maybe368

Hey T, nice job on the lights. Just a little advice about the dry chem, my 66 Porsche 912 caught fire the first time I ever filled it up and I deployed a dry chem. It quickly put out the fire and saved my car, but I was NEVER able to get all of the powder out of the car, it was relentless. I'm sure the new owner thinks that I am a cocaine smuggler . Anyways, the halon is much cleaner...Mark

NJTman

Thanks Mark,

I remember putting out a fire on the side of the road for this dude, and wondering how the scrap yard was going to get it off...





Good tip ! I'll be looking for a halon one, next, as they eventually go bad over time, and need replacing...

Jim Lane

I carry several ABC extinguishers about that size and a CO2 extinguisher in the back of my truck, and because of the high currents available in my electrical system I also have a pair of Klein cable cutters nearby to sever any power cable,

Fire Extinguishers - Hand Held : Fire Extinguishers : Hand Held Fire Extinguishers

Raider Fire Protection

Also I must have been ahead of my time, back in the 70's I had plumbed a CO2 system into the engine compartment for a semiautomatic system, anyone remember the Quadrajet carbeurator?

Jim

maybe368

My 68 Impala SS convertible has a quadrajet 4b with vacuum secondaries, are they prone to catching fire?...Mark

j_martin

They are good for needle valves sticking open, and sunk floats. Burned the paint off'n several hoods in my youth.

Philip

Yes I do with total disgust. I have thrown many away right after I bought a car with one on it. I rank these right up there with a Ford MotorCraft carb.

BTW I do not feel much better about an AFB carb eather. AFB = Awfull %%% Bad

j_martin

I found that if you set up a Q-jet right and filter the fuel going to it, they work pretty good. Had one on a work van with an office built into it. First road test put the typewriter, chair, and anything else not bolted down against the back door in a heartbeat.

Then I set it up with a solenoid secondary lockout. Spring advanced the distributor and locked out the secondaries. Solenoid retarded the distributor and let the secondaries go. On 2 barrels it made all the power I needed unless I was pulling a 12,000lb trailer up the Duluth hill.

You do need to set the floats conservatively, make sure they don't leak, and have clean fuel going into it.

Jim Lane

The biggest problem we had with Quadrajets was where the passages for the fuel filter were blocked off after being manufactured, a plug was pressed into the passage and slopped with a bit of epoxy, either the heat, vibrations, fuel pressure whatever, caused the plug to blow out of the fuel passage spraying your hot engine bay with hot gasoline, if you were lucky you would catch it before it ignited and burned your car to the ground.

Corvette, Firebirds and Camaros all had them and some variant of the problem.

My parents took their new1967 Olds Toronado to Mandy Williams Oldsmobile because the engine kept flooding the service manager said he would have to keep the car a few days to see if it would flood, when he started it to move it the plug popped out and it caught fire at the service booth and did extensive underhood and body damage, fire department had to put it out.

Back in the 60's and 70's I had Ford and Mopar but worked on a lot of GM also.

Holley came out with a Spread Bore replacement for the QJ, even approved by SEMA but EPA would not let us replace them.

Remember the inline Autolite carburetors?
We had a 1000cfm carb on a Maverick we used to race

Jim

Philip

I have seen them never got to work on one.

I have used a few of the Holley spread bore replacement carbs. I preferred the square bores for replacements. Just drop a better manifold on with the square bore and be done with it. Use the Holley electric choke setup. The GM choke setups left a lot to be desired in colder climate areas.

maybe368

Was the QJ also known as a Rochester? Was there a fix for this? I am getting ready to restore my Impala and would like to keep it original...Mark

Philip

The QJ was made by Rochester. That plug could be fixed.

Jim Lane

I know they came out with a lot of repair kits for the Quadrajet leaking problems,
I used to tap out the plugs and install a 1/8" and 1/4" Allen head pipe plug in its place but there was also shade tree mechanics would cross thread the fuel filter cap and pull the threads out of the body, their repair was to use Teflon tape where pieces you get behind the float valve and then another fire.

There was an oversize fitting with self cutting threads that was not successful.
When Motorcraft came out with their version of the spread bore AVS carb with all the tamper proof caps and hardware made them very user unfriendly.

I always thought Rochester was Jack Benny's valet.

j_martin

NJTman

Nice thread derailment guys. Great knowing all this carburetor information in an interior lighting thread. What's next ? How to bake cookies ???

Philip

No that one is to easy of subject. Just buy the tube type cookie dough from the super market. Cut to the correct thickness, bake and eat.





For add in lights I would have used some of these. They are small enough to fit under the dash.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ate-bolt/1685/