rebuild carb or buy new?

[dannies68]

Long story short, my wife and I are getting her dads '68 SWB running and driving after sitting since '91. We have finally got the truck running and driving but the carb needs work. The motor is a 327 and the tranny is a muncie 4sp (both out of a 64 Impala). The motor has been bored .30 over with a mild cam and solid lifters.

My main question is whether to have the quadra-jet rebuilt or to buy a new carb?

My father-in-law would prefer the quadra-jet for fuel economy but I am worried it would end up being more costly in the long run.

-Tony

[geezer#99]

Are you sure it's a quadrajet?
Could be a rochestor 4 jet or an afb. or a wcfb.
Take a pic.

[dannies68]

I will try and get a picture and exact carb info tomorrow morning

[Cercious]

I have a Quadrajet in my '71. Only problem I have with it is I can only find jokes about tuning it(Including a video of a guy just smacking it with a hammer.), and no real info on how to actually do it.

I rebuilt the old one. Didn't get me anywhere. Just more trouble. Bought a rebuilt 750 CFM Quadrajet from Jet Performance. Best money I've spent on that truck yet, if I can ever figure the, ahem, thing out. Everyone has their opinions, but after getting 25 mpg on my way home from post one time while on leave, I think it's what I'm going to stick with.

[Lattimer]

Lots of people love quadrajets. I have no idea why. Overcomplicated POS in my opinion. You can buy a nice new carb starting around $300.

[68gmsee]

Rochester/Qjet four barrel carbs are not that difficult to rebuild if you take the time to read the instructions and view videos to understand how they work and to dismantle and clean them. Lots of good info on the net on them.

In the past I've bought rebuilt carbs but after I saw what was coming out from some of these rebuilding companies I decided I could do better. Occasionally, you can find a really good rebuilder but the cost is high.

If you don't have the time to mess with them and you can afford it, a new carb would be the way.

[Tom Vogel]

The quadrajet is a good carb. However, it must be rebuilt correctly. Most important is to re-bush the control rods.
If it were mine, I would send it to The Carb Shop in Ontario Ca. They are the Gurus on those. I have had excellent results with them in the past. When you get the carb back from them, all you will have to do is bolt it on. No jetting no adjusting. It will last you a Long time and give you No hassles. fwiw

[kcsa75]

Take this for what it's worth. Other than the basic concept of how a carb works, I know less about them than i do about women.

My truck had a Q-Jet on it when I bought it. It didn't run very well, so I took it to an old-timer with a lot of Q-Jet experience, who rebuilt it. He told me when I picked it up that he did the best he could but that the old carb had seen better days.
About a year later, I purchased a "rebuilt" Q-Jet off Craigslist. Took it back to my guy to do his magic. The end result was about the same as the first time, so we decided it was probably time for a new carb. He recommended a Holly, stating that if I could find the last Q-Jet ever built by Rochester, it would still be 25 years old.
To make a long story short, I went with a Holly (http://www.holley.com/0-80458SA.asp) with vacuum secondaries and electric choke and couldn't be happier. Starts up first time, every time.

[MARKDTN]

Originally Posted by Tom Vogel

The quadrajet is a good carb. However, it must be rebuilt correctly. Most important is to re-bush the control rods.
If it were mine, I would send it to The Carb Shop in Ontario Ca. They are the Gurus on those. I have had excellent results with them in the past. When you get the carb back from them, all you will have to do is bolt it on. No jetting no adjusting. It will last you a Long time and give you No hassles. fwiw

I will second a good experience with them around 2000. I have heard that the original owner died and the son is not as careful, but do your own research on them lately. The one I got back (1978 Trans Am) truly was bolt-on and drive.

[Daubs]

Had a Holley in my K-20. Dropped in a new crate 350 a few years back, and the truck stumbled and backfired with the Holley. I struggled to get it running right. Finally ditched it and got an Edelbrock Carb. Problem solved.

Had a Quadrajet on my 82 K-10 back in the day. Never ran right. Save yourself the headache and get a new carb.

[chevy72blu]

Not being an expert in them (despite my best efforts to follow manuals - before youtube was around), I fought one in my truck for a few years before bailing and buying an Edelbrock 1406. I've heard that there is no better carb than a q-jet for a driver application, but I've never seen it in reality (nor most of my friends).

If you have someone local that really knows their way around one (very rare), I would rebuild it. Otherwise, skip the headache and go Edelbrock for out of the box or Holley if you're interested in really tinkering with it and tuning it.

[dannies68]

Hopefully the attachments work. I know the carb is dirty but if any of you can let me know some details about it I would greatly appreciate it.

[AirSpeed]

Doesn't look like my quadrajet.

[dannies68]

That's good to know. I am new to carbed motors so I would love to get this thing properly identified before I scrap it or get a new one.

[geezer#99]

Rochestor 4gc.
Here's some info on it.
http://c777913.r13.cf2.rackcdn.com/r...gc_rebuild.pdf

These guys sell carb kits.
http://quadrajetparts.com/rochester-...c-104_123.html

[dannies68]

Awesome! Thanks for the ID. Now the question of whether to rebuild or not. I found someone nearby selling a new edlebrock for $150. But if I do that I will also need to get a new intake correct?

[davepl]

Originally Posted by Lattimer

Lots of people love quadrajets. I have no idea why. Overcomplicated POS in my opinion. You can buy a nice new carb starting around $300.

Because Holleys suck at anything below 97% throttle. How long as GM been selling the ZZ502 and they still don't have a decent calibration for their 850. I put mine on a shelf and replaced it with an Edelbrock AVS. Then I eventually went to a Q-Jet. That meant buying a new one from Jet and then having it redone properly locally by Carb Connection.

The Q-Jet is a marvel of engineering. They stuck it on everything from the 500cid Cadillac to 327s, and it just works. You can tune them without removing fuel bowls, the tiny primaries are super-responsive, and I could go on and on. But I won't.

It's when "experts" mess them up that they get a bad name. Plus, today's fuel has changed enough that the factory calibrations aren't spot on anymore, so they require a retune sometimes. Which, when done by someone that -almost- knows what they're doing, makes it worse.

Racing? Buy a Dominator. Real car? Put a Q-Jet on it. Pump twice, turn key, enjoy life.

Once some goon starts bending choke pull-off rods or drilling throttle plates because he's trying to fix a bad idle that's actually a vacuum leak elsewhere then all bets are off.

[geezer#99]

Originally Posted by dannies68

Awesome! Thanks for the ID. Now the question of whether to rebuild or not. I found someone nearby selling a new edlebrock for $150. But if I do that I will also need to get a new intake correct?

They're a decent carb. Around 360 to 380 cfm. Have a small bolt (4x4.25 IIRC) pattern so an edelbrock or holley won't bolt on without an adaptor.
If you get a new intake you'll need one with the oil fill tube in the front.
Like this.
http://www.edelbrock.com/media/news/...ve/070908.html