I hate to start this one but...Holley or Edelbrock

[TerryD]

The edelbrock is based of the carter AFB not the quadrajet. Rochester Quadrajets get a bad reputation from people who don't understand them. They are excellent carbs and better all around then either a holley or edelbrock for off road uses. I don't find them hard to rebuild or understand but i rebuilt my first one when i was 13 and i have always just got em'. The only holley i ever liked was my 3310-3. Great carb and easy to tune.

I have a Q-Jet on my K5 as well as put one on my friends F-150 truggy. Built one for a guy with a 68 Step side 2wd with a 307/th350. He got 26mpg on the interstate driving from Kernersville, NC to Pigeon Forge, TN. I rebuilt my first at 14 for that 68 pickup and have done several since. The only other carbs I have around are 4 1850 and 2 3310 Holleys. One of the 3310's feeds my Ugly Camaro and the other is there for backup. Two of the 1850's may eventually find their way onto a tunnel ram on a future motor for the Camaro. The K5 will always wear a Q-Jet.

 

[djtejas]

I dont think Ill ever buy another edelbrock carb, they seem to me like a "it works so lets call it a day" design. I think theres only been a few updates in the last 30 years, and the updated ones are $100 more than the standrd ones. I had one on my old Nova and it was OK, but looking back I should have bought a holley, but for what I did with it a Q jet would have been fine.

For me, my future hotrods will have a holley 4150, and non EFI trucks will have a Q jet.

I have no problems with my Edelbrock...I learned how to tune it using the jets, metering rods, and step up springs and it runs great on my K5. I even installed the off road needle and seat in mine.
I have found the Edelbrock to be easier to tune than Holley's.

But as many people have stated, the Q-jet definitely works better off road. My K5 doesn't see that much off road and nothing extreme.

 

[thatK30guy]

I'm running the Edelbrock Q-Jet on my BBC. I wouldn't put anything else on it.

 

[groovy75]

After boiling it down to a q jet, how does one actually decide which one to buy?

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

A 70's one is basically what you want, avoid the "computer controlled" 80's stuff.

 

[shady]

no computer controled stuff for me. WAS going to go fuel injected. then I thought F THAT . I work on computer controled crap every day as a maintenance electrician. I dont wanna come home and play with it on my hobby toy. Plus mud water and electric crap dont generally mix well

 

[Big Ray]

Shady, here's some q-jet 101 for ya...linky

 

[groovy75]

I'd like to know what's the big difference in the -offroad- version and a 299.00 summit Q jet ? Shady did you get the SMI?if so will you post up how it worked out?

 

[shady]

Thanks, I just added that to my favorites list. It will come in handy in the future.

 

[shady]

Havent bought one yet. Still having troubles ironing out the kinks in the axles. May be a few weeks before I can afford one now. I might have my 283 sold, if so it'll be real soon. sooner if I can get my tires sold also.

 

[scottsdale86]

Here are a few:
Edelbrock:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EDEL...rQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_1182

Hot air choke:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rebu...Accessories&hash=item43a4454637#ht_500wt_1182

Early Truck:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Roch...Accessories&hash=item3363ca4b91#ht_500wt_1182

Cheap but need rebuild:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/roch...Accessories&hash=item20b6517e57#ht_500wt_1182

Now i picked up a 1985 quadrajet to replace my electric dual shot accelerator pump model on my 1986. It had all the original hookups just not the electric pump. I paid $26 shipped. Rebuilt it for $25 and for about $50 had a great card with good throttle response and nice off roading abilities.

 

[TerryD]

People usually give them away. I had a guy haul in boxes of them to me for a few weeks for free because he wanted them out of the way in his shop. He pulled every Q-Jet off of anything he owned and stuck on a 1850-C Holley. I think I got near 10 carbs from him, most in perfect running condition, including 3 pre-75 carbs with the car bases.

Everytime I meet a "car guy", I start asking them casually if they have any Q-Jets laying around. You'd be amazed how many people will just haul them in to you. $10 a pop at most is what I'll pay for a good carb. Obviously inspect them before you fork over any cash. Don't pay for one you'll have to do ALOT of work on, like bushings in the base plate or something like that.