# New here, 400 questions..



## Wolfe (May 1, 2009)

I just joined. Site looks great. I just picked up a 1972 GTO, I'm trying to decide what setup I want intake/carb wise. Right now it has a 2-barrel 400 that I was told came out of a '70 Lemans, I assume its a low compression motor, something like 8.5:1? I want to swap the 2-barrel carb and intake for a 4-barrel setup. It seems the cheapest route would be a edelbrock intake and a holley carb... I can pick up an edelbrock torker locally for cheap, does anyone have any experience with them though? The car already has hooker long-tube headers with dual exhaust. And planning on a cam down the road.
Just looking for a bump in the right direction in regards to the carb/intake selection, the car will be a driver/weeked drag strip car..


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## Petey D (Feb 14, 2009)

Welcome to the board, lots of info here. I had the oportunity to go down the "Torker & Torker 2" road not so long ago, and was advised by many many many kind people both here and elsewhere, not to bother.

For a street driven application, a dual plane intake (like the Edelbrock Performer or the Wiend Stealth,) is the best way to go. I picked up a Performer intake & a holley 750 last night for $300. So they're available cheap.

Good luck.


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## Koppster (Jul 27, 2008)

I've got a 76 400 in my 64. The entire top end is Edelbrock (heads, cam, intake, carb, etc.) and I'm really happy with how it runs/performs. 

I wouldn't say the same for Edelbrock's fuel pumps!


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Or, you could go the "used Parts" route and bolt on a stock '68-'72 4bbl manifold with a Quadrajet...hard to beat factory engineered parts!


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

geeteeohguy said:


> Or, you could go the "used Parts" route and bolt on a stock '68-'72 4bbl manifold with a Quadrajet...hard to beat factory engineered parts!


Welcome to the fun !!
Last weekend I bought a stock 69 4 barrel intake AND complete rebuildable quadrajet for $20 at a swap meet...


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## Wolfe (May 1, 2009)

geeteeohguy said:


> Or, you could go the "used Parts" route and bolt on a stock '68-'72 4bbl manifold with a Quadrajet...hard to beat factory engineered parts!


Hmmmm, that would work to. Gotta find a local swap meet I guess. Would a after market intake/carb combo make more power though?
I've read that the q-jets are good carbs, just sorta tricky to setup.


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

Wolfe said:


> Hmmmm, that would work to. Gotta find a local swap meet I guess. Would a after market intake/carb combo make more power though?
> I've read that the q-jets are good carbs, just sorta tricky to setup.


Not really. I read about a series of tests that a Pontiac drag racer ran with his car using the "hot" aftermarket setups against stock components and was VERY surprised to see little difference between them and this is on a competition car. His final opinion was the stock parts are as good on a street car and in some cases, as in the Torker manifold, much better for low and mid-range torque. He tested headers too and determined that the 3 tube headers are as good as the 4 tube until you get into the pro headers for all out racing. On the street the larger center tube on the 3 into 1 performed just as well as the 2 smaller tubes on the 4 into 1. I was interested in that because I was able to pick up a set of 3 tube headers very cheap because no one else believed they were any good....
As far as the Q-jet, yes, for optimum performance, they can be hard to get perfect. Do you really need perfect on the street ? Maybe, but just having a renew kit installed, all the passages cleaned and blown out and new moving parts installed will bring it within good usable limits. I don't see me ever sending a Q-jet in for a 1k overhaul and race tune like I've read about but there are other sites listing an overhaul service for around 3-4 hundred. I have put kits in many q's in the past and will get a complete kit and go thru mine myself.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

As I've stated before, the original Q-jet on my '67 has been in service 240,000 miles and has been rebuilt 3 times in 42 years. Drove the car this past weekend, and the Q-jet performs flawlessly. Good fuel mileage, and when you kick the throttle down, WHU--UUUHHHHH!!!!! Like TMP says, not that difficult, and not 'black magic" A kit, a new float, clear passages, and a manual will get the job done. Note, I've had much better luck resurrecting carbs that were still "in service", and not found in a puddle of water in the junkyard. Weather corrodes aluminum and zinc, and a badly weathered carb is to be avoided.


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