Just a note on building your own carburetors. Our book has information on complete/correct rebuilding. There are a few areas that need to be addressed during the rebuild, or the finished product will not work correctly despite your best efforts. It is also manditory to use good parts. The needle/seat assemblies and accl pumps found in over the counter kits will NOT hold up to this new fuel. Even the "blue" seals that show up on some pumps are NOT ethanol compatable, and the cheap pumps pull apart when the seal swells up and start dragging in the pump bore. Over the counter kits currently available will NOT contain the correct high flow Buick needle/seat assembly, or the upgrade accl pump assemblies. They do NOT come with a float, or a filter. Basically, you are just buying gaskets. We have upgraded our kits with modern components to hold up to the new fuels, and they come with dozens of parts not found in over the counter kits: http://www.cliffshighperformance.com/carbkits.html We recently added "SR" kits for those that just need to upgrade their carburetors with modern components and give it a "tune-up". The HP kits are the most complete kit available in this industry, containing all the parts needed for a complete/correct rebuild, and upgrading for ethanol fuel as well......Cliff
I wasn't aware you sold rebuild kits (although it makes perfect sense considering your area of expertise!) I definitely intend to purchase your book and now one of your rebuild kits! And yes ethanol compatibility is a must have that most of your autozone and napa part store kits just simply don't have. Not to mention they are assembled in China and have very low quality. Cliff, is it possible with the right kit to rebuild a Chevy Q-Jet to suit a Buick engine? I only say this because Buick cores are definitely more expensive than Chevy cores. You can go to any junkyard or search classifieds to find decent Chevy cores and besides the different metering and jet circuits the only difference I can think of is the fuel inlet. Definitely a no-go for a period correct car but for daily drivers it would be a nice alternative. Please correct me where I am wrong. Also I must say what a value for your carb kits!
FYI, The 74 Pontiac QJET carb I purchased fit like OEM with a little work (linkage wise) and I think its pretty close in specs to the 72 it replaced. I made the switch (year wise) to get an electronic chose set up to go with my TA manifold. I believe all Chevy carbs have the fuel inlet on the side not in the front like Buick and some Pontiacs! Place that did my rebuild this time around only used top end parts and it shows.
That said, I guess in the end you could make most anything fit. It depends on what you are looking for.
Carbs on the 80's Olds 307 motors have the inlet in the front and even use the same filter. They aren't as big cfm wise and are computer controlled so it's not a great option for some people.
