New carb

[Rifter_Chevy]

Im going to put a new carb on my 1984 K2500 with a 350. Its currently got a Quadrajet on it and the float is messed up, keeps staying pinned at the top of the bowl dumping in fuel constantly and flooding it out. I cant keep it running for long maybe 20-30 seconds by pumping the gas b ut it sputters and bucks then dies, and when i shut it off it pisses fuel out the passanger side of the carb for 10-20 seconds.

I've decided just to go to a edelbrock because i work all week and dont have time to spend time working on it on it(work 12 hour shifts) and i need the truck to get home in the morning and am at work now, so will wait till parts stores open grab a edelbrock and install it.

My question is what am i going to need.

So far i know im going to need the carb, obviously. Im also going to need an adaptor plate as i've been told the edelbrock uses different mounting holes than the Q jet.

The only thing im not sure about the the choke, right now its using some kind of hot air choke from what i can tell, im going to go with an electric choke carb to replace it with. Some people tell me i will need a block off plate on the manifold for the old choke some people tell me a 84 will not need this plate. Which is it?

Thanks guys.

[tucsonjwt]

In my experience, forget the electric or hot air choke and buy a $12 manual choke conversion kit. If you have a spreadbore intake manifold then you will need an adapter. My problem with this is that a stock air cleaner and exhaust tube will no longer line up with the attachments because your carburetor will sit up higher than stock. Throttle linkage may also be a bit off. A good parts store can tell you what you need over the phone - a speed shop is best if you have one in your neighborhood. I don't know if you have emissions checks where you live, but this can be a consideration if you do have them, since you are "modifying" the original emissions equipment and your emissions parts are no longer factory, assuming that you have to adapt them to the Edelbrock.

Having gone both routes - stock rebuild and aftermarket - I would try to hold off and get a rebuilt Qjet from a good rebuilder referenced by others on this forum. I would not buy an auto parts store rebuild because of poor quality. Edelbrocks are OK but you will have to rebuild all carburetors every few years (unless you drive a lot at higher speeds to keep crud from forming in them), so I would spend a few $$ more and get a good stock carb to begin with - most rebuilders don't rebuild Edelbrocks, although I am sure they are rebuildable.

I understand your need for a quick fix, but I would look for alternative transportation until you can get a good carb. Often we make a bad decision when we act in haste. A bad carburetor is one of the most frustrating things on these old squares, so take the time to get a good fix. Just because a carburetor is new does not mean that it is good. I have had defects with Edelbrocks, although many posting here will disagree.

[raceman6135]

My suggestion, OP, is to fix your existing carburetor. It doesn't sound like you're having any serious issues, so why drop $400++ and also a bunch of time trying to get an Edelbrock to fit?

Get the carburetor number off the carb (it's stamped vertically on the driver's side of the carb, on a pad just ahead of the secondary barrels) and go to your local Lordco, Napa or PartSource store and buy a needle & seat set and a new float. For less than $50 and an hour, you're back on the road.

And the Quadrajet is a much better carb

[Rifter_Chevy]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I ended up putting a Edelbrock 1826 carb on it, thats a 650CFM Thunder series AVS Off road carb. I do go wheeling alot and rock crawling can be hard on carbs with the angles so i figured the off road carb would be a good idea.

It runs great, better than it ever has since i bought the truck. Starts alot better to i guess the choke on the Q jet was not operating properly.

Im going to rebuild the Q jet and put it on a project motor im going to be dropping into a trans am thats only got a 2 barrel on it now.

Also for anyone else doing this swap make sure to buy the throttle linkage from edelbrock as the stock chev linkage will not work, i had to go back to the parts store and buy the linkage.