350 Carb Recommendation (1 Viewer)

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avicenna110

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Jul 29, 2021
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Location
Sunnyvale, CA
Hi all,
I picked up an fj45 and it has a Chevy 350 on it. I looked up the serial and the suffix CLS and it’s from a 73 Corvette.
AC3DCB2D-0532-4FA6-ADAB-623DA546C1AB.jpeg


it doesn’t idle so I need to work on the carb. I know very little about these engines so any help is appreciated. It has the following carb on it:
77C89AF9-9BB5-4622-906E-034D49E9FED6.jpeg

6368FF32-AF48-46AB-B54E-D1D49F779238.jpeg

ED77B014-9D58-4DA6-BA26-1CCBB0EE180C.jpeg


with a zip tie doing some work there. Is this carb worth rebuilding? And if yes any recommendations on the kit? I’m open to getting a new carb if it’s plug and play and isn’t too expensive so any recommendations on carbs is appreciated as well. Thanks all.
 
I'm no expert but Ive known of a few people using quadrajets so id believe theyre decent carbs, not enough experience with them to recommend a a rebuild kit though. When i had a 350 in my fj40 I ran a holley 4412 cause they're the popular carb for sprint cars and my buddy knew them well if I ever needed to tune it, but I was basically able to bolt it on and go.
 
Yes it's worth rebuilding. There's a number on the side of the carb you need so you get a kit for it. Carb parts are getting rare, but most a/p stores should have or be able to get a kit. It's probably less than $20.
i think the # is on the drivers side. They're a little tricky to work on. They are videos. The zip strip is disabling the choke and the thermostat is gone. It's no big deal. I usually remove the choke flap and linkages anyways, because it's easier to take the top off if I have to. They have smaller primaries so they are fairly efficient and have good throttle response and if you stomp on it the secondaries will kick in and wake it up. Their float is centered in the body of the carb so they do really well offroad. Most folks think i have FI and are surprised when I tell them it's a qjet.
 
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Quadrajets are a great carb. They get a bad rap from some that are either more familiar with Holley or they had one that wasn’t tuned well and it’s easier to blame the carb than the tuner. As mentioned, get the rebuild kit and have at it or send it to someone if you don’t feel comfortable. You could switch over to a Holley or something but that will require a new intake or at minimum an adapter.
Side note: good job looking up the engine suffix code to find out what you actually have!
 
Great, thanks guys. I’ll take it out this afternoon and check out the serial number. I looked for it yesterday when I took the pictures but couldn’t find it. I’ll give it a go at rebuilding it so we’ll see.

Side note: good job looking up the engine suffix code to find out what you actually have!
Thanks, I thought it would help with finding parts. I saw that they were built for many years so I’m sure I’ll need to know what I have at some point . Also now I can say I got a corvette engine 😅
 
I'd try running a tank or two of fuel system cleaner through it first.

Is there a choke hooked up at all? No working choke could be leading to your issue.
 
I took off the carb here is the serial:

8A52E909-7316-48D5-8744-61642B46F246.jpeg


The choke was not connected at all. I hadn’t seen the stove-top-like thermostat before and it took me a while to realize that’s what was missing (was pointed out earlier , but I didn’t understand it). Here how it should look like:

C3770C7F-E0DE-4FF2-AFCE-BD284DEA4EC1.jpeg
C6272477-EB1E-4F40-8A5A-101C54D6B9D6.jpeg
FEE71E70-DFFF-4AD1-BF25-33DE4389E204.jpeg


Mine looks like this:

29F59F98-79C2-4ABE-B715-28C43CF1AC57.jpeg


There were two bolts where the holes are. That plate is glued in place, tried taking it out but I stopped and thought I’d better ask before going further.

So it doesn’t look like I can install the thermostat, so no choke. Does anyone run this kind of carb without choke? How does it start without it?
 
Is there a choke cable and/or knob for such on the dash? Wonder if they had some sort of manual cable choke. Just a guess. I've too heard the Qjets are good for offroad. I run a Carter AFB because that's what was on it lol.
 
Is there a choke cable and/or knob for such on the dash? Wonder if they had some sort of manual cable choke. Just a guess. I've too heard the Qjets are good for offroad. I run a Carter AFB because that's what was on it lol.

No there was no cable for choke, this is how it looked like before I took it apart, just the zip tie. And the choke is open as you can see so probably why it wasn’t starting well. Is the zip tie actually doing anything here? It’s connected to the vacuums diaphragm.

FACFA953-A389-4AA7-B584-16922637AE8B.jpeg
 
That's a great carb. There's a website/Guy that is THE guru on them. If I can remember it I'll give you the link. It's been a while since I worked on them. There are a LOT of tips and tricks. There are throttle shafts, bushings, kit's, parts. Just get it back in shape and run it.

Found it. www.cliffshighperformance.com
 
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Thanks! I was looking all over that site and I wish I had this list you sent sooner, thanks for looking it up! It looks like there isn’t an electric choke conversion kit for my carb. Also it looks the thermostat won’t fit the plate I have, it has a raised portion under it. Also the plate i have is at an angle. That thermostat like the above fits the intake in the picture I included earlier. I’m thinking the car didn’t originally come with a quadrajet carb.

I found this made for edelbrock that could work. then I would put the divorced choke on top.

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When I bought my 40 the carb needed some attention. I farmed it out to a old school mechanic who knows carberators. His assessment was the Qjet is a good carb but a little tricky to tune. He tweaked some settings and it ran smooth. $150 well spent.
My choke wasn’t hooked up and he said it wasn’t worth the hassle here in CA. On a cold start, I pump it 4 times and it fires right up. I’ll sit for a minute at high idle then drive away. I haven’t felt a need to hook up the choke.
 
^^^This^^^^^

I haven't run a choke on my sbc 40 for probably 30 years or more. I live in Southern Ohio, so it can get cold here. If it's been sitting a while, I'll usually crank the engine for a bit to be sure gas is in the float bowl. Then pump the gas several times and turn the key. It fires right up. I'll let it idle a bit if it's real cold. As I mentioned b4, I remove the choke flap, the rod that holds in place, the choke pull off and all the linkages its connected to. When you take the top of the carb off you usually have to twist it around to release the choke linkages which can be a pain, especially during reassembly. Without the choke linkages the top pulls straight up
 
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National Carb online might be helpful. I rebuilt my first one, but for the $250 or so it cost, I bought a new Q from them. It runs great.
 
When I bought my 40 the carb needed some attention. I farmed it out to a old school mechanic who knows carberators. His assessment was the Qjet is a good carb but a little tricky to tune. He tweaked some settings and it ran smooth. $150 well spent.
My choke wasn’t hooked up and he said it wasn’t worth the hassle here in CA. On a cold start, I pump it 4 times and it fires right up. I’ll sit for a minute at high idle then drive away. I haven’t felt a need to hook up the choke.
^^^This^^^^^

I haven't run a choke on my sbc 40 for probably 30 years or more. I live in Southern Ohio, so it can get cold here. If it's been sitting a while, I'll usually crank the engine for a bit to be sure gas is in the float bowl. Then pump the gas several times and turn the key. It fires right up. I'll let it idle a bit if it's real cold. As I mentioned b4, I remove the choke flap, the rod that holds in place, the choke pull off and all the linkages its connected to. When you take the top of the carb off you usually have to twist it around to release the choke linkages which can be a pain, especially during reassembly. Without the choke linkages the top pulls straight up
got it, I'll take the easy path first and don't mess with the choke. I disassembled the carb, and ordered the carb kit so I'll put it together and see how it runs without choke. Thanks all for the help.
 

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