[Cruiser]

This car is special to me my dad & I drove 5 hours to purchase this car as a father son project in the late 80s. I bought it off of my dad in 05 so I have a lot of good memories with this car. It is a 1979 Trans Am the car has a 5 speed manual (.67 OD)factory 3:42 rear gears. The engine is a 455 4 bolt steel main caps, 670 heads ported by butler (255cfm intake)stainless steel, valves, Harland/sharp roller rockers , heat risers blocked off.
Ross custom pistons to give 10.5 compression. This engine was built in the 90s before the flood of aftermarket rods, then the only choice was super duty rods or crower, it has SD rods, the cam is a crane hydraulic cam around 470s lift. The intake is a GM ram air IV .My dad & I had this engine dynoed it made 430 horse power 550 ft. Lbs. I have taken it to the strip it ran 12.10s

Here is my dilemma it’s not fun to drive with the Holley double pump carb, it has no choke & it is very cold blooded. I want to go back to using a quadrajet with some type of electric choke. I don’t have any cores to have built I want to buy one that I can just bolt on my intake is made for a quadrajet , any good sources? I was looking at a company Quadra Jet Power does anybody have any experiences with them?or can point me in the right direction? I want to drive this car & enjoy it a little bit , I am going to loose the headers & go with SD cast exhaust manifolds as well.I want to drive this car this summer, Thanks , Mark

[ta man]

Cliff Ruggles. Not sure on the wait time though.

[Inogame]

Agree with Cliff, especially since you are both in Ohio.
I purchased a core off ebay and sent it off to him to be rebuilt. He converted it to electric choke while he had it.

[tooski]

Unfortunately (from info on this forum) Cliff is dialing down his rebuild service. He is going to a parts based service. Several months ago I read where he was about a year out on the ones he had in his shop. I expect he will post on this thread.

[gokitty]

Cliff R. is the acknowledged Don of quadrajets. Because of this,his turnaround is kinda long(or so I've been told) That said ,Quadrajetpower out of Boerne,Tx is a good choice. If I'm not mistaken,he bought a hoard of Rochesters (hundreds,if not more) last year and has quite a few rare #s. For instance,he has a restored '67 7027262 Rochester for sale and that is a toughie to find. I've done business with him and had a good experience.

[tom s]

I use Sean at SMI in Huntington Beach ca.He rebuilds and also sells custom carbs.He has done QJs,Holleys,AFBs and tripowers for me.Tom

[Navy Horn 16]

These guys are just down the road from me and are FANTASTIC...

They will do your rebuild for you to the exact specs of your engine, or they have cores that they can build for you from the ground up.

https://quadrajetpower.com/

[GoatZillaRacing]

Brent Flynn in Indiana 765-635-6460 He's the Quadra Jet Setter!

[1968GTO421]

Originally Posted by tom s

I use Sean at SMI in Huntington Beach ca.He rebuilds and also sells custom carbs.He has done QJs,Holleys,AFBs and tripowers for me.Tom

I got mine from Sean, too. He supplied the late '70's 800cfm Quadrajet core and built it to my engine and drivetrain specs; excellent work. Came all adjustments done; runs great.

https://www.smicarburetor.com/produc...D2/9/sfID3/100

[Steve C.]

Repeat.... " I don’t have any cores to have built I want to buy one that I can just bolt on my intake is made for a quadrajet , any good sources? "


.

[Cliff R]

I felt that it is time to come on here and let folks know what is going on to dispel any rumors, etc.

I quit taking in new work last June and woln't be caught up till end of this year best case scenario. Over the past couple of years my employees moved on and I didn't rehire anyone. Ray left late in 2018 and Julie about a year ago. It worked into the big plan well as I'm winding things down and going mostly into parts sales. Now that I'm doing everything here I'm completely done with restorations. There are about 11 left to do and if yours is one of them I will get to it as soon as possible. If it's not soon enough call me and we'll make arrangements to send it back.

Once I'm 100 percent caught up I'll be taking in a few carbs here and there, but not going to run a backlog. I've been pretty much buried in work now coming up on 17 years when I went into this business full time. It will be nice to not have to get up every day and know that now matter how many hours I put in I'm not making much of a dent in the workload.

I've been sending quite a few folks to Mark Northcutt at Quadrajet Power in Texas. I've known Mark for quite a while now and comfortable with sending work in his direction. I will NOT for any reason recommend anyone else at this time, simply because I get WAY too many botched jobs from other sources, many of them are mentioned frequently on here. A few may get one right here and there, but I see so many mistakes in the ones that show up here I'm not comfortable with endorsing any of them.

Anyhow, as it relates to the topic at hand I would recommend to obtain an original 1979 Pontiac Q-jet from the 400 engine, part number 17059263. I know they are getting a little pricey but it's a perfect fit for what you are doing, only needing an electric choke conversion for the intake being used and blocked crossovers. It will need a slight recalibration and a couple of modifications for what you are doing, but it is the best choice here.

Second best choice would be a Pontiac Q-jet from a 350 or 400 1976 to 1978, auto or stick, really doesn't matter as you don't need the kick-down linkage they used for the TH350 transmissions in that period. All of the 1976-79 Pontiac 350 and 400 carbs will have the large front vent tube to locate the air cleaner base as well, a nice plus if you are still using the factory air cleaner and Shaker parts. Third choice would be a 1976-up Oldsmobile Q-jet. Those are still relatively easy to obtain and not overly expensive to buy as cores. All the carbs mentioned are a good fit for what you are doing, front inlet, big CFM and convert to E-choke.

Another thing I've been doing a lot of and started a few years ago is opening up a couple Saturdays a month to having troubled carbs brought here to fix while the owner waits for them or drops them off and I call them when they are finished. Often they bring the entire vehicle which is a nice plus because at least half of the time it needed some tweaking or help in other areas as well. I've had cars and trucks brought here from great distances. Currently the record is 1600 miles, but the vast majority come less than 200 miles. I get to see some really NICE cars, and meet some really nice folks. Below is a pic of a restored 1968 Hurst Olds I did a few years back. The owner had tried every avenue possible to get things worked out with the carb and engine tune but no one could figure it out and it ran very poorly. Turns out the distributor was just as botched up as the carb was. He showed up around 9am and I sent him on a test ride around noon. He came back smiling from ear to ear! I like that sort of work and will continue to do some of it well after downsizing the business.

Anyhow, we've had a good run at it and helped out a lot of folks in the last 20 years or so. I just wanted to come on here and let folks know exactly what's going on. I'd also add that everything in the shop currently will get finished even though it's taking me much longer to get to it than I'd hoped. The current Pandemic isn't helping as most of the work force is stuck and home and working on their "projects". So the phone rings continuously all day long and the inbox is full every morning when I get up. Hopefully things will settle down there and the Country will get back to work and things will get somewhat back to "normal"........Cliff

[Navy Horn 16]

Cliff,

I just swapped messages with Mark. He appreciates the endorsement and is looking forward to helping more of the Pontiac community. The Q-Jet he did for me was the one that was on Lance Armstrong's GTO when Chip Foose stole it for Overhaulin... When I got it back from him, it was prettier than any trophy Lance ever won. A real piece of art.

[Cliff R]

Good news. Mark is great to deal with too, but starting to run a backlog. He brought his son into the business to help out and they are doing well. I talk to him frequently, helping out with parts and other advice if/as needed. What helps Mark out a lot is that he also owns, drives and races a car with a Quadrajet on it, and the car is really quick. That's an important part of the learning curve with these things as many things change when you start using one of these carburetors on a car that leaves hard enough to give you a nose-bleed!

Mark also has an LLC, insured, etc. Pretty important when it comes to this sort of thing, IMHO. Sure, there are scores of folks dabbling around with this stuff that don't have a website, business license, Federal Tax ID number, or even a vendors license, etc. Nothing at all wrong with a little side-line work to help pay the bills, but if/when you have issues, like the carburetor floods all over your engine, the car burns to the ground, burns up the garage or most of that end of the house, and the dog dies in the fire, or your very valuable Ram Air carb gets destroyed by USPS, or lost (never use them to ship a valuable item), you will have little if any recourse.

Anyhow, got to run, woke up to a huge stack of orders printed off the website. I started yesterday morning at 5am and didn't get the last one finished till late yesterday evening right before I made the post above. I'd also mention here that I haven't had much spare time for tech, but return as many of those calls as I can. If you call the shop make sure to leave a good number, why you are calling, and speak slowly and clearly. I try to return all phone calls and emails but just be aware that I can't get to all of them.......Cliff

[Cruiser]

Thanks for all of the replies, hopefully I can make the switch back to a quadrajet soon. Now I have some information that can help me get her back to being fun & reliable. Cliff thank you for the reply & enjoy your retirement., and everyone stay safe & healthy, thank you, Mark

[propuckstopper]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

I felt that it is time to come on here and let folks know what is going on to dispel any rumors, etc.

I quit taking in new work last June and woln't be caught up till end of this year best case scenario. Over the past couple of years my employees moved on and I didn't rehire anyone. Ray left late in 2018 and Julie about a year ago. It worked into the big plan well as I'm winding things down and going mostly into parts sales. Now that I'm doing everything here I'm completely done with restorations. There are about 11 left to do and if yours is one of them I will get to it as soon as possible. If it's not soon enough call me and we'll make arrangements to send it back.

Once I'm 100 percent caught up I'll be taking in a few carbs here and there, but not going to run a backlog. I've been pretty much buried in work now coming up on 17 years when I went into this business full time. It will be nice to not have to get up every day and know that now matter how many hours I put in I'm not making much of a dent in the workload.

I've been sending quite a few folks to Mark Northcutt at Quadrajet Power in Texas. I've known Mark for quite a while now and comfortable with sending work in his direction. I will NOT for any reason recommend anyone else at this time, simply because I get WAY too many botched jobs from other sources, many of them are mentioned frequently on here. A few may get one right here and there, but I see so many mistakes in the ones that show up here I'm not comfortable with endorsing any of them.

Anyhow, as it relates to the topic at hand I would recommend to obtain an original 1979 Pontiac Q-jet from the 400 engine, part number 17059263. I know they are getting a little pricey but it's a perfect fit for what you are doing, only needing an electric choke conversion for the intake being used and blocked crossovers. It will need a slight recalibration and a couple of modifications for what you are doing, but it is the best choice here.

Second best choice would be a Pontiac Q-jet from a 350 or 400 1976 to 1978, auto or stick, really doesn't matter as you don't need the kick-down linkage they used for the TH350 transmissions in that period. All of the 1976-79 Pontiac 350 and 400 carbs will have the large front vent tube to locate the air cleaner base as well, a nice plus if you are still using the factory air cleaner and Shaker parts. Third choice would be a 1976-up Oldsmobile Q-jet. Those are still relatively easy to obtain and not overly expensive to buy as cores. All the carbs mentioned are a good fit for what you are doing, front inlet, big CFM and convert to E-choke.

Another thing I've been doing a lot of and started a few years ago is opening up a couple Saturdays a month to having troubled carbs brought here to fix while the owner waits for them or drops them off and I call them when they are finished. Often they bring the entire vehicle which is a nice plus because at least half of the time it needed some tweaking or help in other areas as well. I've had cars and trucks brought here from great distances. Currently the record is 1600 miles, but the vast majority come less than 200 miles. I get to see some really NICE cars, and meet some really nice folks. Below is a pic of a restored 1968 Hurst Olds I did a few years back. The owner had tried every avenue possible to get things worked out with the carb and engine tune but no one could figure it out and it ran very poorly. Turns out the distributor was just as botched up as the carb was. He showed up around 9am and I sent him on a test ride around noon. He came back smiling from ear to ear! I like that sort of work and will continue to do some of it well after downsizing the business.

Anyhow, we've had a good run at it and helped out a lot of folks in the last 20 years or so. I just wanted to come on here and let folks know exactly what's going on. I'd also add that everything in the shop currently will get finished even though it's taking me much longer to get to it than I'd hoped. The current Pandemic isn't helping as most of the work force is stuck and home and working on their "projects". So the phone rings continuously all day long and the inbox is full every morning when I get up. Hopefully things will settle down there and the Country will get back to work and things will get somewhat back to "normal"........Cliff

I really like this post. It is nice to see a guy come out and spell it like it is. I had Cliff do a Quadrajet back in 2012 for my '68. The carb was perfect then and it is perfect now.

Thanks, Cliff!

[phil400]

Yeah, I've bought a few kits off Cliff, spoken to him on the phone and thru email in the past great guy. I buy all my Q-jets parts off him exclusively now.

If you can turn a wrench, I say get his book, talk to him and get a kit, its rewarding to rebuild one yourself, you save money and the more you do it the easier t gets.
Good luck

[Johnny406]

Shaker455 (Jeff) here on this forum!!

[shaker455]

Originally Posted by Johnny406

Shaker455 (Jeff) here on this forum!!

Thanks Johnny.
We try help out our fellow Pontiac community.
We take on small volumes or overflow of work as I have a full time job.
We have the same parts vendor as any other carb shop.
We build to the customers specs, live test and wide band verify every unit personally to assure a quality unit.

[David Jones]

Originally Posted by phil400

Yeah, I've bought a few kits off Cliff, spoken to him on the phone and thru email in the past great guy. I buy all my Q-jets parts off him exclusively now.

If you can turn a wrench, I say get his book, talk to him and get a kit, its rewarding to rebuild one yourself, you save money and the more you do it the easier t gets.
Good luck

Starting with Cliff’s book and then endless other places, with a little reading, a few basic tools and decent core (I’ve used late 70’s Olds cores) you might surprise yourself. I did. Building a working Qjet was satisfying and given all the info out there, within reach of most anybody.

[Cliff R]

I would add here that over the past 2 decades I have become a distributor for carburetor parts that are custom made in the USA. These parts are NOT the same that others are selling. Currently I offer over 50 parts used to rebuild Quadrajet carburetors that are exclusive to my business. I actually sell them to other vendors they are that good.

Where the main distributors come up short on quality and availability I've stepped in to fill the gaps. I also offer tuning parts that NOT available anyplace else. These include custom wound power piston springs, and full tapered primary metering rods in several varieties. I also do NOT use the same "soft" blue pump seals others are using. They swell up and fail in this new fuel. There isn't a day that goes buy we don't get a call from someone bitching about their new "blue" seal failing in a kit purchased over the counter or on-line. The seals I use are so good that I offer a lifetime warranty on them and to date have never had to replace one for any reason. Our accl pumps come with custom wound springs on them, chrome vanadium upper spring (custom specs) and stainless steel return spring as it sits in the bottom of the carb and can rust if made of other materials.

What has happened in the past several years is that folks are finding out about these parts and sales have reached a point where I can't keep up with them. Perfect timing too because I was going to get out of the carb building business anyhow, downsizing, etc as mentioned above........Cliff