I am not a carb expert

[N PRGRES]

My carb (quadrajet) is shot and I am not rebuilding it at least myself.  I was looking at going with the Edelbrock AVS2 as opposed to EFI, mainly due to cost.  Anyone have experience with this carb?  I have heard good things from others (non TA people)

[TA301]

Why don't you buy a new or rebuilt quadrajet?

[N PRGRES]

Why don't you buy a new or rebuilt quadrajet?

Actually a member on here is going to help see if we can get mine figured out

[roadking77]

Dave, do you have MD Bandit's (I am pretty sure that was his call name here) contact? Maybe he will chime in.......
He used to do QJet rebuilds, and may still. He had a good rep. I have been told that a properly tuned Qjet cannot be beat on a Pontiac motor. I have on both of mine and they run perfect. They always start easily etc. When I did my 77 I wanted to go EFI just because thats what everyone was doing. My mechanic thankfully talked me out of it. Said for how I was going to drive my car (not a daily driver) the carb would be fine. He started rebuilding them when he was a teenager. Said he can just about do them in his sleep, LOL. My big issue is that he rebuilds to run, which is a great thing, but he does not re-finish so they are not shiny and pretty.
Every time I see a car with EFI I ask the owner about it. They all say they love it, their car starts every time Mine does too I have also heard the comment of 'it was a pain to get it in tune, but it runs great now'. I have a friend that put EFI on his '69 firebird. It has left him stranded twice.

[TA301]

I would not install an EFI if you gave it to me FREE. I dislike such subtractions from originality. 

[Steve B]

I have a friend that put EFI on his '69 firebird. It has left him stranded twice.

Hey Kerry. Would you mind telling me how it left him stranded? I just recently started having some problems that I think might be fuel related and not so much EFI related...it was professionally installed maybe 5 or 6 years ago and haven't had any problems whatsoever. I had to put some non top tier gas in it since I was in the middle of nowhere and no other gas stations around. Forgive me for hijacking the thread...

[b_hill_86]

For conversations sake, if nothing else, why do you say your quadrajet is shot and what is your apprehension in rebuilding it yourself?

[N PRGRES]

For conversations sake, if nothing else, why do you say your quadrajet is shot and what is your apprehension in rebuilding it yourself?

Time and Patience, two things I lack. I am not good at things like that. While I feel I am a fairly good mechanic, small detail oriented work is just not my skill set.  The carb might just need rebuilt, thinking it over last night it sat a long time with ethanol fuel in it so maybe that’s part of the issues with it. It idles and runs fine till I go into heavy acceleration then it just stumbles all over itself.

[roadking77]

I think it was a computer issue. This was last fall I ran into Rick at a small car show. He was driving his tempest. I asked about his firebird. He told me it was towed home the previous day, with the cause being the EFI. He thought it was a tuning issue. Said it stopped working like he ran out of fuel. At that time he said it was the second time it had happened. I am sorry I cannot elaborate any more. I just know he wasnt too happy with it.

[b_hill_86]

For conversations sake, if nothing else, why do you say your quadrajet is shot and what is your apprehension in rebuilding it yourself?

Time and Patience, two things I lack. I am not good at things like that. While I feel I am a fairly good mechanic, small detail oriented work is just not my skill set.  The carb might just need rebuilt, thinking it over last night it sat a long time with ethanol fuel in it so maybe that’s part of the issues with it. It idles and runs fine till I go into heavy acceleration then it just stumbles all over itself.

I don’t think it’s quite as tedious as you think. The stumble under acceleration could be as simple as an adjustment to the secondary air flap spring. I actually kind of like working on carbs. Seeing your work with your gauges I don’t think it would be much worse working on the carb

[Zach]

Rebuilt my own quadrajet with cliff rugles book and his rebuild kit. Although the main Achilles with a quadrajet tends to be the throttle shaft becoming loose and causing an air leak. I sent the throttle plate out to him to rebush. Was pretty easy just keep track of everything, and look for obvious oddities (my apt was bottomed out by a previous owner causing an extreme lean condition). I will say make sure you know your ignition system is perfect before you mess with the carb. Off idle stumble that eventually comes back tends to be secondary air door tension, if yours is too lose or too tight can cause issues I need to reset mine come summer.

[N PRGRES]

Thanks guys.  We do have a rebuild shop around for carbs, I hear he is good but hard to get ahold of and slow, I don't want to end up with the car sitting all summer waiting on my carb.  I look at that secondary air door tension....once I figure out what you're talking about lol

[wheels78ta]

X2 on using Cliff Ruggles book and his carb kits.

Dave, as mentioned above, you work on gauges.  The carb wouldn't be any more tedious to work on.  I am confident you can rebuild a quadrajet carburetor.

[N PRGRES]

Thanks for the votes of confidence. I’ll finish the projects going now and then tackle that. I start 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week on Sunday and that lasts till the end of the month to TA time will be severely limited. 

[TA301]

Also, the secondary lockout not disengaging will cause the secondaries not opening. That can only be solved by a properly adjusted choke.

[b_hill_86]

I was also thinking about you not wanting the car inoperable while you work on it. If you have an aftermarket intake you could look for a Holley or something for cheap to run temporarily. I had one laying around so I threw a rebuild kit in it and ran that for a few weeks or so till I was done with the quadrajet then I swapped them again. Just another option.

[hakitup]

I just put the AVS2 on my race truck, best carburetor I’ve ever owned. I have the model 1906, 650 spread bore and I’ve added spring loaded float needles. I’ve never had a carb vehicle start so fast, it literally starts better than the sniper I have on my Trans Am. Very easy to tune if it’s needed, main jets, needles, secondary jets, secondary flapper spring and pump lever.

Tom H