My carb is in need of some work. The high idle never worked and the engine doesn't idle steady like I think it should. The bowl leaks as it probably needs to be resealed. The main shaft probably needs to be re-bushed causing some idle problems. I know I can buy the rebushing kit for about $50 which isn't bad. I also corrected the Bubba vacuum line out the back with the correct piece, and even though I read that I shouldn't tighten it too much or risk cracking the base, I still tightened it a bit too much and did put some kind of hairline crack in it as I heard it click on my last turn.

I've seen the rebuild kits for a Q-jet for $30-40 which again isn't much. So a quick tally gives me:

#1 - rebush kit $50
#2 - carb rebuild kit $40
#3 - a new base $??? I know a place I can probably get one for $30

So I'm probably well over $100 and then I'm still stuck with an old looking carb. I can probably clean it up with the gallon carb cleaner I've seen others use, maybe another $40?

My local car shop, Classics Plus in Savage MN, had quoted me about $250 to rebuild mine. I wasn't sure what's included in that rebuild so I sent them an email this morning to get an idea of what's included, haven't heard back yet.

With that said, I've seen some very nicely rebuilt carbs on eBay for close to $200. I'm not overly worried about keeping the carb original as I'll just pack up my old one. I'm just looking for maybe some other alternatives.

 

Pay 'em. Local folks you can actually talk to if you need to.

Do the eBay thing and who knows what you get.

 

I just received an email back from Classics Plus. The "rebuild" is only the carb kit and assembly, plus I believe he said he's glue the bottom holes so my bowl doesn't slowly leak. $250 seems like a lot of money for a $40 kit and assembly, I'd rather do it myself at that point. I'd still have to have my bushings redone and/or a new base plate (the hairline crack).

The guy on eBay that I've seen here, has 100% feedback on over 1300 responses. The carbs he has for sale look pretty damn nice to me. There can't be that much he could mess up. Even if he did, I'd have a nicely looking carb (base + shafts) already done that I could just rebuild myself.

 

I was looking into this and asked for references. I was looking for a specific 1969 # and date. One guy wanted $1000 for a "restored" correct carb.

I bought a correct but crusty one from a forum member for $200, and now the Quad Shop is restoring it for $420.

Be glad you aren't being picky.

 

I might be picky but my engine hood, car color, and trans are not correct. I just want a nice driver at this point, and I'm pretty sure the carb needs some work.

I've been looking around and trying to figure out if there are any major differences between the qjet for a SB vs BB, and manual vs automatic. Is it essentially the same exact carb except that it's tuned/jetted differently?

 

Party til ya drop.

 

So, let me tell ya a story about my carb situation. I restored my '72 recently but hadn't gone through the carb. I knew it needed it, but was putting it off. With the choke on, it would run/idle just fine but when the choke went off it wouldn't idle much at all. I'm fortunate in that where I live there's a Corvette enthusiast - and general car nut - plus he's a Q-jet expert (has his own auto repair shop here). Last week I took my carb to him w/instructions to make it right - whatever it needed.

I stopped by day before yesterday to check on the progress and it was ready. BUT, in the process he found a couple of things that warranted the replacement of the entire carb body. 1st, Bubba had epoxied the needle valve seat which ruined the body. 2nd, Bubba had tightened the carb down onto the manifold so tightly that it warped the body of the carb. You could actually see a curvature in the top plate. After seeing it, I could hardly believe it would run at all. So, my numbers matching carb is junk - unusable - but I kept it for posterity.

Long story short, I installed the refurbished carb and she runs great! Total bill for the rebuild and complete used body - $175, and I was happy to pay it!

 

Daytona Carburetor rebuilt a carb for me about five years ago. They refurbished and re-plated everything. Cost me $325.00 back then and it looked better than new and the best part was it worked perfect.

 

Pretty much a matter of metering rods and jets if you stay with the non electronic design. I currently have a QJet which originally came off a 350 truck engine, now on a 454 with a standard. Lars massaged it a bit, works pretty well. It's a temporary carb I'm using until I can get my other carb off to Cliff Ruggles.

Word of caution with QJets. There's A LOT OF JUNK out there. Most commercial rebuilds I've heard of have issues. For some reason the rebuilders hack the carbs, make modifications. Could be they're trying to make the carb work over a wider set of applications. I bought a rebuilt carb once from a commercial supplier. Couldn't get it to idle properly, mixture screws were ineffective. I sent this "Rebuilt by Holley" carb to a rebuilder, was told he had to replace the main body, some parts were cut, helicoils inserted, etc. It had been butchered.

Advice I received from Lars was to find a crusty old carb, preferably one with grease all over it, ORIGINAL and untouched by mass rebuilders. Have that carb cleaned up and rebuilt. Warping is another issue. Once they're warped you'll have all kinds of strange problems. Some claim there's a fixture which some rebuilders use to take the warp out, at least enough to allow the gasket to seal well.

 

Just my opinion....

If you don't know of a reputable/knowledgable Q-Jet rebuilder, you will almost always do better rebuilding it yourself. On your first rebuild, it might cost nearly as much as having it done. But, you will learn so much about the carb in the process and you can even help some other folks out with their's in the the future.

You need to buy Cliff Ruggles booklet on "How to Rebuild and Modify the Quadrajet Carburetor". Order from Amazon, eBay, or buy at book store for less than $20 (and, it's invaluable information for working on Q-Jets). You will need to set aside a few hours to scan the entire booklet...then read the entire booklet, so you know enough to take the carb apart and see what you really have. Suggestion: Do not try to work on the carb and read the booklet "on the fly". There are to many differences between various Q-Jet carbs to do so.

Buy a brass float for your carb [if it doesn't already have one]; and dunk it in a mug of water, looking for bubbles, to make sure it is sealed. Also, buy an Echlin carb rebuild kit at NAPA; it already contains a good quality needle valve and seat...other brands don't.

You can do this!!! And, if you follow Ruggle's instructions, you can have your carb working like new (or better) in less than a day. {After you've read and learned what you need to do.}

If you choose to buy a carb over the internet, be prepared to disassemble it and check it out, or rebuild it again, before you install it. I don't think the odds are good that you will receive one that will work well 'out of the box'.

Good luck.

 

If you do not want to do it yourself, perhaps consider:
http://olescarb.com/ ask for Henry, or
http://www.jetchip.com/JET_Carburetors.asp a level 2 Q-Jet

Cliff Ruggles has a great reputation; I believe he is backlogged...

If you use someone else, like the EBay shop, please post your results. I am sure many of us would like to know.

 

I've been carb shopping this week.

Is there something I'm missing by considering a brand new Edelbrock for around $300?
Buy it off of Advance Auto's web site, find a good coupon code and the price would be around $250.

Is there a good reason to rebuild my old carb or spend just as much on a rebuilt unit? Are the new performance Edelbrock and Holley carbs being made in China or something?

 

A properly set up and tuned Qjet will make more power and give better gas milage than either an Edelbrock or Holley. The downside is the complexity. Qjets aren't as straight forward and easy to tune as the others.

 

Last I looked the spreadbore versions of the Edelbrock carb aren't available. I think there's a Holley out there, spreadbore which is still available.

I personally am staying with a QJet even though it has been a bit of a hassle.

 

Jet (the chip guys) also sells a re-manufactured Q-Jet in several different sizes and tunes. the price is right and the one that i put onto a friends 79 Trans AM hasnt given him a touch of trouble in 6 years.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/JET-35001/

thats the model that is on Johns T/A

 

Get in line and wait for a cliff ruggles rebuild. It will be worth it. Jmo