'86 Silverado, 305 with a Q-Jet, and after 20 years, it's starting to give up on me, so I'm looking for a new carb. I know just about anything at this point will run better than what I have, but I need a little help on picking out a new carb. Any suggestions?

 

a 600 CFM Edelbrock, a very good street carb

 

i agree with sbtork to an extent.... but in all honesty i have been working with carbs for a long time.... I would go holley. they are easier to tune, and easier to work on than edelbrocks IMO.... others feel differently, but i feel it also has better aftermarket support also.


but dont get me wrong... if you are just driving it, and not planning on messing too much with carb, than go edelbrock.... they are drop dead reliable day in and day out.... but if you will be trying to tune it for more power you may wanna research both, because a holley may be for you

 

IMO I think holley's are a pain to mess with, but I have friends that use them in performance motors, them or demon carbs. Edelbrock 600 cfm is what I'm running in the dune buggy right now and it's really really easy to tune, and changing the jets doesn't take much time either. Nice thing about edelbrock too is that most auto parts stores carry the edelbrock accessories/parts on hand. just my .02

 

BINGO!

 

Since all I'm looking at doing is replacing mine so I can drive (I'm not too worried about tuning,) the Edelbrock carb is what I've been looking at.

I do have another question, would it be worth it to replace the intake while I'm at it?

 

yes....

 

I'd replace the intake also...actually, you might have to, I'm not sure if the Edelbrock and Q-Jet have the same bolt pattern or not. Just and FYI, the Edelbrock carb is basically a polished up Carter AFB with a few minor mods. I'm also assuming that you plan to bypass and delete the ECM...I'm pretty sure that in 1986, GM's were computer controlled with feedback carbs on them. When I did the engine in my 85 Monte, I kept the ECM intact, but went with a worked feedback Quadrajet that was intended for a 454.

 

Anyone know of a good rebuild kit for a Q-jet? I plan on rebuilding mine whether I get a new carb or not.

 

Any kit other than Tomco. I would recommend a kit from a NAPA store. Also, buy yourself some JBweld and mix it up and seal the two big steel plugs on the bottom of the main body where the secondary jets are drilled. Also seal the two lead plugs where the primary jets are drilled. That is the primary problem with the Q-Jet; they develop an internal fuel leak at these plugs that leaks staight into the intake manifold. If you clean the carb with mineral spirits and use the JBWeld (let it set up for at least 12 hours) on the outside of the bottom of the main body (throw away the little sponge that comes in the kit, it is useless and the JBWeld fixes the internal leak correctly.) you will have a fine running carb that will hook up to your present linkage properly and run great.

The main problem with any carburetor is that there are so many different ones for different applications. There have been well over 800 different Q-jets built by Rochester and Carter over the years. Only a few would work well for you. The others will be a pain in the butt. Same goes for Holley. Years ago when Holley was the #1 carb, they built over 400 different 600CFM carburetors. The most popular one, list 1850, was built originally for a 1958 Mercury with a 383 FEM(Ford,Edsel, Mercury) engine. Tens of thousands were sold because they were cheap and tens of thousands complained about them. Go figure! You only get what you pay for. Today all of the carbs by Holley, Edelbrock, BG, etc are "universal" carbs; meaning they are so richly calibrated they will run most anything with most any cam, but they aren't really right for anything. Stay with your Q-Jet and you will be happy. It was built for your truck!