I sent my carb off to Cliff Ruggles at Cliffs High Preformance to get rebuilt back to factory specs on a recomendation that he was the best in the country. I got it back and it looked like brand new. I put it on and my car and it didn't run any better than it did before. The fuel was boiling , backfireing, hard starting, I called Cliff and told him the problem. After explaining the problems , he asked if I had used a steel gasket. Well due to my limited shade tree abilities , I didnt know I had to use a steel gasket. The heat from the exhaust ports up through the intake that is supposed to warm the fuel was blowing up in the carb. Get the picture? Cliff told me to send it back and he would go through it again. I told him it wasn't his fault and to send me the bill for the second rebuild. He got the carb back and went through it completely and DIDN"T CHARGE ME A DIME...... You don't find service like that any more......I recomend them 100%..... Oh yes, the 66 wildcat runs like new.......Bic
Cliff often chimes in on Q-jet discussions here on this board. I've already bought his book, and plan to get his kit and consult him on specs for my rebuild. He's an invaluable resource to our community!
:gp: I have already repaired 2 q-jets using Cliff's book,and now i used his kit on my 66 Riv Q-jet and i must say that this kit was worth every penny i payed for it. Thats the way all brands on market should work.
Now if only it wasn't such a long wait to get him to service/ rebuild your Q-jet! Not a fault of his own, just that his services are in such high demand and there's only so much time in the day.
Thanks guys for the kind words. Standard procedure here if a carb comes back to us for any reason, we replace the needle/seat assembly, float, accl pump, gaskets, pressure/leak test, and run it on our test engine...no charge. In most cases carbs that come back have teflon tape in them (big NO-NO for fuel fittings), full or fine rust from old fuel tanks, or the owner tightened the front bolts to 150ft lbs! We just had a carb sent back here last week, owner says he installed it, and the choke fell off (divorced). The carb looked like it had been in service for many years. We opened her up, but I didn't recognize the carb, any of the internal parts, etc. We ALWAYS put our own fasteners on them, late style accl pump, custom springs, etc, helps to identify them when they come back. The customers name was not familiar to me or in our records in the past 3 years. The girls in the shop are telling me to charge the guy, as he's trying to get one over on us. What thru me off is that the carb had one of our tags on it, that we attach to them as them move thru the system. Anyhow, I replaced all the internals, effectively sealed up the bottom plugs that were leaking like Niagra Falls, and sent it back out.....no charge! Never heard back or figured out what the deal was with that particular carb, but I figure the effort will come back to us in a positive way in the big scheme of things......Cliff
Now here is a man that knows how to do business. Unheard of these days! Good will is worth the effort. Peace, Mike D.
What is the best gasket to use with a Q-Jet, and how many ft./lbs should you use when tightening? Thanks
It is always best to match the base gasket to the application, for obvious reasons. Even so, in most cases, the larger .230 or .250" thick gaskets will fit and work for most applications, if you have the hood clearance, throttle cable/mounting bolts are long enough, etc. I like the thick gaskets as they help insulate the carb from the engine heat. I don't recomend torquing the front bolts down at all, just gently "snug" them down. I took a 3/8 rachet and cut all but about 1" of the handle off for this purpose. From what I've seen here, teflon tape is the biggest enemy of your carburetor. It's like a slippery snake and can and will find it's way inside the carburetor. To this day I don't know why folks use it on the fuel filter housing threads, which use a gasket, or the fuel line, which seats on an inverted flare?ou: No type of sealant is needed on stock fuel fittings. If you have upgraded to AN fittings and NPT threads, a drop of pipe thread sealant is sufficient to get the fittings installed and leak free. If you have teflon tape in your tool box, lock it up when working on your fuel system!:beers2: ...Cliff
Pipe thread sealant...should be available in the PVC/copper fittings isle at Home Depot or Lowes. It's a pasty goo that comes with a brush atached to the lid. I think you can also get it in smaller squeeze tubes.
