Hey guys, Messed around with the ford all day today and for the most part was only stumped by one issue, maybe two, and thought I'd throw it your way to see what you thought. SBC performer intake, quadrajet carb th350 The transmission is new/rebuilt from a reputable source hooked to a cooler in the bottom of the radiator, the vacuum line is connected but the kick down is not. It reads full fluid wise after trying to get an acurate reading with fluid circulated to/threw the cooler. also it has a lokar floor shifter on it, i just tighten down the nut and jam nut on the side of the unit this morning as some threads recommended it for a better result. I dont know that its realy relivant but who knows Ok so now with the particulars out of the way, my issue. When the car is idling I can take my hand and throttle it up and its smooth as can be expected, it seems fine in reverse and idling in first. but if i step on it more gas comes but it mainly just feels like its falling over itself sputtering and spitting making all sorts of racket. after about a dozen laps around 'the block' over a 10 hour period i did notice that when it sat idling it would make an irregular noise. sorry for no sound clip but thing blub blub blub blub poof blub blub blub blub poof like its exhaling funny i dont know if its related but it does seem to be running a little warm as well, spitting just a little anti freeze here and there. now onto the trans side of things, when i finally got it full when i put clicked threw the gears idling at the curb i could feel it pop into gear and kind of torque the car the direction the gear propels you. but after about a block or two it feels like its losing grip. it doesnt sound like its slipping, and after about 4 or so blocks i could stop and run it threw the gears stopped and iddling and not realy fell that "pop" into each gear as i moved the shifter along like i could when i left. i let it sit for a minute and it kinda came back a bit. It also seems for the most part that it doesnt want to come out of first gear. so, running all sputtery under load and wont come out of first gear, kinda acts like the trans is low on fluid but isn't. I'm thinking I have a vacuum issue. There is a vacuum advance on the stock HEI distributor and the vacuum lead to the trans. would that make since? this is the diagram I had been using to run my vacuum lines as its the closest that i could find to the carb I actually have. I took some photos and I'll try my best to caption whats going where. The fat hose center bottom is going to the pcv on the valve cover the thinner hose to the right goes to the distributor the one sorta to the left of center on the top was like this when i got it and i didnt mess with it, it runs to the choke everything else is plugged no hoses on this side but thought maybe it'd help some one figure out what carb it is that im dealing with passenger side back of the carb, the lower hose runs to the choke, as it was when i got the motor and the top one is what i have the trans line plugged into I figured that the diagram i posted at the top was going to get me close enough but i think i figured wrong. anyone see a line going were its not supposed to go? thanks in advance, tried not to be to wordy timm
Qjets are good carbs when they are in good shape but it doesnt take much to get them out of whack. To me it sounds like you are having two issues, one being the carb prolly needs to be rebuilt. I PERSONALLY would just replace it with something a little more reliable, i sware by holleys, so a 650 vacume seconadary with eaither manual or electric choke will be fine for that. but you could go with an edlebrock if youd perfer. The second problem sounds like your hooking the vacume modulator from the trans to ported vacume insted of constant. if your running a holley you can hook the trans line to the big port on the front or back of the base of the carb. i hope this helps.
I've been banging around my own with some of the same issues this weekend....mine is a 327 with LT1 cam and solid lifters, 11:1 forged pistons, 461 heads, Holley 670 SA carb, TH350. I found that you need to get the timing dialed in, then the carb, and the trans will work better. Setting ignition up by the book with about 8 deg initial, the whole thing ran like crap...trans would stall the engine. I finally was able to get pretty good results by ditching the "ported" vacuum, going to "full" manifold vacuum on the distributor vac can. I'm using a points distributor, dwell set to about 30. I found that I had to go to about 18 deg initial (with vac plugged off), gives me about 13" of vacuum... now everything runs and works pretty well.... I did order a lighter spring vac can which will actuate at about 8" vac. and hopefully pick up the remaining drop in idle issue... Your vac modulator on the trans needs full vacuum, I used some steel 3/16" brake line tubing and made my own, then used rubber hose to the "full"vacuum port....also make sure that you do not have any vacuum leaks at all... a vac leak will really mess up your day...good luck. Tom
the modulator has to be connected to direct vaccuum for the trans to shift. if it is hooked to metered vaccum off the carb base it won't shift
I would test both the modulator and vacuum advance can to make sure they are not ruptured. Then I would take the red and blue caps off that fitting that goes directly into the manifold behind the carb and hook the vacuum advance to one and the modulator to the other. You can check vacuum advance function with your timing light, and it will run warmer at idle if the advance is not functional due to either a vacuum leak or incorrect vacuum source (ported vacuum).
ok it seems to be in agreement that my vacuum line/s aren't going were they should probably be going. Any one know this particular carb well enough to tell me where they should go on this one before I give up and put a new carb on it? thanx
I would take your trans vac hose and hook it to the "tee " with the red and blue caps. That will give you full manifold vacuum. Not sure about the runability part.Good luck
Hey thaught of something else. Hook the diz to ported vac, but still make sure to set timing with the diz vac advance unhooked!
The red cap is covering the fitting where the transmission modulator normally gets it's vacuum. The how it runs description is a bit too colorful for me to really understand what's going on.
Just hook both vacuum lines up to the intake, plug the ports on the carb and don't worry about replacing the carb until you know for sure it's bad. Why would you want to do that on a regular old SBC unless you are trying to duplicate some obsolete late '60s to mid '70s emissions set-up?
It wont shift proerly with the kick down not connected as this also tells trans of throttle pressure. The three things that tell the trans whats going on are the governer(road speed), kick down(throttle pressure) and manifold vacuum (engine load). There seams to be alot of separate issues going on here. Good luck. JW
. When the car is idling I can take my hand and throttle it up and its smooth as can be expected, it seems fine in reverse and idling in first. but if i step on it more gas comes but it mainly just feels like its falling over itself sputtering and spitting making all sorts of racket. after about a dozen laps around 'the block' over a 10 hour period i did notice that when it sat idling it would make an irregular noise. sorry for no sound clip but thing blub blub blub blub poof blub blub blub blub poof like its exhaling funny i dont know if its related but it does seem to be running a little warm as well, spitting just a little anti freeze here and there. Your quadrajet has some numbers stamped on it, those would be helpful. They should be on the drivers side right below the secondary air flap shaft. They can be hard to see but they are there. First, determine your fuel pressure at carb inlet is correct and the fuel filter in the carb is good, no junk behind it. You want about 5 psi. Next, time it with a vacuum gauge. You want the highest vacuum you can get and the throttle shafts closed. The spitting and sputtering on the throttle most likely is a lean condition + your accelerator pump arm is in the out side hole, moving it to the other hole will richen up the transition. The blurb blurb blurb poof sound like it could be a miss. Im not liking the throttle cable attachment much either
This is why I was upset when i went to pull the motor from the pickup and they had already pulled the carb. i knew it drove fine in the truck and wanted to make sure i had everything were it went previously, and my hunting for a correct diagram obviously failed ha. My plan right now is to block the carb outlets and put the dist and trans hoses to the fitting on the manifold, check/change the plugs and see how it does. Now that I'm away from the car and not stressing over trying to get it right my 'sputtering, falling over it self' when i got on the throttle that i originally felt was some crap in the carb may have very well been a miss under load because of improper vacuum. I'll try to get the numbers off the carb as noted above and yes I need to find a place that will sell me just the 'hoop' end of the throttle cable so i can put it on the post with the locking washer thing and have it be less hokey. but right now i can't seem to find anyone? it' working for now, im probably going to pull the whole cable/throttle pedal thats in it currently anyways as the 'problem solver throttle pedal' has been about as problem free as pulling it with a shoe string Thanks guys I'll keep you posted
The bottom part of the throttle arm is cut off the carb, so it will be challenging to connect the kickdown cable.
Yeah I had noticed that last weekend when I went to hook it up using the photos I found online of it installed. I need the car to run for the wedding Oct 20th and after that I suppose I'll suck it up and swap to a new carb with parts that havn't been cut off. Any recommendations? From what I can tell its a stock 1969 ish 307 with a performer intake on it, its bolted to a th350 and then onto a 3.00 geared 9 inch with 27 ish inch tall tires. just trying to make it as road trip friendly as possible and alot of the carbs i see just seem like overkill on the cfm side of things thank you for all the help guys, i really do appreciate it
I would put a different Qjet on it, but then I am pretty familiar with these carbs and have several in my shed to play with. I don't know a foolproof way for you to go...although a 500 cfm Edelbrock would probably work, assuming the intake is one that works with both square bore and spread bore carbs.
As much as I think the Edelbrock carbs look to 'new' I am way more familiar with them, maybe it wouldn't be the worse idea to swap to something I know a little better. I has an Edelbrock intake on the motor right now so hopefully it'd bolt right on but ill take a gander to see if its drilled for 2 patterns or not. thank you again
Hi Tim, what's the source of that scanned vacuum line diagram at the beginning of your first post? thanks Dan T
Update: that carb still sucks, no pun intended but I changed the naaaasty spark plugs and switched the dist and trans to the port on the carb and after a spin around the block it all started acting like it should! Awesome thanks guys. Feels like the secondary's font want to open but I drove it 55 miles on the highway with out to much trouble
THe secondaries won't open cause they're locked out by the choke pull off pot on the front of your carb. THe hose from the pot goes to the vacuum port on the bottom of the carb right beside the pot. You can see a cap on the port you need. Your sputtering could be caused by a few things. Not enough timing or stuck metering rods or accelerator pump not working. Get a timing light and set your initial timing at 12 degrees. PLug off the vacuum to your distributor when you do this then hook it up after. More timing should help the sputtering and the running hot. To check your metering rods. With the engine off use a small pencil and poke it in the airvent (it's the round tube in the centre in front of the choke plate) and feel if the metering rods can be pushed down. They're spring operated and should move down and up again easily. To check the accelerator pump look into the carb when the motors shut off and when you stroke the throttle you should see 2 strong shots of fuel near the venturi's below the choke plate.
Ok so if I read that correctly the hose that's coming off what I assume your referring to as the pot that currently goes up to a port on the top side of the front of the carb should instead be going to one of the ports that currently has a black cap on it? Sorry I'm not super carb savy I appreciate the help
Sorry Tim. Disregard that statement. I searched some more and on your carb it's in the right place. However when your motor starts see if that pot pull in.
When you get your numbers off the carb and look them up, I think you will find it is probably at least 10 yrs. newer than your 1969 estimate, somebody familiar with Q-Jets can look your linkage and pulloff pots over and probably spot the problem of the secondary's not opening.
Yeah it'll be so much easier to get this figured out with it 60 steps instead of 60 miles away from me. I'll get the numbers off it in the morning as well as testing the pot to see if everything moves like its supposed to. I'll post the numbers when I get them
Alright numbers on the carb 7045223 1355 And it would seem given the testing methods found on message boards and double checked by google that both 'pot' type actuators on the carb are toast. That would certainly explain some things Now where do I look up the carb numbers? Google?
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