Quality Quadrajet Carb?

[burbguy82]

I've been running a quadrajet on my 84 Cutlass since I put it on the road around 2006. I barely ever touch the thing, I just get in the car and go these days.
There are reputable builders out there and they are really good if you want fuel economy and/or extremely cold starting ability. I have a couple cold start videos of my 83 Caprice starting in like minus 25c and I have started it in as cold as -32c. It cranked for like 3 seconds and fired up and idled.

I think they get a bad rap from those to whom want to "make them better", when they were already fine to begin with. Wow, you are driving a classic, nice. I always like the Cutlass over the Monte Carlo, I had a 72, canary yellow fastback, my first car.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

No argument there. Excellent, until they are either messed with, or rebuilt. Likely it is the fault of the "messer with", not the Quadrajet.

yeah, folks actually had issues with all of them, from Quads to Autolites, Motorcrafts, Holleys, Mopar's Carter Thermoquads (which were really good at times) even Eldelrocks could make one pull their hair out sometimes. One thing we found years ago was that many times the carb was the scapegoat for other issues. One of the biggies was the sneaky vacuum leaks that had folks going wild blaming the carbs.

 

[burbguy82]

yeah, folks actually had issues with all of them, from Quads to Autolites, Motorcrafts, Holleys, Mopar's Carter Thermoquads (which were really good at times) even Eldelrocks could make one pull their hair out sometimes. One thing we found years ago was that many times the carb was the scapegoat for other issues. One of the biggies was the sneaky vacuum leaks that had folks going wild blaming the carbs.

Right, then you adjust the carb, fix the issue, then have problems....must be the carb. I get it. they take a bit of "old world" knowledge i think.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I've been running a quadrajet on my 84 Cutlass since I put it on the road around 2006. I barely ever touch the thing, I just get in the car and go these days.
There are reputable builders out there and they are really good if you want fuel economy and/or extremely cold starting ability. I have a couple cold start videos of my 83 Caprice starting in like minus 25c and I have started it in as cold as -32c. It cranked for like 3 seconds and fired up and idled.

My very last Chevelle in 2006 came with the 4bb quad on it. Almost soon as I got it home (flew in and drove it back from Florida) I noticed the carb had leaks all over even with it running ok. I packaged it up and sent it to Competition Carbs in Nevada on recommendation from some car show buddies. They contacted me and told me mine was cleaned and checked and was badly warped. If I wanted they had many rebuilds already bench air tested. They then would engine install and dyno run and set them on engine specific to what the carb would be installed on. Told me most go from box to engine and nearly never need adjustments. I installed the one they sent me around March 2006.
I drove that car all over the place and even on some 200 to 300mi trips with not a single carb issue. I kept and drove that one from 2006 until I finally sold it in 2019 to a very happy guy. In between those years I had let it sit in my shop for a long long (too long time) and yet the new owner could not wait to send me photos of him driving it to a car show the following week with zero issues. I am a much greater fan of the EFI engines we have today but had no real issues with carbs in the many cars I drove from the early 70s until our first EFI vehicle sometime after 1986 I think?

 

[paulo57509]

I've rebuilt many Quadrajets but only owned one, a E4ME that was on the 4.1L in my '82 Bonneville. I have to agree that in stock form, they're pretty much trouble free except for leaky well plugs and punctured choke pull-off diaphragms.

Most issues can be traced back to people messing with them. Especially with the secondary air valve adjustment; on later models, the electronic mixture control adjustments.

 

[350Rocket]

I think they get a bad rap from those to whom want to "make them better", when they were already fine to begin with. Wow, you are driving a classic, nice. I always like the Cutlass over the Monte Carlo, I had a 72, canary yellow fastback, my first car.

My very last Chevelle in 2006 came with the 4bb quad on it. Almost soon as I got it home (flew in and drove it back from Florida) I noticed the carb had leaks all over even with it running ok. I packaged it up and sent it to Competition Carbs in Nevada on recommendation from some car show buddies. They contacted me and told me mine was cleaned and checked and was badly warped. If I wanted they had many rebuilds already bench air tested. They then would engine install and dyno run and set them on engine specific to what the carb would be installed on. Told me most go from box to engine and nearly never need adjustments. I installed the one they sent me around March 2006.
I drove that car all over the place and even on some 200 to 300mi trips with not a single carb issue. I kept and drove that one from 2006 until I finally sold it in 2019 to a very happy guy. In between those years I had let it sit in my shop for a long long (too long time) and yet the new owner could not wait to send me photos of him driving it to a car show the following week with zero issues. I am a much greater fan of the EFI engines we have today but had no real issues with carbs in the many cars I drove from the early 70s until our first EFI vehicle sometime after 1986 I think?

Really the worst thing about my carb vs my fuel injected LS powered Silverado is that it runs a little rich during warmup when the weather gets cold. I could adjust the choke to improve that but then it will run lean on cold start when it gets really hot out. So I leave it in a compromise position, but I need to change oil sooner because of fuel dilution. That and it it hot soaks for like 20 minutes to an hour I will have to crank for like 2 seconds with the throttle cracked open to start. Otherwise stone cold or hot it fires right up.