Originally Posted by 4-vettes

I wouldn't even dream of giving any advice on rebuilding a Quadrajet. I've rebuilt more carburetors than I can honestly remember. Never had any luck with the Quadrajet at all. But if your car is bone stock right down to the catalytic converter. Well, maybe you'll be OK.
As per your distributor. Easy. Obviously, mark all your plug wires by number. Remove all plug wires from cap and lay off to the sides. Remove the wiring plugs from drivers side of the cap. Factory stock should be 3 connectors. Power, tach and the 3 wire connector that goes into the base of the distributor. Remove the distributor cap with coil by releasing the 4 j hook screws. Now. Take note of 2 things. One, the direction the vacuum line for the vacuum advance can is pointing. Generally it's pointing approximately at the valve cover bolt. Note if it's pointing straight at it, just behind it, etc. And 2. Note which way the rotor is pointing. If you pull and reinstall the intake manifold without turning the engine these 2 things are all you need to note.
Now, knowing where that vac can nipple is pointing and the direction the rotor is pointing. Unhook That vacuum line and loosen the hold down bolt for the distributor clamp. Once fairly loose slide the hold down clamp away from the shaft of the distributor. Pull straight up on distributor and watch closely as the rotor turns anti clockwise as you raise it up. Note where it stops rotating! This is the key. On installation you want to have your rotor in this position as you lower it down and in. Once it engages the cam gear it will rotate the rotor back to that original position.
yes it is common to have to reach in there with a long flat blade screw driver and turn that oil pump shaft just a tad to get everything to line up on reassembly.
If you don't turn the crank and your rotor is pointing in the same direction as it was when you started, and that vacuum can is pointing really close to where it was. Your timing will be very, very close.
Have fun!

Originally Posted by RickM Z06

I agree. Looks great to me!
The vacuum advance can on the distributor looks aftermarket. Maybe someone else can verify. Did you order a new cross cable for the hood latches?
Only thing I don't care for on your car is the shifter But that's just my personal preference. You bought a nice PC and I'm a might jealous.
RM

Originally Posted by Golfobsessed

the shifter is stock no?

Originally Posted by RickM Z06

Shifter is stock. I was referring to the car being an auto & not a 4sp.
Maybe next time you have it on a lift, snap & post a couple pics of underneath?
RM

Originally Posted by RickM Z06

Thanks. Be awesome if the frame stencil is still there on the passenger side.
If you get hung up on anything, PM me. I've done this kind of thing scads of times and also have a 78 so familiar with the engine and all it's accessories bolted onto it.
You're on your own on the carb rebuild. I do have 3 1978 Q-jets so if you need to reference something on the outside, I can explain or send pics.
Make sure you get as much coolant out as possible before unbolting the intake. Consider taking the water pump off before the manifold. You don't want coolant getting in the lifter valley when you pop the intake loose.
Be methodical and take your time. It is a fairly easy job.
And put some good sealant on the intake bolts. Some of them go into coolant passages. Good luck.
RM

Originally Posted by Golfobsessed

thanks Hopper12, I appreciate the response, it's definitely a good car, things I absolutely expected for a 46 year old car with 5k original miles.
I knew people would recommend sending the carb to Lars and know he does amazing work, I've built and restored cars my whole life and in the collision industry but always buy finished drivetrains to install, i dont get into drivetrain internals much, I'm very mechanically inclined and won't learn if I don't do it myself... want to learn and rebuild this one myself... I won't mess it up :-)

I know i will find the coolant leak through all this, removing all this will gain me access to the front of the motor, i suspect by its intermittent it may be in the t-stat goose neck but want to get into the water pump while im doing this, the front of the engine is very clean and actually makes it hard to see any trails... thought maybe someone has thoughts on this small leak after sitting a bit.

Ok so for the intake... this is an L82 with the aluminum intake, I actually believe a light coat of silver paint was applied over the intake from the factory and the intake bolts were natural finish, this intake was off once for gasket replacement and it was painted the same blue as the engine, I want to strip it back to natural aluminum and make it look factory again, the only way to properly do this would be to remove it and strip the blue paint off... what a shame someone painted it blue instead of cleaning it properly. I did a little hand paining with aluminum paint and looks good from a few feet away but not the way I want to do things, engine bay is clean and this need to be fixed ( I have replaced that red dist cap with correct) this whole project will allow me to clean up the other patina as well



Thanks again, I spent a couple weeks going through the car before driving it, all cooling is functioning as it should and I can take this car out in Arizona 115 degree weather, had the car in the air for a week when I installed the exhaust and went through everything... just want to get these things fixed before starting on paint.

Originally Posted by gsimon767

I agree with the water pump leaking past the seal. Probably because it sat for a long period. It might reseal itself after you drive it for awhile. I may be wrong but I don’t think the intake manifold is aluminum. L82 engines in 75-77 have cast iron manifolds. The blue on yours may be factory. Judging by the picture I would bet the engine is untouched. If the intake is not leaking oil at the front or rear you are opening a can of worms by removing it. Unless you just want a project to learn leave well enough alone. If you want to learn about the car join the NCRS. If you want to learn about 78 cars but don’t want to join NCRS then you can buy a judging manual from the NCRS for 78-79 years for about $60. It looks like you have a very nice original pace car. Your carb definitely needs to be restored. Start with that and learn about keeping the car original.


I only removed and replaced my intake because of a large leak at the rear China wall where the gasket had blown out

Originally Posted by drwet

Sounds like that carb is working exactly like they all did in 1978 - terrible. In order to meet emission control standards the carbs were set up to run way too lean, and then they installed plugs to prevent anyone from adjusting the idle mixture. We used to use a grinder and a screw and a slide hammer to remove the mixture plugs. This would allow richening up the idle mixture. Raise the float level, and move the accelerator pump rod to the inner hole to increase the pump shot. All of this would get the engine to run reasonably well, but they still sucked. Don't get me wrong - Quadrajets are fine carburetors. The problem is the way they were set up by the factory to meet government mandates. Some things never change.

Originally Posted by Golfobsessed

Sorry for a long post.
I am about to take on a first time task... I purchased a very low mile 78 L82 pace car a few months back... it has been a strange relationship so far and wasn't sure of a direction, I feel the seller was a little less than transparent about some things also a C2 I once owned is coming available and I can buy it back, considered selling this pace car but just can't do it so I'm moving forward with some things... I'm committed now. I've replaced the original tires (kept originals), got the suspension where I want it to sit height wise (I've always thought the gymkhana suspension sits a bit too high) I added the corvette central true dual magnaflow exhaust as well, I kept all original parts. The interior is near perfect and won't touch it, the car has exceptional paint for a 1978, I spent 2 days wetsanding and polishing, the decals look like new which is surprising to me, hard to believe they are original but the paint is 100% original and zero signs of decal removal which is almost impossible on 1978 factory lacquer... I do however plan on disassemble and paint here soon, the car has clearly been kept inside since new but it is 46 year old factory body lines and paint.
before I start the paint process I have a few under the hood issues and not familiar with what im about to do, not worried about doing it just not right in my wheel house.
first off the carb is original and never rebuilt, the car starts, engine runs and sounds great but I have to feather the gas a bit when cold and pulling out of my garage or it will stall, when I take off I have a little flat spot at first acceleration... gets better as it warms up, the car doesn't run hot, I'm in Arizona and my drives so far have been well over 100 and the temp gauge stays between about 195 and 205 but when I stop and let sit for a short while I have to pump the gas to start again almost like its flooded... I ordered a rebuild kit with accelerator pump from Cliff Ruggles and spoke with him a bit, I've never rebuilt a carb before but I'm gonna take on the task, he said just set to factory set up but not specific so 1. where do I find these or just pay attention to turns and return all to the same? I do plan allot of vids and pics along the way... 2. any other secrets I should know?
I have a strange coolant leak, I can see the drip at the very front of the bottom of the motor but can't trace it, it is definitely somewhere in the front of the motor for sure so I can only think water pump or front of intake or thermostat goose neck or hose, I can drive around at 110 degrees out, park the car running in my driveway with no leaks, park it and check it an hour later and no leaks but after a few days I have a few drips of coolant from front of motor so I want to tackle the intake for that reason and more so my intake has been painted, I don't like the way it looks against an otherwise very clean motor, so while I'm doing the carb I want to remove the intake and strip it which will require removal of the distributor... something else I haven't done before, I've read enough to know to mark both the base of the dist against the intake as well as rotar point against the distributor... I understand the mechanics in the motor with distributor, gear and pump and plan to also mark the rotar location against the distributor once freed from the gear rotation... 3. Am I missing something more I should be aware of?
Back to the intake... I've read allot of different opinions on gasket kits, gasket vs sealant for China wall, I feel no rubber gaskets for China and using a sealant will be my route... I will cover the valley and put rags in head ports but 4. any other advise?
It looks like new intake gaskets are in place so someone has replaced them as of recent so should have fairly easy gasket clean up. I've read a pretty detailed process on here from 4-vettes and gonna go that route if I can find it again.

this all will give me the opportunity to check for and fix that coolant leak, will more than likely re-gasket or replace water pump, t-stat and gasket and valve cover gaskets while doing this all

any other advise or tricks would be great and again sorry for long post.

with all due respect I'm not looking to be talked out of this or sub it out, as i said with this project "aint skeered" just looking for any insight that may help from those who've pioneered the way. I get on a plane almost every Monday for business with bruised arms and busted up knuckles from the weekend in the garage. Thanks for the insight thus far.

Originally Posted by BurntOrange_C3

Read through my build thread, just went through most of this myself.

Originally Posted by Golfobsessed

A few questions... I'm ordering gaskets, been reading and best I can tell I'm needing fel pro 90314-2 gasket... I'm reading about low crush gaskets for aluminum intake so what's the best gasket to use? Fel pro doesn't really say much on their site for a different gasket for aluminum intake vs cast... the 90314-2 just comes up with my make/model

I'm ordering the "right stuff" for the china wall and believe i want black RTV around the water ports... do I need a thin coating along the rest of the gasket or just around the water ports?

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by HeadsU.P.

As mentioned in your other post yesterday, that Intake Gasket you picked allows the hot air crossover.
Try the FelPro 1205. Blocks the crossover.