Thought I would work on something different on my 34 project. I am using a 58 371 Olds motor in the car and though I would polish up my aftermarket Offy intake and rebuild my J-2 matching carbs. Is there a good source online or a good book with detailed information. I want to do them myself and they look fairly easy but it would be nice to learn more about this set up before I tear into it. Just want to get everthing back in the right place. Any help steering me in the right direction would be great. Anybody know if Offenhauser still makes this intake? Here are a couple of before pictures of what I got to work with. Thanks ahead of time.
i bought rebuild kits & they have alot of info in them.There pretty easy to do.Get a gallon can of carb cleaner from Autozone & soak everything good & make sure you replace everything.All the little check balls & stuff.And blow out every small p***age. JimV
I have rebuild kits that I need to dig out tonight and see what's there. I just thought there might be a good book out there on rebuilding these things. I want to learn as much as I can. I need these things to work flawlessly. Nothing bugs me more than a carb not running right.
The main thing to remember on these carburators is get them CLEAN ! I still use them on Chevrolets as in marine motors ........ The next thing is to make sure the Float drop is correct for that peticular model . Kits are avalible N A P A , Auto Zone and Pep Boys . P - M me if I can be of ***istence . scrubba
I've had great luck with pontiactripower.com as all Rochester carbs are covered by a few part numbers.They have the accelerator pumps that are compatible with E10 gas! Plenty of info on their web site too.
i just bought a Hanes manual for rochester carbs from the parts store for $20, tons of info. check it out.
First thing you need to do is address the linkage- you actually have most all the original va*** controlled pieces. Most folks would get the longer center carb shaft and linkage for the p*** side to make it manual progressive. Stock the front and back were pulled on via va*** and from time to time stayed on which makes for fun. You might be able to resell the va*** pieces to an olds collector to offset the cost of the longer shaft and progressive linkage. Most j-2 manifolds are missing these parts due to them being switched out. Just start searching progressive linkage threads- theres lots of ways you can set them up. The kits are only a pain since they are for multiple models- so if you have not done them before you get a box full of 20 parts you need maybe 10 off. just be organized - they look to be in pretty clean shape. Oh and olds made a technical manual just for the carbs that might be helpful- the manual people have originals for decent from time to time- its only about 12 pages if i remeber correct. Good luck
Looks like a 1957 set-up. One secondary carb throttle return spring seems to be missing, as does the secondary lockout (very common to find the secondary lockout missing). While I won't disagree with Darkharts post about switching to mechanical linkage (I have run both and like/dislike both equally well); I WILL disagree about the extended throttle shaft and putting all the linkage on the p***enger side. There are better AND cheaper ways. Take a look at the way Pontiac handled mechanical linkage (factory). There used to be repro Pontiac mechanical linkages sets available for the 1957~1958 Pontiac (these would also fit the Olds). If these are no longer available, the later GTO kits are certainly available and can be adapted with a little effort. Do it right. The factory did it better. Literature of interest would include: (1) Olds J-2 shop manual supplement (2) Carb section from any 1958~1966 Pontiac shop manual (3) "Rochester Carburetors" by Doug Roe and Bill Fisher (not as useful in this instance as the first two). Be careful which kits you get, as while the parts may fit; they may not function as well as they can. Jon.
Here is a super awesome informational video, sometimes it's better to watch it be done than read about it. I thought it was great. Dashman's Hot Rod & Speed Parts www.dashman.net
Funny story; "a friend of mine" who has a Cad 390 with a 3x2 intake didn't realize that the secondary carbs are bigger than the primary carb. I... "my friend" realized this when he'd already bought new carb bases. This resulted in that I had to... "my friend" had to have adapters made for the intake. Oh yeah.. "my friend" also bought the Haynes manual for Rochester carbs which helped him a lot.
The very best book is a bit hard to find...the EARLY edition of Doug Roe's Rochester book, excellent sections on 2G repair and modification, including how to wrestle with the vac power valves. Roe was a Rochester development engineer and about as sophisticated a carburetor guru as can be imagined. You want ONLY the 1970's editions. Book was rereleased in the 1980's with most of the 2 barrel and one barrel stuff deleted and the space wasted on computerized carbs...
Thanks alot here guys. It looks like I am pointed in the right direction here. I'll try to round up some of that info. I looked at that Pontiac site. I am guessing the 64-65 GTO stuff is different. Never messed with these before. Dashman, That looks like the CD that the Pontiac site had for sale. I will contact that guy and see if it relates to 57 Olds stuff as well.
one thing i noticed when rebuilding rochester 2 jet carbs was putting throttle shaft bushings in them. i do realize the bases are not the cast material like the 4v carbs but the stepped drill bit worked great in the cast. i get mixed feedback on doing the bushings but ....
Is it just my eyes or is your intake set up for the large base end carbs? Later Pontiac set ups used them I believe.
Your Offy manifold will require the larger '59-'65 Pontiac end carbs as they are the larger base like the Offy manifold is designed for! GoodLuck
I didn't look at the aftermarket intake when I made my first post, only the original setup, and the two gentlemen who pointed out the A/M manifold is set up for the larger end carbs are quite correct. Large end carbs were used on: (1) 1959~1961 Cadillac (2) 1966 Oldsmobile (3) 1959~1966 Pontiac. This will make adaptation of mechanical linkage (should you desire to use it) much easier, as either of the repro factory Pontiac 1959~1963 or 1964~1965 linkage should work. Jon.
Not relevant since you have later carbs but I beleive that the original '57 J-2 Olds end carbs had seals in the bases that seal the ****erflys, soaking bases in carb cleaner ruins the base seals.
This is the kind of great feedback that I have come to appreciate from the Hamb. Anybody have any detailed pictures of hotroded J-2 carb setups? I would like to see how other guys have done it up right. I have a buddy with a 65 GTO with tri-power. He may have what I need for bases. Thanks guys!
Dale, Mr.Mac here has a setup on an Olds motor in his shop. I'll call him and tell him to take some detailed pics. It's a complete engine/hydro pulled from an old hotrod. If I remember, it has the complete linkage hooked up also.
Called Ted and he is on his way to the Texas Shootout to race his FED...said he'll be back Sunday. ...sorry
Bases from small body to large body are not interchangable. You will have to start with the larger carbs. Jon.
I am thinking that I may just build some adapters. Anybody have any thoughts on that? Pro's --Con's? I would like to use what I have. If not, anyone got the right intake manifoldfor these carbs? Thanks 3WLarry---I would like to see the pics. How's your pickup project going? Thanks everyone for your input. I don't see many of these setups on hotrods and like the idea of doing something a lil' different. All thoughts are welcome as I am learning as I go here.
Here's a link that has some Rochester carb info. http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Carbs/Rochester/2-Jet/Manual/index.html Have fun! We're running the bigs and little setup on our Caddy and it works swell (with the exception of the vapor lock issue in the hot summer). I had some trouble getting them set up in the beginning, but I learned a few things along the way, namely getting someone who knows these carbs to work on them.
I used J-2 carbs on sbc years back with manual progressive linkage. I used 3/16 heim ends with a rod connecting the end carbs using the stock levers on the throttle shafts. Adjust this rod until both end carb throttle plates are fully closed at the same time. I used a long throttle shaft on the center and added a lever with a pinch bolt. A second heim end and rod was fastened to the front carb lever with a #10 screw long enough to go through both heim ends. Mine was adjusted to start opening the end carbs when the center was about 1/2 open and they were all fully open at the same time. All jets were stock J-2. Ran pretty good.. fuel economy not so good.
I guess I just wanted to lighten things up some. That stock intake weighs a ton. I saw a picture of these carbs on an aftermarket Offy intake that looked just like the one I have. It looked really good. Picture was not detailed enough to see the carb bases. I need pictures of good and really detailed intakes. This seems like a pretty uncommon setup. I saw a number today on some website that said this J-2 option was offered on 2500 cars in 57 and 58 combined. I just might use the stock intake if I can't come up with a plan here. This afterall going on a hotrod so I am not afraid to modify it to suit my taste. I just want to know what I am doing before I jump in. Slick50--Thanks for the link. That will come in handy.
heres a pretty vintage look for you- found on the net - but you can see the longer shaft and the linkage to pull the front and back. the darker ones is the best i could do from the garage. With chromed valve covers and air cleaners the stock gold intake looks pretty good. In the picture are the j-2 bumpy valve covers for the few that had the heads too- 57/58 are plain and the earlier have the nice imbossed logo. They will fit your heads but it takes a little bump on either end to clear the valve train bases. Finding the earlier correct manifold is easy- telling which one fits the 57- 58 heads is allot like the carb kits. What you have will work and get you rolling- you could always go more show down the line. In any case good luck which ever path you take- its an awesome motor
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