Finally a member... Carb question to start

[kablooie]

Bought my K5 a week and a half ago and every time I would start from a stop the engine would dog and then I would have to feather the gas pedal to keep going. After the engine got some speed, it would then be okay.

Found out why the engine was dogging yesterday evening when I sprayed the carb down with cleaner... The lever pushing down on the pole sticking up (my finger pointing to the pole) was not pushing down the pole. Instead it was pushed to the side of the pole because the bracket holding the lever is broke (where the screwdriver is pointing to).

-Does JB weld seem like a decent temporary fix to keep the bracket from flopping around and letting the lever slip to the side of the pole?

I don't have the bucks to get a replacement carb.... However, does a rebuild kit comes with a new carb top. Does it?

TIA,
Louie

 

[tumbleweed1002]

What your pointing to is the accelerator pump rod, and yes if its not working you will bog on acceleration. the carb rebuild kits do not come with a new top however you could find a doner carb and use its top but it has to be the same carb model, I would suggest just getting a new carb as q-jets werent that great to start with and a pain to rebuild properly. you might consider changing to an edelbrock or holley both have models are offered with a spread bore base that would bolt to your original manifold.

 

[kablooie]

but as for a temporary fix, JB weld seems to be my best bet (for now).

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Just JB weld that piece back on. And Q-jets rock, I wouldn't think of replacing mine with a Holley or Edelbrock carb in a million years

 

[kablooie]

Just JB weld that piece back on. And Q-jets rock, I wouldn't think of replacing mine with a Holley or Edelbrock carb in a million years

I'm seeing A LOT of mixed comments on this... Some people are totally for the Qjet and others say aftermarket it better. My 81 with a 350 is basically a daily driver with little if any off roading (nothing too intense) in the near future and no rock crawling. What would be the better route... rebuild the Qjet or find/buy a Holley/Edelbrock/etc? and why?

Thanks

 

[chevyin]

I agree with Tumbleweed, that there are better replacements for the QJ. They work fine if they are in good shape, however, if you have problems they are a PITA to rebuild. Too many parts and many small delicate ones. I have rebuilt at least a dozen, and probably had to go back into a third of them. If you are not experienced at building a QJ your chances of being successful are about as good as my getting a date with Paris Hilton!

As far as JB welding the post, it would probably work as a temp solution, but you would never be able to drive the pivot pin out. You have to remove the actuator lever to remove the carb top, which is the first thing in servicing the carb. While you are driving with the temp repair be looking for a replacement.

By the way, that looks like a new gasket under the carb top. If it has been recently been rebuilt and works well with the pump repaired, you might get quite a while of good service.

 

[Thunder]

Basic edelbrock performer series carbs are terrible off road. Even small hills or off camber terrain will cause them to flood. You need to lower the float level and put in spring loaded needles and seats to make then work acceptable off road. They do work good for street use and light offroad and are a cheap replacement carb.
Edelbrock Thunder AVS carbs come with spring loaded needles and seat and the float bowls are less prone to leaking so they work better offroad. But I dont think they make them for spread bore manifolds. and will probabally need some tuneing.

Regular holley carbs are crap off road. Even with springloaded needles, slosh kit, and extended bowl tubes I have never been able to make them work very well offroad. Also they will require tuneing.

Holley Truck avenger carbs work good offroad but will require tuneing to work with your engine. Very rare to get one that is plug and play and they are expensive

Q-jets work great on or off road with no modifications. When tuned right they will give better gas mileage than Edelbrock performer or Holley carbs.
They are a very good allaround carb that has gotten a bad rap from race guys that are too boneheaded to try to understand and tune them.

IMHO your cheapest route is to rebuild the Q-jet you have or buy a rebuilt carb from your local autoparts store. If you buy a rebuilt matching your carb number it should come pretty much set up to run with your engine. All you will have to do is adjust idle and mixture screws.
__________________

 

[tumbleweed1002]

All carbs requier tuning q-jets being the most difficult to get right, as always when you post there will be die hard fans of select types I perfer demon carbs ( another can of worms I'm sure) you said you dont do any hard core wheelin so go with what YOU can work on and can afford and visit there websites to see what they offer. I have used edelbrock in the past with great results right out of the box but prefer the tuneability of the demon line for my application. just my opinon do what works for you.