OLD SKL 69

When I first got the car back in November, it ran ok but had a miss. I took the carb off, cleaned out the dirt from the bowl, put a rebuild kit in it, and it was great after that. But I noticed that the fuel line fitting to the carb was mangled from the previous owner and there was anti-sieze on the threads. Did not think much of it, just retightened it back up and everything was fine.

I was finishing up the work on my interior and thought I would fasten down the sill plates with the car running outside the garage. While I was finishing up, I got a wiff of gas. I thought that was strange so I opened up the hood. To my surprise, the entire intake was covered in gas. It was dripping out of the fuel filter fitting. I put a wrench on it to tighten and it just stripped out, I barely touched it! I immediately shut the car off. I took it apart and sure enough, the threads were stripped. It must have been holding on by the last thread and finally gave way. Thank goodness it was in my driveway and not on the road.

I contacted my local carb guy and he told me that they can machine in a steel sleeve and make it better than new for $85. No one would know it was repaired and you could still put a filter in without a problem. I should get it back by Friday.

70 cutlass s

I hope it works out for you.

Olds64

That is cool. I think there are kits you can get for Q-jets to do this repair. It is a common problem. $85 is a good price though, I think the kits run about $50.

joe_padavano

That sounds like a bulletproof fix, but for future reference, there are two much less expensive repairs. This is a common problem for Q-jets. The cheapest repair is the self-tapping fitting, which simply cuts new threads. You do not want to take this one out once installed, so I install it without the filter and use an inline filter in the pipe instead. The other option is a Helicoil, which restores the threads to original.

cutlassgal

Wow Darrel... you were fortunate! That's a scary thing. Glad you're able to get it fixed with out too much trouble and expense!

OLD SKL 69

Thanks guys and Sandy for the comments. My buddy works in the parts store and told me he could order the self tapping fitting but I would not be able to put the filter back in. Since the car was very original, I decided to go the more expensive route and get it repaired so it still looked stock and I did not need to cut the fuel line to put an inline filter in it. I'll let you know how it turned out when I get it back later this week.

OldCar_Mechanic

I've seen the self tappers many times. I believe that the best way to install those are to do it with the carb dissasembled. That way you can clean the area well before you put it all back together. There is the possibility that when the threads are cut by the repair that a piece of metal cutting could get lodged in the needle and seat otherwise. I like the path you have chosen. Keep us informed.

Ron

Gearhead442

This reminds me of when my coil went bad on my Buick just before pulling out of the driveway!! but that's a whole nother story!

OLD SKL 69

I got my carb back from the rebuilder on Saturday. It looked great. You would never know that it was repaired. Put the carb back on the car, no leaks. So that's fixed and now I have to deal with a hesitation I have coming off idle. I went through the carb and put in a rebuild kit, still no difference. The pump is getting off a good shot of gas as soon as I crack the throttle, so it's not the pump. I spoke to the carb guy who repaired my fitting and he told me that many people are having issues with hesitation in their carburetors today. It seems that the amount of alcohol that is now in our gas requires us to either up the jet size or put in smaller metering rods for the engine to get the proper amount of fuel.

I am going to take the carb apart again, check the jet size, and put in ones that are 2 sizes bigger. I'll keep you guys posted.

Olds64

IMHO, the ethanol content of gasoline has nothing to do with your bog during acceleration. I've heard numerous complaints about ethanol in gasoline and as far as I can tell they are all wives tales.

Have you adjusted the secondary air valves on your Q-jet? This is a critical adjustment that can effect the acceleration of your car.

OLD SKL 69

Had some time today and I took my carb apart. Checked the jet and main metering rod sizes against the carb # and they were correct. Size 70 jets and size 49 metering rods. When I held the throttle cable a little off idle, where it seemed to stumble, then pushed the choke plate slightly closed, the idle jumped up. If everything was set up right, it should have tried to stall.

It obviously wanted more gas, so I then was trying to figure out what to adjust. Do I up the jet size or lower the metering rod size? I knew that upping the jet size would increase fuel delivery at every point in the rpm range. Since I only had the issue coming off idle, I decided to lower the metering rod size. First I went to size 47's and that helped a little. Still had the hesitation issue. Then I put 45's in and wow, what a difference. The first time I put my foot about halfway down on the pedal, I started spinning the tire! Before I fixed it, it would hesitate and then bog down before moving. Now, when I dropped the hammer leaving a stop light, it left about 20 feet of rubber.

Aaah, reminded me of being a teenager again.

sworthy555

Darrell, I am having the same problem with my rebuilt carb..where do you get the metering rod's?

Shawn

Bobsw32

Darrell
You might try taking the accelerator pump out and grind about 1/8 inch off the end of the rod... That will put more fuel in on acceleration

OLD SKL 69

Shawn,

I got the metering rods from a carburetor and fuel injection shop near where I live. If you need their contact information, please let me know.

sworthy555

Darrell, Thanks and at this point I'm going to bring the carb back to the shop that rebuilt it on Monday and see what they can do. I'll let you know next week if I need the information.

Shawn