Newbie to the pick up and the carb

[skahide]

I just bought a 1982 GMC high sierra stepside. It's a worker but i love it. It has a 350 but it's not the origional. The carb is a 4 barrel Quadrajet P.O.S. and it had gone out on me, so now im looking for a new one. What should i get for a good price? I can get a Edelbrock 600 for $250, but dan that is more than ive ever expected. What should i get or is that about the best for its money?

[Destructo]

well, if you don't want to have the Q-Jet rebuilt, that Q-Jet would be the best carb if your going to keep it stock and all, they don't work great though if you hop the motor up without re-jetting them and all.

But if you don't feel like fooling with a carb and just want to buy a new one that will do you right then go for the 1406 or 1400 (if you have EGR), they will do pretty good and are cheap.

[skahide]

well i was told i can get a quad new for about 150 but a edelbrock 600 for about 250. is it worth it to get the quad now and get an edelbrock later?

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by skahide

I just bought a 1982 GMC high sierra stepside. It's a worker but i love it. It has a 350 but it's not the origional. The carb is a 4 barrel Quadrajet P.O.S. and it had gone out on me, so now im looking for a new one. What should i get for a good price? I can get a Edelbrock 600 for $250, but dan that is more than ive ever expected. What should i get or is that about the best for its money?

Rebuild kit is $14.

What makes you thing it has "gone out". Quad is a reliable peice of equiptment. My bet is your choke heating element is bad and there is nothing else wrong with your carb. $35 I think is the price of the part at Autozone.

Tip:

Post symptoms and we might have a cheap easy fix for you.

[swervin ervin]

Tell the person who said you could buy a new quad for $150.00 to let me know where at. I'll buy everyone he can get if they are truly new. They are full of it for sure. Sounds like you been talking to the wrong people.

I paid $429.00 for my Edelbrock 1904, which is a new quad. I think they are upwards of $469.00 or more now. Would do it again in a minute.

Personally, I would stick with your Q-jet. Rebuild it or have someone who knows how to do it for you. You will be hard pressed to buy a better carb for the street as long as it's running right.

Man I hate when someone calls a Q-jet a POS. IMO, it's a work of art. Best street carb ever built. And, don't believe it when someone tells you they are not a good performance carb. I'll put mine up against any of them. These things work both sides of the street. Get decent gas mileage and make great power.

[cliffsta]

yeah its a good idea to try and rebuild your carb before buying a new one. My dad and cousin rebuilt the 305 on Ol Red about 12 or 13 years ago, when i was a mere 4 year old and it is just now time for a new carb, not bad IMO, over 24 years on the stock carb.

[skahide]

well i was told from Autozone that it would be 150 for the exact carb new to replace. From what i understand it would cost about 25 for a rebuild kit from autozone, no big deal but i was also told that rebuilding a quadrajet was VERY hard, and if you had no experience that youd want someone else to do it for you. And that would cost ALOT to pay someone to rebuild it for you. Am i being told these things all wrong? Im all about saving $$$. The problem with the carb is that i was driving down the road and the truck died out on me as if i ran out of gas, so surprise, my gas guage doesnt work. So i go get some gas but about 5 gallons in the tank and still no crank. Made sure it was getting gas and made sure it wasnt flooded, then tried again, no luck. I pour some gas into the carb to see if that'll do, and notice that it is leaking the gas out at the front right corner (if looking at from grill). So i try to start and it does for just a second, then dies. So i go to autozone, but the gasket that goes between the intake and the carb, put it on truck and try it all again. Still leaks and still only runs for a second. Talk to a co-worker with alot of knowledge and he says it is the gasket at the very bottom of the carb and would need to be rebuilt, i should get a new carb to save money, cause the kit wont hold but for 6 months. Am i being told wrong? I have NO prior carb experience, how hard to rebuild? I only call it a POS cause that is all ive been told, and so far i havent had much luck with them, sorry.

[Grim Reaper]

Nope they told you wrong. It's a rebuilt Quad not a new one. A new one will set you back well voer $400 but the word is it's not available again.

Ok first thing first. This really sounds like a bad electric choke.

With the top of the aircleaner off there is a flap over the front two barrels. Is it open or closed? With the truck stone cold they should be mostly closed but go to fully open in the first minute or so of run. If they are closed after 2-3 minutes of running and then it dies then the choke as a problem. Does not even need to take the carb off the truck to fix. If the THREE rivets on the choke element have already been drilled and replaced with screws then note the way the element is oriented Take the three screws out and then get up in there and look very close as you pull that element slowly out so you can see how the hooked part of the choke element is on the Fork that moved the linkage.

Put it back exactly as that shows.

When you at auto zone they have a book that says something like "Rochester Tuning and performance" It's like $12. Well worth the money and will in detail explain the carb and how it works.

I'm with Swervin. Quad is one of the best carb ever. It has so much that can be done and yet stock it is so versitile. You could litteraly unbolt a Quad off a 305 and bolt it onto a 454 adjust the idle mixture and it will run reasonably well without further adjustment. None of this you got to have a 550 for this displace ment BS with hoglys. The carb truely adjusts itself on the demand of the engine.

[Grim Reaper]

Just ran accross your electrical problems post. You carb problem is probably related to your electrical problems in the other post. The only thing I want you to do related to the carb right now untill you get the other problems sorted out is to put a test light on the wire going to the choke. set it where you can see it from the driverseat.

Attempt to start the truck and watch the light. if it fires for a second the light should come on if you are getting power to the choke. If it fires or no light after cranking for 20 seconds or so then you problem is electrical and you need to check what I lised in your other post.

[rockman20]

The Quad is a tricky piece of equipment. It isn't "HARD" If you take the time to look at the diagrams and watch where everything went. It is hard if all you have ever touched is an Edelbrock. Those things are so simple that I think my 4 year old son could put them together.

The beauty of the Quad is the ability to adjust itself to what the engine needs. A Quad will ONLY flow what the engine can take. So if you have it on a 305, it will only flow what the 305 can take. A 454 and it does the same. (Although you may finally be reaching the jetting area there!)

The biggest problem with these carbs are inexperienced people and a lot of BS and that they are old carbs. It is tough to find a good Quad that does not have worn bushings or a warped air horn or a warped base.

I redid the Quad in my pickup. It cost me around 24 bucks for the kit and I threw in a new float as well for a couple bucks. The carb dunk I had so that cost me nothing. I took the base plate in to have it checked for warped and to have the bushings redone. That cost me right around 40 bucks in parts and labor. So for right around 70-80 bucks (filter is in there somewhere) I have a pretty good street carb.

The Rochester book that Grim speaks of is AWESOME! It will teach you everything you need to know about the Quad and give you a lot of information that may bore you, but it is good to know.

Worst case scenario, you sell me your Quad for 30 bucks and buy a new Edelbrock!

PS there is a lot more to learn about a Quad then I just said, but this is the basics. Once you get that down then you can look at the upgrades/tricks/and tips on how to make a Quad out perform most of the carbs out there.