out and thats the 3/8 copper nickel lines I need to create from the tank in the cab to the electric holley mighty might on the passenger side frame not far from the tank somewhere..

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLY-12-427

..and then up and around the frame to engine and remove that old fuel filter part and find a replacement. I'll have to look for examples of others set ups like that and redo what they did. More line and less hose I would think this time around.

On the vac tree, I should only need the 3 ports right?

The trans is a 700r4 that was installed not long before I tore everything down. I just this weekend cleaned out the pan installed a new gasket and bolted things back up. And what a pain since the crossmember covers the back bolts of the pan and bolts of the crossmember have to all come out to be pushed back. Next time I have to mess with that transpan like that Ill be looking for a different crossmember that sweeps out more.

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

I have a Qjet on my 283. In stock form and set properly, they are great carbs. You can easily set up the hoses to work with whatever carb you go with, so starting with the Qjet is not a problem.

I would run the brake booster and vac gauge to the 3 port you have on the manifold. Run the PCV valve to the large front port on the carb. I would put the PCV valve on the passenger side valve cover so you don't have to run a hose from the back of the engine to the front of the carb.

In the pic of my engine, you can see where I ran the hose for the dizzy. That and the PCV valve is the only connections I have since I don't have power brakes, a vac gauge, or any emissions related components. Any unused port that you have can be capped off

That setup looks great Christian, thanks for the pic, tips and info! The engine color I really like.

[car10107]

A properly operating Qjet is a great carb in my opinion. I love the sound and function of the vacuum secondaries and how easy they are to work on and tune.
Did you rebuild the carb while it was off? These have a bad habit of leaking fuel from the lower well plugs and causing hard starting and flooding. Any time I have one off or apart, I seal up the well plugs. The old school method is JB weld epoxy over the plugs, they also sell an actual repair plug if you prefer that way. Never had a problem using epoxy myself. Cliff Ruggles book on Qjets is available on Amazon and is a wealth of knowledge. His website https://cliffshighperformance.com/ has high quality rebuild kits and replacement parts as well as jets and metering rods if you need to tune it for the Vortec.

[msg]

Originally Posted by car10107

A properly operating Qjet is a great carb in my opinion. I love the sound and function of the vacuum secondaries and how easy they are to work on and tune.
Did you rebuild the carb while it was off? These have a bad habit of leaking fuel from the lower well plugs and causing hard starting and flooding. Any time I have one off or apart, I seal up the well plugs. The old school method is JB weld epoxy over the plugs, they also sell an actual repair plug if you prefer that way. Never had a problem using epoxy myself. Cliff Ruggles book on Qjets is available on Amazon and is a wealth of knowledge. His website https://cliffshighperformance.com/ has high quality rebuild kits and replacement parts as well as jets and metering rods if you need to tune it for the Vortec.

I ran that carb for many years and never had issues. It was working fine when I removed and stored it in 2015. I just unboxed and sprayed a bunch of carb cleaner on it and bought a new manifold mount gasket. Years ago I bought a rebuild kit for my 63 Chevy 2s single barrel rochester didnt go so well. Im spooked to try that again especially with a quad. The hope was it would fire up as it did in the past and I can break in this L31. I really would like to rebuild it but Ill first try the if it aint broke dont fix it method. Thanks for the input!

The throttle cable I pulled out today and never paid attention to the weld job the PO did on it. I guess I should look into a new one. I also need to replace the distributors gear out tot the melonized on I bought. I guess the pin needs punching through that holds it on. Need to research that.

[geezer#99]

Just use a punch for that roll pin.
A machine screw/bolt works as a punch.

[msg]

Thanks Geezer Ill give it a go. On these manifold parts like the vacuum tree what year model should I be searching to get the parts that for the manifold? Does it need to be aluminum since the manifold is aluminum?

[geezer#99]

Not sure on what year. I just toured my buddies parts cars (he had a hundred) and got the trees I wanted. Ford trucks had multi fittings type.
No need to worry about finding aluminum ones.
Search with google images.
Lots come up.

Like this.


https://www.paragoncorvette.com/c-22...-fittings.aspx

[msg]

The melonized gear is on now. I did notice the two parts at the top of the gear but when I removed it they came off. Are they supposed to be aligned any special way? I just put the top washer part with the flanges above the flat washer/disc and the gear below and slid it up to fit into place and aligned with the hole for the pin. The flanged disc at the top was pointed upward but not set in a particular position/groove.

[geezer#99]

If it’s back where it was originally it’ll be fine.
Did you check the clearance/freeplay of the shaft? The up/down movement of the shaft in the housing. Should be about .020.
Read this.


https://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/s...hp?tid/170198/

[msg]

Wow, the gap is more than that. I can get a .020 and a .018 together in that space at the top of the gear and the base washer/spacer and tighten it up.

[geezer#99]

It’s not critical. It can be run like that.
Not just any washer will do. Use ones made for it.

[msg]

Thanks Geezer, if its good like that Im gonna leave it be. When my timing is acting all goofy I may have to shim it I guess.

[msg]

Ive seen replacements for $30 on the vacuum tee but I went ahead and bead blasted the one I had with the distributor hold down and bolt. Plan is to epoxy primer it all and reuse. Bad plan?

[cwcarpenter98]

That fitting looks good to me. The blasting cleaned it up nicely

[msg]

Ill leave the threads unpainted and just coat with anti seize on the hold down bolt. The vacuum tee needs teflon I think. I probably should have taped off the threads when blasting.

[cwcarpenter98]

That's a good plan on both. I would have blasted the threads as well and used teflon to seal it. Clean threads are better than gunked up threads

[bigmoe]

Would this TCI bracket work? It says for 700r4.

[Steeveedee]

I'd recommend making certain that that Q-Jet is ready for use. If you can try it on another engine and make certain, you'll be one less wiped out cam from having to mess with the carburetor during break-in. Also, while it's running at break-in speed, try moving the choke just a touch closed. If you move it away from fully open and the engine speeds up, it's running too lean. That's fairly common. Every little bit helps on break-in!