Quadrajet help please.
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Quadrajet help please.
‘73 454/TH400.
Brief history:
I recently bought this car back after selling it to a friend about 8 years ago. I got it back with a lot of it in boxes. The Quadrajet that had been on it when I sold it was in a box along with a second one. Both were mostly disassembled. A third one is now on the car. My friend told me he had bought this one because it was “correct” for the car but hadn’t driven it since putting it on. He said he had rebuilt it. I had the engine running last week, but not well.
Today I pulled it off and opened it up. Internally everything looked to be clean and assembled properly. But when I was reassembling the choke components I realized that the little “bar” that hangs down and stops the secondary throttle plates from opening moves freely, but nothing in the choke linkage actually connects to it or touches it to push it away from the throttle “pin.”
I sorted through the pile of carburetor parts and found that one of the other two little bars was different. When I reassembled the choke components with that bar installed, the “weight” that hangs in the forward position would now push the top of that bar so that the secondary throttle plate pin was now unblocked and they could open freely. So I THINK I now have this right.
Can someone here who knows Quadrajets confirm for me that the secondaries are supposed to be blocked when the choke is on then open regularly when warm? I’ve attached a couple of pictures of my choke linkage. Does it look like I got everything in the right places?
Thank you for any help. I hate fixing things that someone else has already fixed.
Brief history:
I recently bought this car back after selling it to a friend about 8 years ago. I got it back with a lot of it in boxes. The Quadrajet that had been on it when I sold it was in a box along with a second one. Both were mostly disassembled. A third one is now on the car. My friend told me he had bought this one because it was “correct” for the car but hadn’t driven it since putting it on. He said he had rebuilt it. I had the engine running last week, but not well.
Today I pulled it off and opened it up. Internally everything looked to be clean and assembled properly. But when I was reassembling the choke components I realized that the little “bar” that hangs down and stops the secondary throttle plates from opening moves freely, but nothing in the choke linkage actually connects to it or touches it to push it away from the throttle “pin.”
I sorted through the pile of carburetor parts and found that one of the other two little bars was different. When I reassembled the choke components with that bar installed, the “weight” that hangs in the forward position would now push the top of that bar so that the secondary throttle plate pin was now unblocked and they could open freely. So I THINK I now have this right.
Can someone here who knows Quadrajets confirm for me that the secondaries are supposed to be blocked when the choke is on then open regularly when warm? I’ve attached a couple of pictures of my choke linkage. Does it look like I got everything in the right places?
Thank you for any help. I hate fixing things that someone else has already fixed.
#3
Team Owner
Yes. The secondaries are mechanically prevented from opening when the choke is operational. Once the choke is 'off', that link is released and the secondaries are free to open.
#4
Drifting
Thread Starter
Thank you. That makes sense. The incorrect lever obviously came on one of the other two carburetors. Weird to me why it would be different. I’m used to Holley’s where everything is pretty much the same from model to model. I’m going to have to educate myself on Quadrajets.
#5
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Aug 1999
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The 4MV Q-Jets use a different design secondary lockout lever than the M4M carbs.You can physically install an M4M lockout on your 4MV, but it won't function. You have the correct 4MV lever on the carb now, and it should work as intended. Very few parts will operationally interchange between the 2 major Q-Jet models.
Lars
Lars
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marshal135 (08-28-2020)
#6
Drifting
Thread Starter
The 4MV Q-Jets use a different design secondary lockout lever than the M4M carbs.You can physically install an M4M lockout on your 4MV, but it won't function. You have the correct 4MV lever on the carb now, and it should work as intended. Very few parts will operationally interchange between the 2 major Q-Jet models.
Lars
Lars
Thank you again.
#7
Le Mans Master
You can't do better than having @lars answer your questions, but it wouldn't hurt to also get a copy of Cliff Ruggles' Book to use as a reference.
#9
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For reference, these are the 2 major secondary lockout lever designs - there are some "sub-species" variants. The lever on the left is for the 4MV (divorced choke) Chevy carbs. On the right is the 1975+ M4M integral choke carb lockout lever. The two cannot be interchanged.
Lars
Lars
#10
Drifting
Thread Starter
For reference, these are the 2 major secondary lockout lever designs - there are some "sub-species" variants. The lever on the left is for the 4MV (divorced choke) Chevy carbs. On the right is the 1975+ M4M integral choke carb lockout lever. The two cannot be interchanged.
Lars
Lars
Thank you again.
#12
Tech Contributor
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The 72 and 75 Q-Jets are two completely different model/series carbs. The 1966 - 1974 carbs are 4MV carbs (divorced choke). The 1975+ carbs are M4M (integral choke) carbs. They all flow 750 cfm. That's where the similarity ends. Your question is a completely different subject than the OP is discussing here - you might want to open a new thread about your issue - it doesn't have relevance in this thread.
Lars
Lars
Last edited by lars; 09-11-2020 at 11:46 PM.
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'73and'75 (09-12-2020)