Ran the numbers on the "reman by holley" quadrajet I got with my 455 core engine and it comes back as a olds 455 carb. Anything I need to look for or know about while tearing it down?
Make sure it has the correct jets, metering rods, and settings for your engine. If your going with more than stock power, you need the correct "recipe" for the build. I've heard that some reman carbs are really messed up, so inspect it thoroughly.
A friend of mine has a huge pile of quadrajets for me to pick parts from. The motor I'm putting in will be a stock compression 73 with a 113 cam and bowl ported heads. Stock valves. Stock intake and exhaust manifolds. Using a 1979 buick 350 distributor. Any idea what jets and rods will be needed? He's gonna be going through the stuff and more than likely a lot of it will be cheap/free.
Do you have a 73 Buick 350? You would be well served to find a 70-74 Buick 350 carb to build if you want to keep the divorced choke that was original, or a 75 to later if you want to convert to electric choke. 68 jets .039 primary rods .034 idle tube .059 down channel restriction CZ secondary rods would have been standard, probably go to CT If you are going to build it yourself, call cliffshighperformance.com and get all the parts you need. The olds carb, if let original which it probably wasn't with that "holley reman" disaster sticker, would have smaller lower main airbleed, idle bypass air and a host of other differences to the original Buick carb. Could it be made to work, sure it could. Any of the quadrajets could work on any engine, with the correct calibrations.
No it's a 455. Just using the 350 hei distributor. Buick v8's aren't readily in the junkyard like they used to be. I just happened to get lucky and stumble across the only on in the tri state area.
455 is completely different calibration for the quadrajet. 71-76 quadrajets for Buick 455 were 800 cfm, so find one of those. 71-74 are divorced choke, 75-76 are hot air choke and can be converted to electric if desired. 73 jets and it will have/need idle bypass air, that the 350 carb won't have. The main and idle circuits are all different as well.
I also have a 1979 350 carb and they are the best design and usually have little warpage or leakage. It had 73 jets and 48k rods. They will work but the air bypass holes had to be drilled and a number 1 recipe from Cliffs book would be ideal. Set the distributor to a good curve first, and back off the idle speed screw to close the throttle before spending time goofing with idle tube and air bleed sizing. If idle requires the screw to boot it up, you will have a nozzle drip problem. Sizing the idle bypass holes will help set the idle speed where you need it and keep the throttle closed or nearly so. Start small and work up.
What is the carburetor number? There were quite a few different Oldsmobile 455 carburetors and they will be set up different depending on year and part number. I typically avoid anything commercially "remanufactured", and I would avoid any pre-1976 Oldsmobile carburetor for what you are doing. Old's still used the early float arrangement with a huge float and early hinge pin location, the later carbs are far superior to those in just about every area, and bigger cfm for the 455 application.....Cliff
I will post the numbers here in a bit. I know it's for a standard olds 455, just can't remember which year. It ends with a 51. The car is going to be a driver. What setup would be most reliable? The car still has an operating electronic choke setup. Could I steal it off of the dual jet and put it on this 455 carb I have now?
1973 Old's carb. Easily converts to E-choke, early float set-up. OK for mild builds, but requires a "garden hose" for fuel delivery and really good parts/preparation for big power. I typically avoid those for over about 400hp, but they can be made to work fine at much higher power levels. I got banned forever from the Old's Forum for my comments on them, I've tried to sign up a dozen times and kicked to the curb every single time. Jim still let's me hang out here, I help out when I can and like the early Buick carbs a LOT better than the Old's units.....Cliff
More than likely the motor I'm buying won't ever see any radical changes unless I become rich. The plan is to make this a driver/weekend beater. If I happen to find a good core to build that ends up being for a later buick 455 and convert to electric choke, what do I do with the choke in the manifold? Can I just make a block off plate for it? If I can't make a trade for a carb or get one for free I might get stuck having to use the olds carb. Are there any modifications that can be made to make it more fitting for the application?
A friend is trying to push a holley 750 on me but for the purposes of what I want this car for I don't think it would be a better choice over a Qjet.
Holley 750's came in many flavors. The later Holley stuff is complete garbage, so that's where most of it goes when we get them in here. I use and like the early stuff, and still plenty of it around at swap meets, Ebay, etc. A well prepared q-jet is still my first choice for anything that sees time on the street. I like my money and using inefficient design for "normal" driving costs too much in fuel consumption, as these big iron V-8's are thirsty enough right to start with.....Cliff
