I put my new filter in, on my stock 4bbl carb. Then I had to take it off coz i forgot to put the gasket on. Then I noticed in my book it says there is a spring that goes in first before the filter, some sort of check valve. Anyhow, I didn't have a spring in there when i changed the filter in the first place. Do i need the spring? Can i get one at most parts places?

Maybe i should just get a clear inline fuel filter and some braided hose? BTW are this steel braided hoses rubber underneah the braids?

The spring may have stayed inside the carb when you pulled the filter out. It often does.

The filter inlet/checkvalve should face the fitting nut. The spring goes in first, and presses the filter against the nut to provide the seal. The spring also provides a by-pass function in case the filter becomes clogged - a clogged filter will increase the pressure drop across it, and if the pressure drop gets high enough, it'll push the filter away from the nut.

I haven't seen the filter spring in parts stores, but it may be in the Help! display. I have several in my small parts bin.

Braided hose has some kind of liner. For automotive applications, it's typically some sort of rubber.

i put my finger in the hole and didn't feel a spring. I hope I can find one

my dad has a brand new old rochester 4bbl Q-Jet, from an Impala, looks a lot like mine, I used the spring out of it. I may actually use the carb sometime. Its manual chocke though, Why is it that a lot of carbs you see on ebay have the choke plates taken off?

Also, where does the gasket go on the nut that screws into the carb where the filter goes? It doesn't fit over the threads

There were two types of fittings/gaskets used on q-jets. One went between the body and a shoulder on the fitting, like you'd expect. The other had a groove built into the fitting on the end of the male threads, and actually went inside the body and butted up against the bottom of the inlet bore.