Offroad Carb question

[drohweder]

So wheeling a couple weeks ago I had some problems with the off camber and steep climb cause my engine kept cutting out. I have a Carter AFB (at least that is what I have been told). Some of the guys on the run mentioned that there is an off-road kit for that carb that may help keep the fuel from spilling out of the bowl. Have any of you heard that. Also I have heard the quadrajet is the preferred off road carb...is that true cause i got one sitting in my garage that I coiuld rebuild.

Short of getting TBI what can I do to keep this rig sipping gas in those ruff or steep parts of the trail. Thanks

 

[65swb45]

The two things that work best for preventing fuel from sloshing out of the bowl are to lower the float level, making it harder for gas to reach the vent tubes, and extending the vent tubes that the gas sloshes out thru, making it harder to get to the top of the tube.

Holley sells vent tube extensions. I don't know if Carter does.

Q-Jet's are still the SBC carb of choice. Spreadbore design gives better low end control, vacuum, fuel economy yada, yada, yada. LandCruiserJunky is VERY HAPPY I got the Carter off his 40 and got one of my rebuilt Q-Jets on there for him.

 

[drohweder]

I had no problem with the Carter/Edelbrock I'm running at elevation but its time to put a Q-jet on there. Anyone have one they are not using. I've got a used one in the garage but it needs extensive rebuild. What do I look for to know if its beyond repair/rebuild? Thanks.

 

[jesterb]

You could go with an impco propane set-up.

 

[drohweder]

Thought of that but this is a DD as well and it just seems a bit much work for the kind of fix I'm looking for.

 

[Markh]

I really liked my Edelbrock carb till the throttle shaft bushings wallowed out and it wouldn't run any more. I did all the mods I read about to it and it worked really well. Spring loaded needle, lower the float, restrict the fuel passage between the two float bowls and a fuel pressure regulator. I usually knocked the pressure down to 1 1/2 psi for crawling and it worked great. Restricting the passage between the float bowls helped on the off camber stuff. Edelbrock has a tuning kit that has a bunch of different jets, needles and spring loaded needle and seats. You can buy just he needle and seat also. Check out Jegs or Summit Racing and look at the Edelbrock carb accessories.
The jury is still out on the Holley Truck Avenger I bought to replace the Edelbrock. I thought a carb designed for offroad stuff would be great, not. It has a really bad flat spot just off idle. I've taken it to a few folks that have many years experience tuning Holleys and they can't make it go away. I found that I still need the pressure regulator though for really rough stuff. It does its job but I think it should do it better than it does.

 

[Ponce]

If anyone wants an Edelbrock let me know. I have one that I tried but didn't want to do all the mods that Markh did. I eneded up finding a Q-jet to use instead. I have the tuning kit as well. 1406 is the carb model number.

 

[Cdaniel]

Q-jets are great! As close to EFI you can get without being there. When you guys say "Edelbrock carb" it's kind of ambiguous. Edelbrock is reproducing Rochester Q-jets and Carter AFB's. Both work well off road but the Q-Jet is better IMHO. Throttle shafts will get worn out no matter what carb you use. It's the nature of the offroad beast. The shaft has an ever so small vac leak where it passes through the throttle plate. Over time grit gets sucked in there and acts like sand paper every time you move the go pedal, making the gap bigger. Then even more stuff can be pulled in. Yor throttle linkage and spring also put a constant side load on the shaft, contributing to wear.

Carbs can work off road if you maintain them, but won't last forever.