Qjet

[FORD*DIEHARD]

I have a pretty stock 302 (I have had her for 23 years) i haven't really done anything to it. Just like everyone, I want it all (good on the street as well as offroading) , she is mostly a daily driver but want to get her out more.

One place I talked to said he will build a Qjet , engine tested ready to install with an adapter for just under $600 delivered.

I also looked up throttle bodies but those are minimum 2 to 3x more. I just had a couple guys just tell me that they are experiencing issues with their throttle bodies and are going back to a carb. But I have also talked to people That LOVE their throttle bodies.

Does anyone have experience with a Rochester Qjet 4 barrel? Is the price of just under $600 a good deal?

Thank you in advance for your time/help,

Sonny

 

[toddz69]

"Back in the day" (mid/late 90s/early 00s), the Q-Jet was highly regarded amongst the EB crowd as a great off-road carb. Chuck at BC was one of the big proponents of it who pushed it into somewhat widespread usage. Frankly, I'm hoping @nvrstuk will chime in here on his experiences and recommendations as I believe he ran it a lot back in the day and he's really a worst-case usage tester on a lot of this stuff .

Todd Z.

 

[nvrstuk]

TZ, you are SOOOO polically correct!! lol "worst-case usage tester".... I think you summed it up.

Go with the Q-jet. If it is dialed in you will never regret it- seriously. Chuck at BCBroncos borrowed mine at an SOB, took it home with him and 6 months later he was selling Qjets that were dialed in and people could not believe how well they performed.

I eventually went SEFI but it was because I am putting out over 600 hp now and it's hard to tune it with low fuel levels in the float bowls for off road, severe off camber and yet still have enough GAS in the bowl when you stomp on the skinny pedal with 600hp and the amount of fuel it uses.

HOWEVER, in your case you can't go wrong with it from my experience. I built a lot of these for friends and people across the west coast back in the day. You can't beat them for throttle response because of their small primaries which makes a very noticeable difference in off idle throttle response because small primaries move air quicker to the ports than large primaries do off idle- it's very noticeable and of course if you can keep your foot off the floor the small primaries will help you achieve the best mpg possible. Example- with my 351W and a Qjet I got better mpg on a 2200mile long trip to the Rubicon and back than ALL the other Broncos in our group and there were 9 of us. All driving in a row to the Rubicon and back- epic trip, can't get anybody to do it today. Brand new Explorer engines, 302's with Mustang injection, etc. nobody put less gas in their tank at the same gas station as we all filled up.

Remember, EFI was designed to meet emissions. Just dial it in and you won't regret it.

I didn't mention anything about Holley's or Truck Avengers or whatever else is out there... for a reason. They can't compete with the Qjet for mpg, off road, tuneability, etc.

 

[SteveL]

Chuck turned me on to the q-jet years ago. Check out jet performance. If clearance is an issue offenhauser sells an intake with the correct bolt pattern but you need to do a little clearancing for the butterflies. Not tough to do but eliminates the adapter.

 

[okie4570]

I'm on year 12 with mine iirc. Zero regrets, and zero off road issues.

 

[nvrstuk]

X2 on the Offy. Aren't much for big flow /rpm numbers but great for velocity and low & mid range power.

 

[bronco italiano]

I actually have a new Offy for SBF with qjet pattern for sale. I bought it from carburetors unlimited in AZ. The owner is well known for building qjets but needs to do the tune/dizzy himself. Very old school gentleman. I may have an image in my gallery of the intake. I actually just received a qjet by Seam Murphy for my FE 390.
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/threads/offy-spreadbore.313335/ has a pic of the Offy spreadbore intake

 

[nvrstuk]

That "old guy" knows his qjets pretty well.

Send your qjet to him and you should be dialed in.

 

[bronco italiano]

That "old guy" knows his qjets pretty well.

Send your qjet to him and you should be dialed in.

He wouldn't do it, local only he told me. I wished he could have done 3 qjets for me.

 

[nvrstuk]

He wouldn't do it, local only he told me. I wished he could have done 3 qjets for me.

We're talking "Bruce" correct? He must be cutting back on work load. I know shipping was/is a major hassle for him 10 yrs ago.

 

[phred]

I’ve been running a jet performance q-jet for 12 years. Never had an issue, on or off-road. Great carb. As others have said for your purpose it will be perfect.

 

[FORD*DIEHARD]

Thank you everyone for your replies. So $500 is a good price? I have seen some for less but not sure if they are the right model or ready to install , I'm sure that is part of the price. Carburetor Unlimited (Bruce) is the guy I talked to. He sounds very knowledgeable. I wanted to see what place was recommended and glad to hear without mentioning it that Bruce is the guy. Is there a specific model # to make sure and get? I know the carb comes ready to install but are they all adjustable? Bronco italiano how much for your offy and where are you from for shipping? Bruce said he has an adapter for $40. But reading some comments not having an adapter is one less gasket to fail, depending on how much the manifold cost , would that extra gasket be that big of a deal/worth it not having to deal with an adapter? I'm on a budget. If anyone lives in the LA/OC area that could assist with the installation, please let me know.

If I left anything out that I didn't ask or should know, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for everyone's time/help,

Sonny

 

[nvrstuk]

IF you can get the Offy intake I'd recommend it. It's not for big cubes or high air flow #'s but it will keep the thickness of the carb swap lower so you won't have any potential issues with hood clearance issues.

Yes, you might need a different style air cleaner, yes, you might need a 2" or 2 1/4" thick element, yes you might have to tweak throttle bracket a little bit but these are extremely simple mods to make this work.

An extra gasket is not an issue for causing problems but potential height could cause more complicated hood clearance issues. If you have a 2" body lift It's not an issue tho.

I'm sure that Bruce would not dump an 850cfm on you but ask him for the carb #'s so you can reference what the carb was used on originally AND you will know what year it is since like any new product released/installed on new cars GM did a bunch of simple upgrades to fix the typical small issues they had for the first few yrs of production.

Bruce will fix those same issues for you but it's still good info to know.

 

[FORD*DIEHARD]

Clearance shouldn't be an issue, I do have a 2" bodyblift with a cowl induction hood.

 

[FORD*DIEHARD]

I was just outside and found I have this manifold, would this work? If it would, I am assuming I would still need the adapter from Bruce?

Thank you in advance for your time/help,

Sonny

 

[EPB72]

Cliffs High Performance Quadrajets – Quadrajet Rebuild Kits, Cabruretor Parts, Quadrajet Rebuilding, Quadrajet Parts, Bushing Kits, Carb Tuning

Here's another source , there quadrajet specific .. there is a ton of info on this site to familerize yourself,

 

[EPB72]

I was just outside and found I have this manifold, would this work? If it would, I am assuming I would still need the adapter from Bruce?

Thank you in advance for your time/help,

Sonn

that appears to be the addaptor on that intake in your pic..

 

[SteveL]

Another note on the q-jet. There's a small fuel filter where the fuel line hooks up. Carry spares. It doesn't happen often but when those clog it goes from running great to crap in about 2 seconds flat.

 

[nvrstuk]

that appears to be the addaptor on that intake in your pic..

That's what I'm thinking too.

Always run a separate fuel filter btw the carb & fuel pump.

The stock carb fuel filter is easy to miss-thread and then you're screwed. lol

 

[bronco italiano]

We're talking "Bruce" correct? He must be cutting back on work load. I know shipping was/is a major hassle for him 10 yrs ago.

He is 83 years old and busier than ever. A true perfectionist as he really wanted to tune the carb/dizzy at his place. I wished I was closer. That being said, Sean Murphy has a very good reputation (Sean Murphy Induction) and am sure he built me a very nice q-jet for my application. There is an old school racer/mechanic in Stockton that I will have do the initial start-up and tune my motor