The Best Carburetor?

Rustisbest said:

I'm sorry they refuse to let us in on the secret. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

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No secret, I just don't know of a link that has everything. I rebuilt my first Qjet about 1980 and just kept learning as time went on. Doug Roe I bought his book because everyone kept talking about it. It's a good book to learn 44 years worth of hard learned stuff in a week. Online any posts you can find from Lars at digital corvettes will be good information. Now as to the Edelbrock stuff people don't realize it's a repop. of a 1964 Carter AFB c. Stock 300hp 327 carb NBD Chevrolet replaced them with the Qjet in 1965 and kept updating them until 1986. So in my opinion a 2nd generation Qjet your starting point is 10 years more advanced plus any updates after that point..
Fun fact 1977 ish. My go to was old Impala carbureators and a torker manifold, then it was Holleys,then it was Qjets.

I was hoping you would post some of those "tricks" you mentioned

Rustisbest said:

I was hoping you would post some of those "tricks" you mentioned

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Best tips are going to be check your your primary throttle bushings,they probably need rebushed,if you don't have the tools,don't want to buy the tools,redrilling the body makes you nervous,I can tell you how to make cheater slip in Teflon bushings. Make sure you clean all the passages and emulsion tubes. I have a collection of cut up guitar strings for doing this. Always replace the float,use a non windowed needle and seat and test it. Modify for adjustable apt. Make sure timings right get your idle right first,then jet primaries,then jet secondary. Learn to set the tension on the secondary air doors.

Wow, no one has said anything about a Edelbrock AVS2 carb. I'm really leaning into getting one.

OP hasn't been back since 1st post.....you guys scared off another one!!!

Nasty-LSX said:

Wow, no one has said anything about a Edelbrock AVS2 carb. I'm really leaning into getting one.

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Dont


but if you do, don't tell

Practice what you preach.
This is for my big block, small block stuff is cheaper and more plentiful.

I pulled this Performer manifold out of the swap 5 years ago for $125 and that was still a good deal.
They are currently $368 at Summit and the ebay clones are $159.

In 2022 at a different swap meet I plucked this 750 cfm Holley out for a mere $40.


The PO was trying to get it to work on an engine that was out of whack, so they thought the carb was part of the issue.
Gave up on the engine and we bought it.

I gave junior permission to buy what he deemed needed for it and he spent another $160 on upgrades and a full jet kit.
My 20 year old son then took all the parts and rebuilt the carb and it runs quite well on the truck now.


Here are the above parts that he installed on the truck.
Now it is a hoot to drive.


I still have the Q-bog, but it has the worn throttle shaft syndrome.
So it will just be occupying a shelf for the foreseeable future.


The engine has a wimpy little RV cam in it that was put in years ago.
When I bought the truck is would barely turn the tire over on dry ground.
Simple traditional modifications of carb, intake, headers, and exhaust, now it is a whole different animal.

If you are so inclined to start looking at random carbs from strangers, here is where to look before you buy.

2 years ago at the swap meet.
I spotted this Holley in a booth and it looked super clean.
Price tag was $75 so I put my hand on it to stake it as mine for the time being.
(It is seen sitting atop the BB Performer RPM manifold for the next engine in my truck also from the swap for $225 and Summit has them for $391 currently)


I told Max to get his phone out and look this number up for me, 80570.


His search came back with that I was going to save myself $551 for a carb that was only used to run a cam in for 20 minutes.


Max asked what I needed a small carb like this one for.
I told him not to worry about it as I have another carb at home that could use the electric choke and fuel inlet for and that was nearly what this complete unit cost.
This carb ended up sitting on his 307 that motivates his '49 Chevy.
He no longer asks "what do we need this for?" at the swaps.

In 2023 I must have taught him right, he found this 670 cfm street avenger for $100 and snapped it up.
We will have a use for it in the near future with 2 more V8 cars getting put together soon.
It has a number in the same spot that tells us of what it is or started as, 80670-1.
This one is currently $620 at Summit.


And a couple months later, I found something I wanted at the next swap.
Dude wouldn't budge on his price for the steering column and wheel for $150, so I asked if he would take $225 for the column / wheel and the dirty old Holley he had on another table.
Dirty old Holley was in fact an 850 cfm double pumper with a Proform main body and base plate that he wanted $150 for as well.
Since this one has aftermarket parts on it, it was pretty simple to see as the CFM is stamped on the side of the main body.


I ended up getting the package as it was raining and everybody wanted to pack up and go home.
But that is when I get the best deals as a buyer.


With the a 570, a 670, 2 @ 750, and 1 850 cfm carbs we have, I still have not spent as much as one new carb.
They will all of course be gone through before we put them to use, but if the 2 we are currently using are an indicator of what we have things will be good to go.

YardPickerUpper said:

I've had my '79 k10 for a few years now, and was thinking about getting a new carb/intake manifold combo for it. It's a 5.7l 350 and it's got some rebuilt 4brl carb on it right now with the stock manifold. Was wondering if anybody had a favorite carb/intake manifold setup that they've been using just for the road without breaking the bank. I would also like to convert it over to electric choke so, let me know your specifics or I'll just get some edelbrock or holley combo on Summit and call it a day.

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I’m going to stay out of which brand because any of them will work fine. In my opinion most people screw up by getting a carb which doesn’t match their engine setup. If you’re going with stock cylinder heads, cam and low compression pistons then a 600 cam carb should be the maximum size probably still more than you need, in my opinion.

The Simplest carb is the old Charter/Edelbrock remake, (which MIGHT be done in china) the next is a Holly make sire you have the antiblowback valve kit to save your power valve, ( I believe that became stock at some time...)

The Qjet can be a good MPG carb thanks to the SMALL primary's and and a good power carb thanks to the Flushomatic secondaries...and that woop noise if kind of fun.

The main STEEL shafts of all old carbs wear/cut into the aluminum bodies so if they do not have the bronze inserts plan on doing them.

AND the damn main Qjets were drilled though the bottom of the main body and are very notorious for leaking and back in the day(60s, 70s and 80s) I never found a good expoxie or other repair kit that lasted, so when MPG dropped I knew it was time to redo them.

IF GO FAST is all you want the after market carbs will work BUT forget grate MPG they are not made for it.

At one time I had a lot of Qjet parts and a bunch of three step metering rod and springs to tune the primary jets for best MPG, and note if the engine vacuum dropped to 10Inches the rods are all out and your running on the main jets only.

A hard learned lesson was that stock is almost always the best thing. After market stuff IS not the overall best, you almost always lose something..like good starting good first few miles of god driving and so on.

Once I learned Fuel Injection, I will never go back to a carb.

Rich

Quadrajet has always done right by me. Have one on the 454 and it works great. Every edelbrock I have had a been a huge pos. One on the 84 now sucks. Just haven't replaced it. Never had a holley so can't speak to them.

I got a suggestion....

I am a carburetor dunce. I can't make old Qjets work well or stay in tune and I'm too lazy to learn. The last 5 sbc that I have owned I take the offending Qjet off and put an adaptor on the stock manifold and mount an Edelbrock 600 cfm with an electric choke and drive it around. I am not a go-fast guy I just like them to start and drive without having to mess with them Summer 100+ and winter, -15.

SquareRoot said:

I got a suggestion....

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Sniper?