Thread: New carb or get Q-Jet rebuilt?

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I have an edelbrock #1901 Q-Jet on my rebuilt 350 with an XE 268 cam and World Products heads. It should make about 350-380 hp but my carb is all messed up for the application. It's like 20 years old and I was thinking about getting a new one. I was looking on Summit and the carb I have sells for around $600! Should I send it to a place for them to tune it for my specific application or should I jsut buy a new one for performance engines? I talked to Sean Murphy and he said that he would tune it for $250. Any recommendations?

Just out of curiousity, why are you committed to the Q Jet? Not that they are a bad carb, but there are so many other more popular choices. Also, as you have seen, they tend to be pricey by comparison.

Just curious.

Don

I suggest a 600cfm Holley double pumper over the Q jet. THe Q-jet is a turd compared to the newer holley offerings, and you know what they say about polishing a turd, right?


Bill S.

i know and like the Q-jet, but i don't think its a good carb to learn on. i don't like the holly as much, but i think its the best carb. for beginners, out of the box thing did a good job. . it was probably 3 times as many Q-jets on the st. from 1970 to 1990 as any other carb. went to school and worked on them at the dealer, not a big problem. they might be getting a little out dated now, but for gas mileage and power you cant beat it. jmo

I have purchased Q Jets from Sean Murphy in the past when he was still at Jet. His new web site is http://www.smicarburetor.com/

My experience with his work was fantastic. He asked the details of the engine, trans, car weight and gearing and built a carb that needed zero
to get dialed in....it worked perfectly straight out of the box....of course, I tried a couple of adjustments but always returned to Sean's original settings.

I highly recommend his work.

mike in tucson

Q jets are good carbs if they are working right, but they have about 5 times as many moving parts then a holley, and they are a nightmare to tweek if you are not motivated to put alot of time into messing with it, i bet it would cost about 200.00 to have someone rebuild it, and the key is to rebuild it right. for sure not a job for a novice. i also would suggest a 600 cfm holley.

So you guys recommend a 600 cfm Holley. Should I go with the 670 cfm street avenger or the 600 cfm double pumper. The street avengers have electric choke. What is the differance between manual and electric choke?

What should my maximum RPM be?

Double pumpers don't play well with an automatic trans. Manual choke requires a cable normally mounted on the dash while electric only requires a ground wire and a 12v wire.

Most carburetor rebuilders have a number of rebuilt quadrajets on their shelves. As long as your old quadrajet body is not damaged beyond repair, or missing too many parts, they will take it as part of the payment on a rebuilt unit. All of my rods have had factory stock 4 bbl quadrajets on them, and I have been very satisfied with them. Good rebuilt units go for about 2/3 the cost of a new carb.

I may try to sell my Q-Jet on Ebay and go with one of those Holley Street Avenger carbs with electric choke

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

Most carburetor rebuilders have a number of rebuilt quadrajets on their shelves.

Brian -

Do you have a preferred rebuilder? I'd like to send mine to somebody who has a reputation for really knowing his Q-jets.

Thanks,

Jim

I'm up in Ontario, Canada. There is an outfit in Toronto, Ontario, called, appropriately, Carburetor Rebuilders Co. Ltd". Their number is 416-781-8114. They do excellent work.

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

I'm up in Ontario, Canada. There is an outfit in Toronto, Ontario, called, appropriately, Carburetor Rebuilders Co. Ltd". Their number is 416-781-8114. They do excellent work.

Thanks, Brian, I'll check with them and find out what's involved in getting it to them.

Jim