so as many of you know i am restoring my 65 442 and the time has come to get this beast breathing again. the only two items that didn't come with the car were the shifter handle, and the carburetor. do i want the factory rochester or quadrajet,(august build), or do i want an aftermarket holley or edlebrock. i have a custom grind cam and a edelbrock performer intake. i would like to keep the factory breather and have read that i will need a step down plate to do so, because the edelbrock intake is taller than factory, and i also have to remove the center stud on the hood spear. any and all advice will be appreciated. thanks


duane

 

I would either put a Rochester or a Holley vacuum secondary on it. I'm not a fan of the Edelbrocks.

 

I would go with a quadrajet. When you get it dialed in correctly, it is the best there is. I am sure there will be other opinions.

 

I have never heard of a step down plate. That being said there is more than ample room in the 65 442 engine compartment for any intake/carb combination that you choose. If you do truly have an Edelbrock intake made for a Q-jet, then a Q-jet would be the best way to get the best drivability if you learn to tune it properly. A 65 400 engine came from the factory with a 4-Jet Rochester that was very anemic for performance with the factory 400 engine.

 

I guess I didn’t really look at the factory intake, but the flange on the edelbrock is different for a quadrajet? I thought I read somewhere that in order to use the edelbrock intake and my factory breather, that I would need a drop down breather base. Guess I should have been more specific on what I was referring to by step down plate. You say otherwise?

 

#1. Decide if you want to retain the stock appearance. If you answer yes, then the Rochester 4 jet on a stock manifold is what you need.
#2 If you answered "no" above. You can go with a newer (1966 or newer) factory manifold or Edelbrock manifold with a Rochester Quadrajet.
#2A. Another choice would be an aftermarket manifold and some "off breed" carburetor such a Holley of Edelbrock. And adapting fuel lines throttle linkage and miscellaneous.
#3. Get an L-69 manifold and carburetors.

 

Your Edelbrock Performer intake should have a spread bore pattern(right?)
The easiest thing to do to keep your factory intake would be to get a Quadrajet and use a 66-67 air cleaner base.
It has a larger opening for a Quadrajet and fits the 65 lid.

You can use an adapter to run a Holley(square bore), or search for a spread bore…but you’ll be looking for a base that’s as wide as the air cleaner AND has the contour to fit over the Holley’s fuel bowls.

I have zero experience with Quadrajets as I’ve always run Holley’s.
Now I also have 4GC experience as well. But using an original 4GC will require a stock manifold.

 

Yes, if you have the factory air cleaner, it will not fit the Q-jet, Edelbrock, or Holly carb without using the "step down adapter". It would actually be a step up to the larger carb from the smaller Rochester 4-Jet.

 

Whatever you do, hopefully it'll be obvious that you don't want to put a spread-bore unit like a Q-Jet on a manifold meant for a square-bore like a 4GC (although you could go the other way 'round -- square-bore carb on spread-bore manifold -- as long as the holes line up). Probably the existing manifold is an open plenum so this won't be a problem, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

I vote for a Q-jet tuned to your aftermarket cam on a Performer manifold. A Holley would be easy to tune, but wouldn't have the drivability of a Quadrajet. Ken at Everyday Performance is a good dude. I won't even consider an Edelbrock.

 

#4. He’s already open to using any carb on his aftermarket intake.

#5 I can’t say it, I’ll get banned 🤣

 

so why say anything?

 

Do you think you got some decent advice?

 

Well, I came here to get advice, from the people that know, so instead of actually giving some advice, you make remarks about what you can’t say? Then, you want to question whether or not I’ve actually gotten some good advice, when you haven’t really given any advice at all? So, IF you aren’t here to actually give advice, why do you comment? Im confused. 🤔

 

Holley Sniper Quadrajet EFI. All day, every day.

 

[QUOTE=Bryan Burch;1472312]Holley Sniper Quadrajet EFI. All day, every day.[

I had considered and efi system when I first started this build, but started leaning more towards factory. Would that system require a different tank? I just ordered my tank the other day.

 

Deja vu all over again

 

X2. My retuned 800 cfm from Ken worked a lot better than the stock 78 calibration with 9.5 to 1 and a mild cam. I recently rebuilt it due to a sticky float and checked the measurements he did. Similar to Cliff Ruggles recommendations in his book for a mild build. The later 800 cfm is superior to the earlier carbs. Use a wide band to make sure it is right, it takes very small adjustments to the mixture screws and APT adjustments to change the AFR a lot, especially with the idle passages enlarged.

 

I used to think that, but I've spent more time learning about QJs and I invested in a wideband gauge. I'm not sure a throttle body EFI unit is going to run much better than a properly tuned QJ, and unlike an EFI unit, a QJ is not going to leave me stranded, not if I have very basic tools.

 

[quote=65droptop;1472321]No, I use a factory tank as well, but with the Holley 12-303 fuel pump/sender. No return necessary, easy peasy. I did add nice plug wires (MSD Super conductors) and a noise filter capacitor (MSD 8830) to keep EMI under control, as well as Radium Engineering Fuel Pressure Damper (FPD-XR) and a Earl's fuel pressure guage. Used the hard lines already on the car and installed the 40u/10u filters just before the throttle body. I went the route of using the whole Hyperspark ignition and dizzy, and I couldn't be happier. Also did the CS130 alternator conversion.

 

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

 

It's cool, it might not be the solution for everyone. I can't tuna fish much less a quadrajet, but I can EFI all day. Mine has been running flawlessly.

 

I tried the tbi/efi thing, and didn't like it. I'll admit- it does start better, but beyond that, I got nothing. My carb is faster all the way around with better throttle response. Mileage is the same.

 

I'll repeat what 307 and 403 said.
Almost anything with metering rods/piston for a smooth idle-part throttle transition, (without it's shocking to see using a wideband on a Holley). A dialed in late 70's 800 qjet can't be beat especially if you're not fussy on an ebrock. Nothing wrong with an ebrock for the street, easy to tune/rebuild, they just don't get me excited. I'd peel the sticker off and install one on a dodge, but that's about it.
I have a 77 pontiac 800 qjet, cliffs large idle down tubes, drilled holes in the tb, weak piston spring, thick air horn gasket and I bought the primary shaft bushing kit. Using the wideband to adjust idle mixture, APT, primary jets, and rods, secondary rods and hanger, and secondary air flap isn't the only way, but sure is nice to see it's perfect and takes a lot of guesswork out.
I put an electric choke on it as well, I love it. I don't hate the idea of a sniper or fitech, but this way seems a heck of a lot cheaper and easier. Plus I work on enough fuel injected crap for a living.

 

You haven’t provided any details on how you intend to use the car - street only? Strip? I think your intended use can play a significant role in our suggestions/recommendations.

No negative comments from me regarding a properly tuned Q-jet. Ran one on a big block for 30 years with few complaints. I’m currently running a Demon (Holley) 750 Street Demon on a mildly modified street 400. Great carb. Good starting, idling, economy and performance.

 

street use only. Doing a full frame off resto, I don’t plan on racing, but I want optimal performance when I do decide to get into it. Original 400 engine bored .030, mild cam a tad above stock, edelbrock performer intake, 4 speed, 3:36 gear, haven’t decided on stock ignition or electronic conversion to keep stock appearance.

 

This can mean a lot of things. Got specs?

 

My 400(G) has many of the same mods. The street demon sits on a Performer intake with no adaptor necessary. One of the nicest things about the street demon is the (optional) phenolic body which helps to reduce heat transfer to keep the fuel cooler. I've had mine for ~5years now and no complaints whatsoever.

 

Thought I added this yesterday but I guess not.

 

i found an original 4gc that was dated the month prior to my august build. after talking to Ken at everyday performance, he is confident that he can calibrate and tune the carb to fit my needs just fine. so now i won't have to worry about linkages, fuel lines, and breather lid bases, if i really want, i have the original intake that i can put back on the engine. when i started this build, i was leaning more towards performance and comfort over originality, but now after i've gone this far, i'm leaning more towards the factory appearance on everything.