I am looking to get a rebuilt carburetor for my 85 442, but I don't want to end up with one that will under power the already under-powered 307. For the time being I would like to keep it original until I may decide to swap an LS into it.

My question is are there any major differences in jetting or anything else between the 4-barrels used on Y and 9 engines? I could get one from National Carburetors for $229.95 Here. Anyone have any experience with them or can recommend anywhere else?

 

Idk about any differences between vin 9 an y but sometimes its easier and better to keep original parts where possible.

Whats wrong w your carb now and can your carb be rebuilt?

 

If you had a regular Cutlass would be one thing, but 85-87 442 weren't exactly common new and putting an LS in will seriously devalue it. Plus in spite of what the tv car shows say, they never go into all the **** you go through to make one work.

I have no idea what you'd get into with CARB keeping that car street legal with an LS drivetrain, but I think the regulations say if engine is replaced with anything other than original type, it has to meet emission and fuel standards for whatever year the "upgraded" engine is.

Better option is a 68-76 Olds 350 or even a 403, with an EFI conversion. It's almost completely identical externally to 307. Paint it black and unless someone really knows Olds no one would know you had more CID.

But, your car.

 

You will likely cry if you get another carb rebuilt from somewhere that didn't specialize in rebuilding them. I mean, to specific specs. You'll pay a bit more, but there's a place you can send yours and get it built CORRECTLY and they have a great reputation for working on 4MCE carbs. It will be matched to your engine because it is from your own car and he offers to make the guts ethanol restistant. Check with www.everyday-performance.com and talk with Ken. He knows what he's doing with these e-carbs and everyone I know who has used him is very happy with the results. He can do basic rebuild to all out restoration. He used to own an 84 H/O he restored, so he's very familiar with this particular carb.

DON'T trade that carb in unless you're getting a bonafide 1708554 carburetor back. Or 17084554 from an 84 H/O. It's essentially the same carb.

Remember, there's only 2,999 other cars besides yours that are 442 cars in 1985. Not a lot in the big scheme of things. Your carburetor when it left the line was a 1984 Hurst/Olds carburetor, and it is a restamp with a 5 over the 4 in the part number for the year. And a JCY stamp-over factory coding (go ahead and look, you'll se it). The factory carburetors came with build date codes that shows they were built after the 84 H/O production, but were also made prior to 85 442 production. I have no idea why they did it this way. Every 85 442 I know of came with the restamp carb from the factory. Mine still has the original restamp carb and it was built in Feb 85. To note, replacement NOS carburetors do not have a restamp. They actually had the "correct" number of 17085554 directly from ACDelco.

The 800 cfm 1985 VIN 9 carburetor has different jetting than the Y engine. Secondary rods were normally DA (richer than VIN Y rods) and hangers are anyone's guess, but I've seen many with N secondary rod hangers, but they can be bent so it's not that big of a deal. You're already starting with a lean burn attempt on the engine by Olds and GM. The Y makes it worse. VIN 9 carb also does not have the stop tang on the secondary air flaps which allows them to open fully on the VIN 9 carb where it's only partially open on the VIN Y carbs. VIN 9 also came with an electric solenoid for A/C kick up idle speed, the VIN Y uses an ILC (Idle Load Compensator) vacuum gadget to basically do the same thing.

You can see inside this 85 442 carb the little baby bump in the primaries way down on the left above the primary blade, as well as more space around the venturis, denoting an 800 cfm carb.



Here's a pic of a restamped 84 H/O carb from the factory built on Tuesday June 5, 1984, which then became a 1985 442 factory carburetor (I have a picture of another one built on the same day somewhere I can't find at the moment)-



And here's an NOS 85 442 carb I have showing the number is NOT restamped, but it was likely made in 1990 (doubt 2000). March 3rd by the 062. Which was a Saturday. Strange.

 

Oh, and go buy a Cutlass Supreme or something and do your dirty work to put an LS in that. Paint it up to look like a 442 if that's what you want. Why fugg up a limited edition 442 with a non-Olds engine?

Or you can go ahead. It'll make mine worth that much more with one less original car.

 

69HO43, that is excellent info. Thanks for research and sharing.

 

Don't F around. Send to the carb to Sean Murphy Induction (SMI) in Orange County. This guy is a Carb God.....I sent mine there after having issues (after rebuild and looking like new....some unknown issue with accelerator pump). Just reinstalled it and started it two weeks ago after sitting for 14 months. Vehicle started in 3-4 second (filled float bowls) and idled perfect with zero adjustments. Sean Murphy earned my respect. Don't waist your time....he knows WTF he's doing.

 

Get your carb rebuild by someone who knows what they are doing. Proper carb rebuilds are much more involved than the $30 carb kits from advance auto.

I have been involved with many LS swaps. While the engines are cheap, and the worrying harness/computers needed to run them have gotten much cheaper, it’s still expensive. It’s always the little nickel and dime things that really add up to several hundred or thousands before your done.

A 350, 403, or even 455 will easily swap in place of the current engine. Like someone mentioned, paint it black, take the time to carefully route the wiring the way the factory did, and 90% of the people looking at the car will have no clue what’s been done.

And now for my typical smart *** comment:

 

First, rebuilding the CCC Qjet is only half the battle. You MUST adjust it on the car, following the procedure in the CSM exactly. Don't think you can buy a rebuild carb, bolt it on, and go. And to answer the original question, yes the VIN Y and VIN 9 carbs are different.

 

I had an 85 442 bought new. At 110,000 I rebuilt the carb and had to make a tool to adjust the double D primary rods. Also drilled and tapped the aluminum plug with #4-40 so I could pull it out to get to the adjustment while the car was running. A good dwell meter is also your friend when adjusting this carb.

 

You also need the two gauges for adjusting the mixture control solenoid stop and the air bleed. The CSM gives dimensions of these gauges. The first time I rebuilt a CCC carb, I made my own gauges, but then I found a set of the Thextron CCC gauges, and that makes it easier. The Kent Moore CCC carb adjusting tool kit, while not needed, also simplifies things. These show up on ebay from time-to-time. The float adjusting tools in that set also make life a lot easier.

 

JMO, but keep the 442 "ORIGINAL" ... Especially if you want to maintain its value... You can always LS any Cutlass and clone it as previously mentioned...

 

He already stated in another thread it has a replacement GM engine assembly, so there's that.