You have some major birdcage issues. Have you fully assessed all other areas of the cage?

 

It ran on the engine 20 years ago. The engine is new, kinda. 2k miles on it since it was put in 20 years ago. So the carb has ran. I tried to fit a Edelbrock one but it would not fit in the manifold the engine has on it. Even with a spacer. I really appreciate you. The screws came from Quadrajet Power. I can probably do all that with the shaft.

 

Hello 69L88, I have looked over the bird cage only other area I see is windshield bottom corner passengers side has a small hole but good metal around it. I believe it was hit on drivers side because the rocker panel loos like it was replaced in the past. I have purchased the replacement #2 rocker channel mounts for both sides to fix the missing bolt mounts. This was supposed to be a small fix her up and drive after long storage but after looking further into the car the only two body mounts position that we’re holding the body on were the #1 and #3 drivers side. Also found passenger side front spring broke in half. Lol so now it’s repair and replace just about everything. Never going to get the money back out of here but she will be beautiful again soon.

 

Throw that spacer in the trash......probably the worst aftermarket item next to screw in Coil Spring jacks and stick on Fender Vents......
You will NEVER get the car to run correctly with a spacer designed to adapt a square bore carb to a spread bore manifold......

Jebby

 

Sorrys. Lol. The spacer in the photo was one for the old carb. Just a photo I had. Lol. Doesn’t really matter tho because I can’t get it to fit. Gotta stick with the quadrajet. Only carb I have that works for the car.

 

Curious on this point. How does this differ (with respect to the carb) from running a car and then letting everything sit say over the winter for 4 or 5 months?? Particularly interested as I just bought a very expensive rebuilt carb from a highly competent venue and don't plan on installing it for a year or so.

 

If the "very expensive" and "competent" venue actually test-ran the carb on an actual engine, your carb has a shelf life of a few weeks to a month-or-so as the fuel dries out of the seals and passages after they drained the fuel out of it for shipment. If they didn't run it, they are far from "competent," but the carb will have an indefinite shelf life with no assurance that it will actually run, since it has never been tested... When a carb is installed on an engine and shut down for a few months, it is usually fully fuel-soaked, and the fuel wetting internally will prevent the gaskets, accel pump, and IFR passages from fully drying out and turning into concrete for a while longer. My cars will usually survive 3-4 months of storage, but problems start happening beyond that if they have not been started. Once the fuel fully evaporates out of the carb and the bowl, you're looking at another carb rebuild with some challenges in getting the dried fuel residue out of the small passages. When I was working for GM dealerships in the 1970's, every car on the sales lot was required to be started and warmed up at least once every month for this reason.- there was a log kept to verify that the new cars were started and "fuel soaked" regularly.

Lars

 

Lars,
Thank you for all you contribute to the cause. I am amazed I found such a recent post by you when I was starting with a 2001 post. Could you please email me (to ChevyVan@nilvarg.com) the MS Word document you mention in your very old post entitled "How to adjust a Q-Jet Power Piston (with top removal procedures)" -> https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rocedures.html as I would appreciate the illustrations.
Thank you,
Keith

 

Hello Lars,
Let me preface by saying I am posting to further the intellectual discussion and selfishly my education. I have been around long enough and read enough to respect your position in the Corvette/carb world. That said...this topic reminds me (as an engineer) of the notion of theory vs. practice. What I mean is...yes everything you stated makes sense...but what actually happens out there in the world/environment. I do intend to contact my carb supplier to get their views and suggestions. But for now...I have the carb and can't undo that and can't install on the car for a number of monhts. It sits in its sealed shipping box...so is there anything i can/should doto preserve and avoid problems. Back to the story...how does one explain a Corvette that sits unstarted for 20+ years and then fires up and runs fine?? after gas tank purge etc. Surely 20 years is enough time to dry out anything and everything in a carb? Is this desirable or ideal to do.?? absolutely not...but it do'ed what it did and started up and ran. Now longer term...who knows. So I guess the other concept I will throw in the mix along the lines of theory vs. practice (or observed in the field) is materiality. Sure things dry out and that is not good. How much does it really or quantitatively matter from a practical driving perspective. I hope this post in taken in the nature it is intended.