Our 1979 Trans Am was once a pretty decent performer with it's rebuilt Olds 403. But that was 20 years ago, and now it's suffering from carburation problems. It's time to fix the bog.
Seeing that this car has a mildly rebuilt Olds 403 under the hood, we determined the cause was a blown-out accelerator pump in the Quardajet carb. Not surprisingly, these diaphragm pumps dry out over time, and this one had not been driven in over 15 years. Actuating the linkage is supposed to squirt a shot of fuel into the venturis to get the beast moving; ours only sneezed out a trickle. Result: the infamous Quadra-Bog.
Another common problem with Quadrajets is that they were made as inexpensively as possible, which translates to lots of cast aluminum and "pot metal", the mat shot of casting materials. Our Q-Jet suffered from a warn-out casting around the throttle shafts, which is a problem area that creates a vacuum leaks and poor performance.
Here's the cure: A stunningly rebuilt QuadraJet from JET Performance Products. The JET guys know how to build carbs. Not only is this piece resto-perfect when it comes to colors and cleanliness, it's also jammed with upgrades to make our TA kick A.
The first mod is the insertion of bronze bushings in the throttle shaft areas. These reduce the play found in the worn-out casting, and they bushings provide a smooth and long-lasting pivot point for a lifetime of service. These are nice and tight, no more vacuum leaks here.
Next up, the JET piece is packed with special epoxy in the lower plugs to keep the carb from draining out all its fuel overnight like the stocker did. It's also calibrated to match the performance level of our engine - you can spec 3 levels of performance when you order yours.
Once Nick installed the new piece, he checked for fuel leaks and set the timing. Always have a fire extingusiher handy when playing with the fuel system. Really. Imagine how much of an (EXPLATIVE DELETED) hole you're going to feel like when you burn down your car and garage in favor of spending $20 on an extinguisher.
Time to go play. The new JET carb, coupled with our MSD Pro Billet Distributor, 6AL box and 8MM Superconductor wires made a HUGE difference in performance. The burnout picture was taken on a closed course with a professional driver. Well, 2003 NMCA Super Street World Champion driver, anyway.
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