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I’ve noticed recently the carb sounds like it’s sucking wind through the quadrajets. And this flap that I’ve circled below (the choke?) doesn’t seem to be moving anymore.
So it’s got me wondering A. what’s going on with it? And B. what should I do?
As I understand, these Edelbrocks are common choice for engines like mine. I haven’t changed it since I bought it six years ago. But I was wondering if there’s a better overall carb out there that will boost the corvette’s performance at all? Any suggestions on what I would go with if I bought a new one?
Unrelated question: can someone tell me what this green alternator wire is and where it’s supposed to go? I am about to set the timing so I was fishing for the #1 spark plug, and noticed this thing came loose (the end of the wire is blue with a little clasp connector, but it’s really stemming from that exposed green wire down below.
I THINK it came off this little **** right above the first and second spark plugs? But man it seems like a fragile connection. Is this like a ground for the alternator?
Ya, that little **** is your engine coolant temp sensor, or at least that's what most of us would call it. Little **** works I guess. The green wire has absolutely nothing to do with your alternator. It's just bundled into that harness due to proximity. The green wire goes to the little **** to tell your temp gauge what to read. So when, if you look at the temp gauge in your center gauge cluster you know how hot your engine is.
As per the rest, ..... it's a 350! Full stop. It never was and never will be anything liter. It's not from another country. It's an American Chev V8 And it's measured in CUBIC INCHES!
NOTHING ELSE!
rant over.
Ya, that little **** is your engine coolant temp sensor, or at least that's what most of us would call it. Little **** works I guess. The green wire has absolutely nothing to do with your alternator. It's just bundled into that harness due to proximity. The green wire goes to the little **** to tell your temp gauge what to read. So when, if you look at the temp gauge in your center gauge cluster you know how hot your engine is.
As per the rest, ..... it's a 350! Full stop. It never was and never will be anything liter. It's not from another country. It's an American Chev V8 And it's measured in CUBIC INCHES!
NOTHING ELSE!
rant over.
Phew. So nothing goes haywire if that green wire comes loose? My engine temp gauge is busted in the dash regardless.
Correct, the green wire is just the sender wire for your temp gauge. It will affect nothing else if it's unhooked and has nothing to do with your alternator.
one less worry.
There is no better carb than the stock original carb for your engine. Get rid of that aftermarket Edelbrock junk.
Any way I can find a stock carb that isn’t literally 55 years old though? As much as I like keeping what I can original, I just don’t like the idea of paying a grand for a carb that’s been used for half a century. Are there any new carbs that are basically replicas or built to emulate the original?
Here is the deal on those Edelbrock's. Because of the bilzillion Quadras around the world that craped out, Edelbrock decided they could cash-in on an opportunity to replace those Quads. The Quads have a "Spread-bore" design meaning the secondary throttle plates are larger than the primary and the bolt pattern to fasten it to the Intake is different. That's what Eddy recreated: A bolt-on carb. Eddy makes wonderful Intake Manifolds, heads, cams, etc. But IMHO should have steered clear of carbs.
That unusual Spread-bore bolt pattern of the Intake keeps people from slapping on a better Holley unit. The Holleys are square-bolt- pattern.
Here is where Eddy stepped up to the plate and created the 2101 Intake Manifold. It has BOTH square-bore & spread-bore pattern. So, Holley & Quad will fit.
So, a common scenario was to put the old broken Quad on the shelf and install the Eddy 2101 with a Holley. Some creative thinking modified the Chevy fuel line that will no longer bolt-up to the Holley. And a different throttle cable set-up, but it's all doable.
EBay shows used Eddy 2101 for around $60 if you want to go that route. A new Holley will be costly.
Or get the Quad rebuilt. Many choices, but no new Quads.
Any way I can find a stock carb that isn’t literally 55 years old though? As much as I like keeping what I can original, I just don’t like the idea of paying a grand for a carb that’s been used for half a century. Are there any new carbs that are basically replicas or built to emulate the original?
A professionally rebuild 55 year old Rochester Q-Jet is a far better carb then any new Chinese made piece of junk, especially the ones from Edelbrock. There are no reproduction or new Q-Jet carbs being made that I'm aware of.
There are hundreds or thousands of old Corvettes, Chevelles, Camaros, square body Chevy trucks, Trans Ams, and other GM cars on the road still happily using old Q-Jets.
One of my customers had the 350 in his 76 rebuilt and had some twenty something kid do the installation. This "expert" told him that Q-Jets were junk and convinced him he needed an Edelbrock. I tried to tell him that he'd have issues with the Edelbrock and would need an adapter, but the kid at the shop said he'd have the car towed out of his shop before putting the Q-Jet back on. He bought the Edelbrock, found he needed an adapter, then the carb sat up too high and hit the hood, so he needed to buy a small air cleaner to fit under the hood (and it still hit the hood anyway). After dropping almost a grand it still didn't run great. Finally after dicking around for about a year he asked me what kind of carb he should try. I took his original Q-Jet and sent it out to the rebuilder I've been using forever. It runs better now then it ever did.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
your carb has th echoke removed and the arm pinned over by the silver rod..It looks like its been modified a lot. if your engine is stock it will run fine with a 650 to 750cfm carb. The nice thing about carbs is they run on suction, draw or signal, all being the same. the higher the performance, the higher the draw and the more fuel they will consume, but a stock motor most likely will not be hindered by a 650 cfm carb.
If you have astock spreadbore intake which can be identified buy the to large and 2 small intake holes under the carb then that is the style you need ot buy, the adapter plates eill leak if not sealed properly if you use the squarebore style which is 4 holes the same size.
As for which brand the stock quadrajet is fine if you understand it and know how to tune it. Parts are not readily available at a corner auto parts store and most remanufactured Qjets are a mess of mixed parts. You will have to buy a set or rods/needles and jets to do it. Quadrajet and Edelbrock use these but they are not completely interchangeable. If you go with a quadrajet and know how to work on a carb get the Cliff Ruggles book and go at it. IF not contact Lars about finding a good core and have him rebuild it.
Holley makes a used to make a spreadbore carb that resembled the Qjet and the one I had ran great and gave me 16 to 18 mpg....the Holley sniper I had never came close to that.
If you go with a newer aluminum intake you have to make sure it will fit under a stock hood. If you do the Holley EPS will fit and work fine adn you can go with a holley squarebore which are very easy to set up and tune.
All that being said find or get Lars paper on timing and set your timing on your engine first. It will give you a baseline to start from and you will notice a bit more power. Once your timing is set you can start to do some research on what you want to fit under your hood. Then I suggest getting an O2 sensor so that you can figure out if your engine is running rich or lean, going off of smell, soot, eye burn and trying to learn how to read plugs is either garbage science or wizardry. I refer to reading plugs in that sense as you have to first KNOW what to look for then you have to have a stretch of road to do a run on , shut down your motor and then have the room to pull the plug out of your engine and see what was happening in the cylinder the moment you shut off the engine. SO doing a run and slowing down, pulling over then shutting off your engine isnt going to work....so dont bother , get the Wide Band AFR guage and watch to see what your carb and motor is doing while you are driving it
There are still alot of good clean Quadrajet cores out there. If this is not a concours, clean original or prettyish resto mod, one option is to find a good core and locate a local carb guy that is good.
Check local clubs, freinds. Even relatives may know someone.
If it doesnt HAVE to be all prettied up, a good backyard rebuilt will work well if done right.
I didnt know much about them(still dont know all)
but with a good book, good parts(cliffshighperformance.com) and some time, there is no reason you wouldnt have good results tackling this yourself.
A good plus to working with Cliff(or Lars) is that if you have questions about anything is they are the best at helping the budding Qjet fan succeed.
Where are you located? Might help find a good core.
Doesnt have to be a Vette core, so check with other GM brand fans. Even the BOP crowd like to collect Chevy cores.
I have atleast 10-12 cores and am looking at 8 more on CL now, and my driver is. 79 H/O.
Closet I have been to a Vette is my uncle had three when I was about 3' tall.
Good luck. Lots of good help out there.
Just be cautious.
One of the first things I did when I bought my Corvette was to switch the carburetor to a Holley 750 Double Pumper as I was a bit more familiar with those. I gave the Quadrajet to my cousin for his 1969 350 C3. Today the 427 gets its fuel from a Holley Stealth Sniper EFI system and the mileage is even better.
There is a tool called a Power-Probe and when you are working on a Corvette they come in very handy. You connect the probe to the battery and then when you touch a wire you will see whether it is HOT or not. I love it because when testing electric motors I can apply either full battery voltage or ground. This tool has a built in breaker to prot6ect it. I use this tool on many things and find it to be almost as valuable as my Fluke Meter. They sell them on AMAZON if you are interested at all.
Listen to Lars. Find a Qjet on CraigsList & ask Lars to look at the pics, he can guide you. Then send the carb to him for rebuild - DO NOT let some local knucklehead rebuild it for you. Carb shops are almost non-existent now and don't know squat, therefore the reason why they only want to sell you a new carb. If anyone offers you an Edelbrock carb, leave and never return to their shop.
02-02-2024, 08:58 PM
Best carb for 1969 327 small block?
