A paper by Lars Grimsrud
OverviewThe Rochester QuadraJet, in its various forms and configurations, has been used by various GM Divisions for various applications since the mid sixties. The last passenger car version of the carb appeared as an ECM-controlled carb in 1981.
The Q-Jet is a highly versatile, tunable carb that will provide outstanding performance and reliability once set up correctly. This paper will discuss the tuning and setup, and will provide you with adequate data to make good decisions when jetting and adjusting the carb. This paper will not discuss basic rebuilding sequences, nor will I discuss operations involving machining operations and other severe alterations to the carb. There are many books on the market that deal with these subjects in depth. Rather, I will describe the various systems, their purpose, and a good tuning sequence to help you get each system and parameter set up correctly in the easiest way possible.
QuadraJet carbs have three basic tuning variables, and these get people all confused: Primary Metering Jet, Primary Metering Rod, and Secondary Metering Rod. Attempting to cure problems by tuning the wrong variable results in lots of frustrations for tuners and car owners.
These systems at times overlap in their operation. Not only does each system need to be properly tuned, but its timing and “overlap” with other systems is critical to proper performance.
When tuning, we think of each of these variables as controlling a different operating range: The primary jet size determines the fuel mixture at Wide Open Throttle (WOT). The primary metering rod determines fuel mixture at cruise speed and determines responsiveness of the idle mixture screws and off-idle performance. The secondary rods are a high-rpm compliment to the primary side, and are used for final “tweaking.”
On a Q-Jet, we see that we can control the fuel mixture throughout the operating range. This is different from a Holley: A Holley has a given main jet size which meters fuel throughout the rpm range, including cruise. At WOT, the power valve unseats, and opens a fixed orifice, dumping a fixed amount of fuel in addition to the main jet. Crude, but simple and effective.
The Q-Jet meters fuel through the main jets. Metering rods, suspended from a power piston, “plug off” part of the area of the main jets by being inserted into the jets. These rods have a “fat” diameter and a “skinny” diameter: The number stamped into the side of every metering rod is the “fat” diameter indicated in thousands of an inch. This part of the rod is pulled into the main jet at cruise, at idle and at other high-vacuum operating conditions (light throttle). It produces a lean operating condition for good fuel economy and good throttle response. When engine vacuum is lost, indicating a high-power condition, the rods are pushed out of the jets by spring pressure, and only their “skinny” tips, or power tips, remain in the jets. This richens the fuel mixture up for peak power. All primary metering rods have the same power tip diameter (.026”). This fact is crucial to remember when tuning: Primary metering rod sizes have no effect on WOT performance. (NOTE: Some post-1975 Q-Jets for truck applications hav metering rods stamped with an “M” designation following the number size. The “M” rods have .036” diameter power tips, and are not suitable for performance tuning unless the tuner takes this larger power tip diameter into consideration when calculating resultant metering area at WOT.)
This tech paper will discuss basic set-up and tuning of QuadraJet carbs for optimum street performance and drivability.
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