Does anyone know if a 73 Quadrajet will properly fit a 71 SBO? The reason I ask is that all the EGR and so on came in 73. If I remember right, though, I saw a thread on CO that said the major changes didn't come until 74. Is that right???

I know this is an odd question, but a neighbor has an old Q-jet that looks ok and I am thinking about buying it from him "just in case".

Thanks!

 

I've been running a '73 carb on my '72 for many years. You will need to plug the EGR port on the carb's baseplate. From there, you can tweak the innards (jets, rods, power piston spring) as needed for your application.

 

Cool, thanks! I didn't want to just buy something if I had no idea whether it'd work for me or not.

 

As with any carb swap, if it's not set up properly for the engine it's being installed on, it won't run at maximum potential. Jets, metering rods, air valve spring wrap, etc, all need to be correct for the installation.

 

Considering it is just a "backup", I figured if it physically mounts and works well enough to move the car, it is probably good enough.

On the other hand, I have always wanted to rebuild a carb - maybe this is my opportunity. It has decent inlet threads and everything "seems" ok. I am sure that I'll find issues with it, but for the little bit of money I paid, I am not too worried about it.

Off hand, did they seriously change things with Q-Jets from year-to-year? I thought they kinda' stuck with a design (making minor improvements) until a major redesign happened.

 

It will do that. Functional differences will be jets, rods, air valve wrap, etc.