Here is my setup, stock 97 vortec 350, performer rpm intake (square bore), 700r4, 88 camaro with 3.42 open rear.

Bought the car with a 4160 holley. A crappy holley, somebody had tinkered with it that didn't know what they were doing and had it way way off. With that carb I set the TV cable correctly, but at WOT, sometimes between shifts, the trans would act like it hit neutral and just rev until I let off the gas, then it would shift.

I got tired of fooling with it and put a q-jet from a 81 model truck on it. I already had an adapter so I bolted it up. The q-jet had been rebuilt a year prior for my s10. The guy convereted it to mechanical secondaries. On the camaro driveability increased a ton. The trans problem went away (maybe incorrect geometery on the holley). The problem is that it is too rich, you can smell it and tell from the exhaust, but the plugs almost look normal. It has a hesitation in it. From a dead stop if I punch the gas it will hardly spin tires. It runs fine top end, but down low it feels almost like a timing issue, but that has been checked.

So I know that q-jets get better gas mileage when set-up properly, the problem is I dont know much about them except for the fact that they are complicated. And I have heard that it is hard to get correct jets and rods for them now. I know how to setup a 4160 holley pretty good now. Should I swap back to the holley? Or do I pull the top off the q-jet?

 

ok ok, first things first,
i'd like to know how you (or buddy) thinks he can "convert" a q-jet to be a mechanical secondary carb. Install the "mechanical secondary kit"? Please enlighten me on this one, this is the first i'm hearing of it.

Other then that, it just needs to be tweaked. Adjust mixture at idle, change rods/jets, adjust air valve tension, etc etc.

 

its not me, it was a friend of my dad that has worked on them for years. I dont know exactly what he done. All I know is that if you move the throttle all the way, all 4 open.

 

Yea, that's how all q-jets work.
Be sure to ask your dads friend, inquisitive minds want to know.

Set your idle mixture screws based on max vacuum. Swap rods and jets and set it up right!

 

aight, i'll try to tear into it tonight to see what rods are in it. I downloaded a document about 24 pages on "How to tune a Quadrajet". Maybe that will help me. I understand holleys but these I have no idea. Thanks for the help and I will post up what I find.

oh and any reason why the plugs arent black but the exhaust is and it has the rich smell? secondaries?