Quadra-jet Connections-need help.

[dshanks]

Derrick,
What lines or hookups are you having problems with?

I'm not sure, I know the car isnt running right. Nobody ever let me know whether Ive got it hooked up right based on the pictures and my description. I have 2 vacuum ports on the carb that are blocked off. I have no idea if that is correct. I also have no secondaries and dont know how to trouble shoot that.
Thanks,
Derrick

 

[Bill75]

There's nothing I can see that's wrong with your vacuum line hookup. Your PCV vent is in the correct port and your canister hookup is also. Your vacuum advance is fine the way it is for now. If you want to switch it later to the fitting behind the carb where your power brake booster is for better vacuum you can do that later after you've gotten the engine to run correctly.

From your other posts it sounds like it idles smoooth and has good throttle response. Is that true???

If not, have you adjusted the idle mixture screws that I pointed out in my previous post??

How do you know the secondaries are not working??

Do you know what your engine timing is??

I'm a very long way from being an expert on these carbs but I've been spending a bunch of time "tweeking" mine, maybe we can find out what's giving you troubles.

There a bunch or real helpful people on here, I'm sure we can figure it out.

Bill

 

[dshanks]

Ok, I think I may have figured out my secondaries...maybe.

This hose that I mentioned earlier (the one that came from the carb factory connected, right above/left of fitting #5 shown here) goes from the carb to a vaccum can that doesnt allow the secondaries to open, I assume til the choke says its ok. Well, my choke has never been hooked up to 12V, so this was keeping the secondary butterflies from opening???
I unhooked it, and the secondaries seemed to free up.
I drove it, and it seems faster but just doesnt have the top end power that I had hoped for, like it falls off at 3,000RPMs. Any ideas of where Id go from here?
The Idle adjustment screws?

 

[dshanks]

Do you know what your engine timing is??
There a bunch or real helpful people on here, I'm sure we can figure it out.
Bill

Thanks Bill,
A friend and I followed the acrticle from Lars regarding tuning a SBC for Max performance, but my buddy was running the timing light and I didnt see. He had me tighten the dist at 36* mech advance with no vac. With the dist vac hooked up, it seems to be all in by 3000rpm but like I said I didnt see the light myself. Maybe Ill give it another run tonight.
I have an adjustable vac can not installed. Should I replace the stock unit now?
Also, I didnt notice any knocking on acceleration, but then again the damn thing is loud enough where Im not sure if I could hear it anyway.

Is there a chance that my fuel pump is not cutting it? Im not running anything radical. How do I know?

 

[dshanks]

Could loose interior vacuum lines cause performance problems?
I dont have my dash together, but i plugged any lines that were hissing. The HVAC vac line cluster in the console is not hooked up at all.
Could this cause issues?

 

[Bill75]

Ok, I think I may have figured out my secondaries...maybe.

This hose that I mentioned earlier (the one that came from the carb factory connected, right above/left of fitting #5 shown here) goes from the carb to a vaccum can that doesnt allow the secondaries to open, I assume til the choke says its ok. Well, my choke has never been hooked up to 12V, so this was keeping the secondary butterflies from opening???
I unhooked it, and the secondaries seemed to free up.
I drove it, and it seems faster but just doesnt have the top end power that I had hoped for, like it falls off at 3,000RPMs. Any ideas of where Id go from here?
The Idle adjustment screws?

You don't need the choke hooked up to allow the secondaries to work, just loosen the three slotted screws on the black plastic housing and turn it all the way to "Lean". That'll make the linkage think it's warmed up and allow the secondaries to operate. Don't unhook the linkage, that'll allow either the butterfly or the linkage to flop around and isn't necessary. Put a couple of tiny marks on the housings before you rotate it so you can get back to the right adjustment later when you have the choke working,

From your other post about timing, if the total timing is 36 deg with the vacuum connected, that's not enough, it should be near 50 deg. But I'm guessing he adjusted it with the vacuum hose disconnected and plugged to 36 deg. The numbers are too similar, but check that. EDIT: I re-read your post. Sounds OK the way you did it.

Idle adjustment screws are strictly for idle, not higher rev's.

 

[Bill75]

Thanks Bill,
I have an adjustable vac can not installed. Should I replace the stock unit now?
Also, I didnt notice any knocking on acceleration, but then again the damn thing is loud enough where Im not sure if I could hear it anyway.

Is there a chance that my fuel pump is not cutting it? Im not running anything radical. How do I know?

The adjustable can will make better throttle response but is used in conjunction with changing the springs in the distributer. I would suggest you not put that on until you get things operating properly.

It is possible that your fuel pump is at fault, depends on the way the engine faulters.

Any chance you know what your primary jet sizes are?? S/B around .074-.076.

One thing you could try is adjusting the secondary linkage. There's a tiny screw on the top butterfly shaft on the passenger side that's held by an allen screw on the bottom. You'll need a mirror to see it. You could turn the screw about 1/16th of a turn and see if it makes a difference.

I'lll take a picture for you when I get home, it's hard to describe.

 

[dshanks]

Don't unhook the linkage, that'll allow either the butterfly or the linkage to flop around and isn't necessary.

I didnt unhook the linkage. I simply unhooked the vacuum line going into the carb, and I blocked it off. It automatically relaxed the vacuum thing on the side of the carb thats attached to the choke.

loosen the three slotted screws on the black plastic housing and turn it all the way to "Lean". That'll make the linkage think it's warmed up and allow the secondaries to operate.

I just went home to take a look for these. I didnt see them. Are they obvious?

 

[dshanks]

The adjustable can will make better throttle response but is used in conjunction with changing the springs in the distributer. I would suggest you not put that on until you get things operating properly.

We installed a MrGastket spring and weight kit the day we did the timing. We adjusted it stock to set a baseline, then made the mod. Is that OK, should I return to stock?

It is possible that your fuel pump is at fault, depends on the way the engine faulters.

What would this behave like? If a mechanic drove it, would it be obvious?

Any chance you know what your primary jet sizes are?? S/B around .074-.076.

I have no idea. the place that I bought the carb from has aweful customer service. I have tried calling and emailing 6 times, no luck. Oh well...

 

[Crimson Thunder]

I might be a little late with this but i use the blue T.C.S. wire for my electric choke.Ive used it on the POS Edelbrock carb that came on the car and my new Holley Street Avenger and it works great.

 

[dshanks]

i use the blue T.C.S. wire for my electric choke.

Hi there 71,
Whats this, and where can it be found?

 

[Bill75]

Derrick,

Regarding your question about the springs in post 29 etc., Your trying to do too many things at once. Never mind the performance enhancements, you can recurve the distributer later, get the car running properly first. I would put the thing back the way it was and work on getting your Q-Jet set up properly.

At some point you're going to need to know what main jets you have in your carb. If you know how to take the top off properly and carefully to get at them, I would plan on doing that. If you do not, send me your email address, I'll scan some pages from Doug Roe's book and send them to you. The jets are not hard to change but you have to be careful of what you're doing and do everything carefully.

Here is a picture of the three screws on the choke I was referring to. Loosen them and turn the black housing to clockwise, you should see the choke open. Adjust it so it stays open and snug the screws then reconnect the line you spoke about. I have my carb apart fixing the leaking fuel wells so it looks a little different.

Now here's something you can try. Mine was stumbling and Lars recommended this to me and it helped allot:

Locate the allen screw under the secondary butterflies and loosen it WHILE HOLDING A SCREWDRIVER in the adjusting screw. You may need a small mirror to see it. When the screw is free to move, turn it clockwise maybe 1/16th of a turn, then tighten the allen screw. This should make your secondaries come in a little sooner and may help. Mark the original position so you can get back to it if need be.

 

[dshanks]

Bill, thanks for the tips. I think I will re-install the old distributor parts. We thought we had the baseline set ok, but maybe not. I was told I need to address and fine tune the timing first, then the carb.

Is this carb modification something that needs to be done with the carb off?

Derrick

 

[Crimson Thunder]

The T.C.S. wire is the wire in the 3rd picture on the 1st panel of this post.The blue wire is a good 12v source for your elec. choke.

 

[dshanks]

The T.C.S. wire is the wire in the 3rd picture on the 1st panel of this post.The blue wire is a good 12v source for your elec. choke.

Haha, Im an idiot. We just talked about what this is called 2 pages ago on this exact thread. I tested these 2 wires last weekend with a continuity tester just for this reason, but couldnt tell if its running 12V. Now I know, and thats where Ill be getting 12V for the choke.

Now does anyone know where I can get a female electrical connection that fits that strange looking blade connector on the choke????

It can be clearly seen on page 1 of this thread...

 

[Bill75]

Is this carb modification something that needs to be done with the carb off?Derrick

No..

 

[Buckskin7T7V]

That is a Edlebrock electric connection. You get it when you order the electric choke conversion for the Quardra-Jet. You may try Summit or Edelbrock for the female side.