I had three professional mechanics tinker with it, and it would either run too lean or too rich, and it would bog down on some occasions. Eventually, I took matters into my own hands and got it to work significantly better.
Alas, the Edelbrock continues to have issues that have made me decide, once and for all, to give up wasting time and money trying to get it to work as advertised and, instead, have the original Rochester Quadrajet professionally rebuilt.
I was going to use a carburetor company located in Daytona, but they are no longer offering carburetor restoration services so I called All American Carburetors in Jacksonville, Florida.
One change that I will make to the stock configuration is to convert the choke from hot air to electric. I will discuss this with the guys at All American Carburetors when they call me (I just shipped the Q-Jet to them) and see if they offer that conversion, Otherwise, I can buy the kit from the local auto parts store and do it myself.
One of the issues my Quadrajet had was the common, age-related problem of worn-out throttle shafts, but All American installs new bushings so that will take care of that issue. They also rebuild carbs using ethanol-resistant parts which include a new accelerator pump, needles, and seats.
In addition to all that, All American Carburetors also live-test 4-barrel carbs to ensure proper float setting, accelerator pump function, and that hot and cold idle adjustments and mixture screws are properly set.
In addition, my Quadrajet will be ultrasonically cleaned, media blasted and then polished. They will also Zinc Dichromate all steel parts to prevent corrosion. So for all practical purposes, it will be (and look) like a brand-new carburetor.
The process takes anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks, which is fine since I also decided to have the air cleaner and original fuel lines powder coated. I dropped them off this morning at a shop in Longwood that specializes in the powder coating process for commercial clients but also takes care of automotive enthusiasts. For $100 plus sales tax, my air cleaner, fuel line, and a few related small parts will look better than new.
After doing a bit of research online, I decided to have these pieces powder coated with a "Black Pearl" finish since photos of NCRS quality Corvettes showed that these parts were shiny from the factory, instead of the satin finish they developed after a few decades of use. Besides, I think they will look great with the "Black Pearl" finish I chose, compared to my spray can "resto" a while back.
I will have photos of the finished product in a few weeks, so stay tuned.
Thank you for following my '76 Vette Blog!
Product Links... (#sponsored)
• Edelbrock 1406 Performer 600 CFM Square-Bore, 4-Barrel Carburetor
• Edelbrock 7501 Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake Manifold
• Edelbrock 7201 Intake Manifold Gasket - Pair
• Edelbrock Elite II valve covers
• Edelbrock 7549 Valve Cover Gasket Set
• Edelbrock 1203 Pro-Flo Series Air Cleaner | 10" Round
• Edelbrock 10023 Pro-Flo Series Air Cleaner | Triangular 11" x 8" x 3"
• 1975-1985 Rochester Quadrajet Hot-Air Choke Remanufactured Carburetor
