giving up. or help me pick a carb for my truck.

[greywuuf]

Ok I am done messing about. For the last 4 years I have been covering through a partially finished TBI conversion on my 383 mild small block build. Stock small port heads (forget the exact number) with a comp cams 268 1 5/8 headers true dual exhaust with a balance tube. This is ahead of a 700 trans and 3.73 12 bolt.
I started out with the cop car 350 tuning. It worked ok at first but became progressively harder to start and is just too big a pain and I don't feel like burning any more chips.So the question is this...what is a good daily driver manifold and carb combo for this truck.keeping in mind that I am in Alaska and I drive this in very cold winters and aluminum manifold trend to bleed enough heat that chokes can be problematic.if a stock manifold would work,I would use Any advice suggestions or tips for me? .
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[davepl]

I'd say go get a factory Quadrajet intake manifold and carb off a pre-emissions performance smallback and keep ALL of the exhaust crossover, choke, and thermac provisions. But you have headers so you won't have a heat-riser and you'd need to run a proper snorkel air cleaner.

I think a 350/300 or even 350/255 setup from a 1969-1970 Impala, Camaro, etc would be a good setup.

Problem is getting the exhaust crossover to function with headers, not sure if/how it could be done. But if you got an unmolested setup they run very well. I had one in Saskatchewan (colder than Alaska) and it ran great in the winter and summer. Again, only if you have all the right factory original parts set up to work together.

I'm sure you could also get by with an Edelbrock carb and intake manifold combination with an electric choke, but I've never seen an aftermarket setup that you didn't need to "two foot" on cold mornings.

If its in your budget, putting an EZEFI or something similar on your existing TBI would also work. You'd still have to tune it, but at least its instant and you don't have to burn chips for every change, I can see how that'd get old fast.

[greywuuf]

Thanks for the reply, I have a Q-jet manifold, but unfortunately no Q-jet. the older stuff is getting harder and harder to find up here, A heat riser was fabbed and installed from the get go on the conversions as was a snorkel Air cleaner housing. The more I think about it, the more I think I may have wiped the cam or done some other damage to the engine, I just got so tired or working on it that I have not really dug that deep.

Thanks for the advice though.

[70cst]

Originally Posted by greywuuf

Thanks for the reply, I have a Q-jet manifold, but unfortunately no Q-jet. the older stuff is getting harder and harder to find up here, A heat riser was fabbed and installed from the get go on the conversions as was a snorkel Air cleaner housing. The more I think about it, the more I think I may have wiped the cam or done some other damage to the engine, I just got so tired or working on it that I have not really dug that deep.

Thanks for the advice though.

Keep watching the FS threads as Quads do come up. Best of Luck

[GuyO]

Greywuuf, I agree with Davepl, "I'm sure you could also get by with an Edelbrock carb and intake manifold combination with an electric choke, but I've never seen an aftermarket setup that you didn't need to "two foot" on cold mornings". One thing I was surprised to hear from the tech at the Dyno shop down here was you can have too big of a carb! Something about correct combination of CFM to engine size and most guys think bigger is better but not so. I run a 600 CFM Edelbrock with a Edelbrock EPS Performer intake on our custom built 327, it cold starts like a EFI with my Comp Cam 280. G.

[jhaymon]

dont give up man.you got any swapmeets coming up. i picked 4 carbs for 20bux and built 2 (a 600 and750). i sold one for $150 and put the other on my truck. q-jets are cheap and easy to build.

ive got a link for you that i was just looking at. there's a couple of q-jets that'll work for you. i've dealt with the guy before and haven't had any issues.
http://www.frankspontiacparts.com/en...ngineparts.htm

[greywuuf]

I'll keep looking, but swap meets are few and far between here in interior Alaska

[dracula4999]

Im running a 750 edelbrock (which may be too big) and a performer intake with a holley mechanical fuel pump. My carb doesnt have a choke. I have gone out there after my truck has set for 2 weeks in the winter, pump the gas a couple times and it will fire right up, hold the pedal down a little for about 15 seconds and walk away from it. And thats in the snow at like 20 degress outside. I do that to people all the time when they think an old truck wont idle when its cold, then they ask how in the hell i keep it running with no choke. My guess is that i am dumping more fuel than needed at idle, but mine is set up that way so when i hit the "go fast" button i dont lean the engine out and blow it up.

[Wrenchbender Ret]

I run Q-jets on Edelbrock manifolds. I use electric chokes. I find in cold weather I have to fab a shield in fromt of the choke coil. The cold air cools off the coil & sets the choke back on.

[jhaymon]

Originally Posted by Wrenchbender Ret

I run Q-jets on Edelbrock manifolds. I use electric chokes. I find in cold weather I have to fab a shield in fromt of the choke coil. The cold air cools off the coil & sets the choke back on.

ive got an army buddy who came down from Colorado this year for roundup. he had a bypass on heater lines that ran coolant trough some copper tubing that wrapped around the choke.

[greywuuf]

Hey guys, thanks for all of the advice and suggestions, I would like to point out though that I think only my Canadian neighbor really has an idea of the COLD I am talking about, I spend over half of my winter (oct -mar) at temps less than -40F and I have several screen captures of the weather on my phone where we were in excess of -50. This is not wind chill this is actual temp.

Water heated manifolds only get hot when the engine is up to temp... as in I can be almost to work before I get my thermostat to open ( ten miles) it is an issue.

I may be Going in an other direction all together though. Turns out I am dumping a large number of my cars projects.. keeping only two Both previously my fathers.... the LWB 4x4 c10 I have been talking about and an '82 Jimmy ( full size) with a broken 6.2 diesel in it. might end up converting the Diesel over to my BB 427 tall deck, and going back to the 6 in the c10 (though I would probably substitute my spare 292 for the stock 250)

[Lippyp]

Surely some kind of engine pre heater is the best option in those temperatures, either an electric one or a gas powered eberspacher/kenlowe type on a timer, that way its warm as soon as you get in, easier starting, hot air to clear the windscreen and to warm your toes.

[jhaymon]

-50!!! man yould think we are dyeing here when its below regular 50f. ild have a fire built in the passenger floor board if it ever got that cold here.

[dracula4999]

Are you using a stock tbi for your conversion? I put an engine in my 93 chevy a few years ago that was already cammed when i bought it, it was cheap so i threw it in the truck. After it was installed and running found out that the cam screwed with the computer and i was just dumping fuel at an idle. Talked to a local computer tuner who said for around $600 and 4-8 hours on a chassis dyno he might be able to get it close enough to work. I never did it because i traded the truck for the 71 gmc i have now!!! Anyway what im getting at is he said that the tbi's are a b*tch to tune, and depending on the cam you may not ever get it right. If you can find a later model vortec style throttle body and intake and heads it would be a lot easier to get right. Or, there is always aftermarket fuel injection.

[Wrenchbender Ret]

[QUOTE=greywuuf;5456210]Hey guys, thanks for all of the advice and suggestions, I would like to point out though that I think only my Canadian neighbor really has an idea of the COLD I am talking about, I spend over half of my winter (oct -mar) at temps less than -40F and I have several screen captures of the weather on my phone where we were in excess of -50. This is not wind chill this is actual tem

Tell us about the procedures in starting & running a vehicle in that kind of temp. It would be interesting for us in the lower 48 to know. When it rarely gets 15-20 below half the cars won't start around here.
George

[Sport/Truck]

I've used SMI and would recommend at least talking to him about your problem.
http://www.smicarburetor.com/
s/t