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Hey everyone I just picked up a 1982 c3 that has a quadrajet on it. The problem is I’m not getting full travel in the linkage and can’t seem to figure out why. The throttle cable appears to be a factory style c3 cable. Any input or tips would be appreciated. Thanks
1982s never came with a Quadrajet. You might need a different throttle cable altogether, but based on the gold cad airhorn screws and carb body stripped of its coating you might have other issues.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
You have a ton of problems with that carb and its installation.
First, as noted above, the '82 Vette never came with a carb. It was a CrossFire Injection engine. The carb that has been scabbed onto your car is a hacked, commercially rebuilt mid-'70's truck carb that is best suited for you to practice your hook shots into the garage trash can. The throttle cable attach stud has been installed in the wrong hole in the throttle lever, so you cannot achieve full throttle actuation. It is also highly likely that you do not have enough accelerator pedal travel to pull the carb throttle all the way open, so you need to take a look at your accelerator pedal linkage and bend it into position to provide adequate pedal travel. This will also likely involve removing your floor mat and removing excessive padding under the carpeting in the accel pedal area.
...But you have much bigger problems than not achieving WOT on that carb. You do not have the correct CC distributor, so you have a real mess of a job for ignition - obviously, your computer has been disconnected. They have installed a vacuum advance distributor, which is not correct for your car, and I can see that the vacuum advance is disconnected, which means you have significant timing problems. You need to do a complete evaluation of your configuration and get that thing straightened out - you have a real messed up engine configuration. It's a total hack-job. Did you know what you were buying when you bought it..? If you are not aware of these issues, I have a funny feeling you did not do your buyer-beware research and just got hosed... the '82 Vette is a 1-year-only highly unique configuration car, and there are very few people in the U.S. who can work on them - therefore, most of the '82 Vettes are hacked, badly modified cars that you don't want to touch unless you are very skilled at working on them.
How do I know? I bought an '82 25 years ago, and I spent the next year of my life becoming a self-learned '82 Vette mechanic to get the car into good, drivable condition and un-doing all the hack-work done - just like on your car. If you're a really good mechanic, you have a long journey based on the few photos you have provided...
You have a ton of problems with that carb and its installation.
First, as noted above, the '82 Vette never came with a carb. It was a CrossFire Injection engine. The carb that has been scabbed onto your car is a hacked, commercially rebuilt mid-'70's truck carb that is best suited for you to practice your hook shots into the garage trash can. The throttle cable attach stud has been installed in the wrong hole in the throttle lever, so you cannot achieve full throttle actuation. It is also highly likely that you do not have enough accelerator pedal travel to pull the carb throttle all the way open, so you need to take a look at your accelerator pedal linkage and bend it into position to provide adequate pedal travel. This will also likely involve removing your floor mat and removing excessive padding under the carpeting in the accel pedal area.
...But you have much bigger problems than not achieving WOT on that carb. You do not have the correct CC distributor, so you have a real mess of a job for ignition - obviously, your computer has been disconnected. They have installed a vacuum advance distributor, which is not correct for your car, and I can see that the vacuum advance is disconnected, which means you have significant timing problems. You need to do a complete evaluation of your configuration and get that thing straightened out - you have a real messed up engine configuration. It's a total hack-job. Did you know what you were buying when you bought it..? If you are not aware of these issues, I have a funny feeling you did not do your buyer-beware research and just got hosed... the '82 Vette is a 1-year-only highly unique configuration car, and there are very few people in the U.S. who can work on them - therefore, most of the '82 Vettes are hacked, badly modified cars that you don't want to touch unless you are very skilled at working on them.
How do I know? I bought an '82 25 years ago, and I spent the next year of my life becoming a self-learned '82 Vette mechanic to get the car into good, drivable condition and un-doing all the hack-work done - just like on your car. If you're a really good mechanic, you have a long journey based on the few photos you have provided...
The car is an 82 collectors edition, it was a barn find out of Georgia. The guy I bought it from switched it over to carb before I bought it and didn’t work out all the small issues. I have all the original parts stored. The throttle cable attach stud is pressed and riveted in so I can’t move it. Even if I’m able to move it to the lower hole it still doesn’t seem like it would have enough travel. Is bending the gas pedal a typical solution on these cars?
The car is an 82 collectors edition, it was a barn find out of Georgia. The guy I bought it from switched it over to carb before I bought it and didn’t work out all the small issues. I have all the original parts stored. The throttle cable attach stud is pressed and riveted in so I can’t move it. Even if I’m able to move it to the lower hole it still doesn’t seem like it would have enough travel. Is bending the gas pedal a typical solution on these cars?
Yes....the pedal arms flex and bend and floor mats, carpet, insulation reduce travel even more. Pretty common to have to bend them up under the dash.
You may have to grind/drill the stud out to get enough travel.
That is a beautiful 82 Collectors edition.
Very unique and plenty rare.
So it is worth getting it right.
Lars knows these QJets (and tuning) like almost no other in the country.
I see you are new here, so Welcome to the forum!
That also means you do not know of Lars and his QJet knowledge that he has shared with us many times.
Some of the QJet disasters, that he has shared with us online, of member's carbs, that he has been able to bring back from the dead, and get running perfectly again, are just amazing.
First and foremost you need a good unmolested core to begin with, of the right model QJet. New (chinese) ones are junk, and so are ones that have been previously commercially rebuilt.
The newest GM ones are 40 years old now. But there are millions of them out there.
Search his threads here, he has made suggestions several times on how to find a good quality QJet core to start with, and then I would send it to him to work his magic and tune it specifically for your car.
It is well worth it for that car!
He prefers to be contacted by email here: v8fastcars@msn.com
Last edited by leigh1322; Oct 1, 2025 at 10:21 AM.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Originally Posted by 427Hotrod
Yes....the pedal arms flex and bend and floor mats, carpet, insulation reduce travel even more. Pretty common to have to bend them up under the dash.
You may have to grind/drill the stud out to get enough travel.
JIM
It's very common to have to re-bend the accel pedal hard-linkage under the dash.
You have to grind off the swage on the back of the ball stud installed in the wrong hole (you have a truck carb, so it has the ball in the truck linkage position) and remove it. Buy a new screw-on ball and install it in the correct hole.
Better yet: Find all the parts and pieces to your Crossfire system and get it running right. It runs very well when rebuilt and restored, along with the correct distributor all hooked up to the ECM. The current configuration of your car has a severe negative impact on its value.
Lars
Yep...when a Crossfire is right....it runs and drives great. I worked at Chevy dealer when they first came out and I went to school on them to became the "Crossfire Dude". Those tiny and long intake runners make them pretty punchy feeling from a light.
But if you get the Q-jet setup right as well as timing (remember...most carb issues are really timing issues)....it will drive well. As mentioned, that's a good looking car.....and probably more valuable with Crossfire if it works right....but many folks would prefer a carb for simplicity.
It's very common to have to re-bend the accel pedal hard-linkage under the dash.
You have to grind off the swage on the back of the ball stud installed in the wrong hole (you have a truck carb, so it has the ball in the truck linkage position) and remove it. Buy a new screw-on ball and install it in the correct hole.
Better yet: Find all the parts and pieces to your Crossfire system and get it running right. It runs very well when rebuilt and restored, along with the correct distributor all hooked up to the ECM. The current configuration of your car has a severe negative impact on its value.
Lars
I have all the original parts and pieces safely stored including the original distributor. I plan on putting aluminum heads and a Holley carb on this winter. The car will be a weekend cruiser/hot rod power tour cruiser. I guess I’d better not open the hood at car shows lol.
Quadrajet not getting WOT
