Ok i bought a rebuild kit for a E4MC or E4ME (forgot the difference) Rochester q-jet. Everything is apart and im about to dip parts in carb cleaner. Some parts are missing or fell off so if anyone can tell me if I need them or if i can fix it please help. Under the bowl cover assembly there are 4 brass rods pressed into it, 2 skinny ones toward the center and 2 larger ones toward the outside. A larger one one on the driver side fell out and was laying in the float bowl. Could this of been screwing anything up? Can I just press it back in? Under the plug for the solenoid and ECM thing on the top front of the carb, there is suposed to be an insert well, looks like a plastic cup sort of thing. Its not there in my carb so do I have to get one? Is it important? Plus, my car wont run with the solenoid plugged in, if it does it runs horrible. With it unplugged it runs fine. What do I need to do about this? Im not sure if im suposed to have a rear vacuum break or not, but i dont. Whats it do? I dont have a connecting rod for my front vacuum break, but i do have the actual vacuun break. Do I need that rod? I havnt played with carbs this detailed before, so any help is sooo appreciated. Sorry if I asked too many questions but i dont know where to find this stuff. Thanks a ton.

Im mostly concerened about the rear vacuum break or the connecting rod for the front vac break. Am I gonna need to get those?

Yes you need the 4th brass tube. You can just press it back in.

The cup thing keeps fuel from accumulating there; it's just another place it can slosh out of in a turn or whatever. The car will run OK without it but it does do something useful.

The reason the car won't run right with the solenoid plugged in is probably because it's misadjusted. Hopefully it makes the ticking noise about 7 or 8 ticks a second, so at least you know it's working. When you put the carb back together, set the lean stop screw (the thing that sort of screws the whole solenoid down in there) all the way down as far as it will go, then back it off about 6½ turns; and set the rich stop in the air horn (round & silver, a little smaller than a dime) as far in as it will go, and then back it out about 2½ turns. Those should get you close. Then set the idle air bleed control (large bross screw looking thing down in a hole in the top of the air horn) for about a 50% duty cycle on the solenoid, with the engine fully warmed up and idling normally at spec curb idle speed. If you've dunked the whole thing in carb cleaner, take the IAB out and make sure you put 2 good O-rings on it.

I don't recall whether these cars have a rear vacuum break or not. I'll have to go out and take a look. I don't think so though.

You definitely need the rod. It connects the diaphragm to the choke. It opens the choke slightly when you first start the engine cold and it begins to run; if the choke stays slammed shut, it will blow out black smoke, run rough, and generally be hard to deal with until it warms up. Go get one off a carb at the junkyard. It also times the secondary air valve opening.

Hey thanks a bunch for responding. I got the brass rod back and kinda ignored the well cup for now.

The instruction sheet i got with the rebuild kit says to back out the lean mixture screw 3 1/2 turns, so that what it is for now. I havnt played with the rich stop screw at all, the instructions with the exploded view never showed it. Something else I found says I need a special gauge kit from the dealer to get the lean mixture, rich stop, and idle air valve right. And im not sure what you mean by 50% duty cycle, but i backed out the idle air bleed 3 turns, which it was when i took it off. there are all new o rings too.

And isnt that rod ony connecting the vacuum with the air valve? Doesnt look like it affects choke. my car doesnt run too bad at all when its cold, just white smoke but i think thats normal.

Again though, thanks a ton for helpin me out with this.

Without that rod you will get a pretty horrendous heavy throttle stumble/bog.

Also, like RB said, I'd install that fuel bowl insert back in. My car used to stumble really bad around hard turns and excessive braking. Mine was missing when I rebuilt mine - the carb had been rebuilt (butchered) before... Installed one from a spare carb and that solved the problem for me.

Scouring the local yards for parts, I've noticed that the Thirdgen F-Bodies seem to only have the front vacuum break. I have seen a few with the rear, but couldn't find a reason why. I only started paying attention when looking for something else and noticed one with the rear vacuum break. A lot of people do swap out these carbs to incorrect units when they can't troubleshoot them...

Thanks, Ill try to get one of those plastic cups and get a rod for the AV. Although it doesnt bog or stumble like that, if it did would it be off idle or near wot?

Anyway, Ill be adjusting the idle needles today and my uncle showed me how, no problem there, but can some one tell me a little more on the lean mixture and rich stop screws?
As of now everything is set at; 3 turns out for the idle air valve, 3 1/2 out for the lean mixture, and im not sure about the rich stop.

I want to be pretty sure before i play with the mixture screws.

thanks

Is there something online anyone can direct me to that tells pretty detailed how the metering system works, and how to adjust everything? Electronics confuse me but Id want to understand the signals being sent to the carb, maybe id be able to fix problems that way.

thanks for helpin me this far too.