The Best Carburetor?

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YardPickerUpper

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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.
 

Rustisbest

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Q jet guys are gonna say they're the best because GM knows all and people who don't like them don't understand them. They usually have a cousins/sisters/brothers former roommate that was a w-h-i-z with a Qjet. Coupled with a 700r4 and 2.56 gears you stop at gas stations to unload fuel not fill up. They like the sound too.

Holley and Edelbrock guys usually say just put em on and go. A crude bunch. It may not be perfect but good enough for most situations. Some screw with em and get em all out of whack and hate them. Poor fuel mileage is easy to attain.

Try em all see what you like. Just like women...some like blondes, some like brunettes, some like crazy redheads.
 

Ricko1966

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I am that qjet wiz on post 4. But as also mentioned on post 4 about Holleys and Edelbrocks. Holleys are so simple to dial in compared to a Qjet. My first choice would be Qjet,but if you don't want to learn how to make all the adjustments,and want something simple. A Holley is dirt simple and run good. And the Crazy ones are fun,until they're not.
 
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Catbox

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A simple Holley carb and a Edelbrock Performer manifold.
Those would just about cover everything you will want.
Ease of availability on parts and they are everywhere, so if you have an issue out of town parts will be around you.

If you are savvy you can find both second hand in good shape for far less than brand new.
 

CountKrunk

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I am that qjet wiz on post 4. But as also mentioned on post 4 about Holleys and Edelbrocks. Holleys are so simple to dial in compared to a Qjet. My first choice would be Qjet,but if you don't want to learn how to make all the adjustments,and want something simple. A Holley is dirt simple and run good. And the Crazy ones are fun,until they're not.
My plan is to rebuild my qjet with the qjet power website kit.

You got a link for all the adjustments you can make?
 

RecklessWOT

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Lmao, that's a loaded question around here.

The stock Rochester Quadrajet is a fine carb but a lot of people hate on it because yeah it can kinda be finicky. A lotta guys like Edelbrock because they're performance oriented, and there are a lot of parts to go along with them, but they have their issues as well, can be slightly finicky if something isn't set up just right. A lot of people like like Holley carbs because they are in fact the best. Lmao, I say that half-jokingly, but really. They're also performance oriented like an edelbrock, there might not be quite as many performance parts to go with them (and I'm just saying that based on what I have seen in the real world, I don't spend a lot of time studying speed parts catalogs for my old trucks), but IME you can take a Holley out of the box (that has been dropped down a flight of stairs), bolt it on, and it will run like a m0f0. Honestly they're all good in their own right, you just have to be familiar with what you're working with. All have slight advantages and disadvantages. None are terrible, and none are sent straight from God himself (though the Holley is close). Pick what you like/trust best, and go with it



(really, the word m0f0 gets edited out? This commie website is going too far, maybe I didn't miss much in my absence)
 
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Ricko1966

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My plan is to rebuild my qjet with the qjet power website kit.

You got a link for all the adjustments you can make?
I do not, get Doug Roes Qjet book, or Cliff Ruggles Qjet book. You should have one of those anyway. It will teach you how to do a good rebuild,not just a rebuild. There's lots of little tricks to building a qjet. Ruggles book might be a better one for you.
 

CountKrunk

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Based on nothing reallyi want a holly brawler but figured i may as well toss $45 and some hours at a qjet and see what happens.

Thanks @Ricko1966 I'll check out that book.
 

RecklessWOT

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A simple Holley carb and a Edelbrock Performer manifold.
Those would just about cover everything you will want.
Ease of availability on parts and they are everywhere, so if you have an issue out of town parts will be around you.

If you are savvy you can find both second hand in good shape for far less than brand new.
Eactly the setup I have on my T/A. Came with an Edelbrock manifold and carb, the carb was messed up so rather than playing with it I tossed on a known good Holley I had on the shelf, and that was the winning combo.

I'm not the sort of guy that would have ripped off the Edelbrock at first glance, but the fast that is was misbehaving I didn't waste a second swapping it out. I may slightly prefer Holley, but I'm not die hard either way. I won't pretend that the Edelbrock Performer manifold isn't a darn good intake
 

Bennyt

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On race vehicle, I will always choose Holley. On street vehicle, I'd always choose quadrajet.

However, that is somewhat dependent on whether you have a true competent Quadrajet shop/ builder near you or willing to ship off to. Not a carb shop that "also" does quads.
 

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