I have my '76 q-jet completely dis-assembled, and last evening I soaked the main body, throttle plate, and air horn in carb cleaner. After a little extra cleaning with an old toothbrush to remove extra deposits, I rinsed all the parts with brake parts cleaner, then used compressed air to dry out all of the passages in the carb. Over the past 10 years, when this carb was sitting it apparently got some water in it, and there was gunk in the passenger side primary jet area, and in the bottom of the float bowl. After soaking, the gunk-like stuff is gone, but there is still some blue-ish green markings on the surface around where the primary jet threads in, and the area below the primary jet looks to be the same. I used the air hose to blow through this area, and it seems to flow freely. Does this sound OK, or will I have problems with fuel flow? Another area I'm concerned about, it ahead, and to the passenger side of the primary jets, there's a round well there, and there was just a plastic cup sitting in there. I noticed there's a passage underneath that looks to lead over towards the passenger side primary jet. However, there is some rust underneath where that plastic cup was, and I cannot get compressed air to flow through there. It almost seems like the passage is blocked by a piece of metal, that has just rusted a bit, it is very solid. What I'm wondering, is that passage even used for anything on this carburetor? Thanks
You are likely seeing the normal degradation of the brass parts, which is occuring due to its exposure to the air. I suggest using a good carb cleaned, Berryman's works well, so does Gunk. This problem will likely disappear when the carb is in use, as the fuel in the bowl will limit the components exposure to air. Do a good job of cleaning the deposits out of the carb, including spraying the cleaner into the small passages around the venturis, and looking for exit signatures. This will assure the air and fuel will flow to capacity in these passages. Ray
Arrgh.... I think this might be a junk carb now. I realized that while pulling it apart, one of the dowel pins cast into the main body stuck into the base plate. Just to see if I would be able to make it work with one pin, I places the 2 parts together, and the other pin broke off! Those stupid pins are more fragile than glass! Has anyone else had this happen before? Better yet, had this happen, and still salvage the carb? Thanks
I've had it happen. I can usually pull it out carefully, and place it back into the air horn where it's supposed to be. Sometimes they're so corroded, I just give up on it.
