I bought a q-jet off ebay mainly to mess around with, but I'd like to actually get it running and put it on my car. The first time I got it together, I screwed up the float level so the needle would never seat. I realized this after putting it on the car and having gas leak from every possible place when I started it up. Took it apart, fixed the float, and put it back on. This time, it was leaking from the accelerator pump shaft and slowly seeping out from under the airhorn in the front but these leaks were not nearly as severe as the first time. I guess I need to find a new airhorn gasket... It was also leaking a bit from the throttle shaft on the pass side in the choke area, and when I pulled it off the base area as well as the base gasket were both soaked. Aside from the airhorn gasket, any ideas on why it is still leaking? It ran fine for about a minute then I guess it flooded out and stalled. White smoke poured out the top for a while and it would not start again. At this point I just pulled it off....any suggestions? Could I still have the float too high? I set it at 1/4" like the rebuild kit said. What do you guys generally set them at?

 

I would guess the float level and/or float installation is not correct. Is this the first time you've rebuilt a q-jet? The installation/setting is a little tricky if you don't understand exactly how it works.

Another possibility is a warped airhorn. From where you described it leaking, though, I doubt that's the reason (although it could still be warped).

Could you possibly take a digital picture of how you're going about installing/setting the float? That may help us diagnose the problem.