I started taking apart my thermoquad and ran into a problem with the center section (plastic/carbon). On the bottom side of the center section there are 2 plastic pieces that were glued on. one of the blastic pieces was broke in half. If someone could tell me where I could buy a new one or if I should just try to glue the one back together and glue them back on and what type of epoxy I should use. I'm not going to buy a new bowl for $189. I would rather buy a new aftermarket carb. than buy a new center section. Please help me.
Its where the oval shaped holes on each side, in the picture.
alloro
02-13-2008, 06:31 AM
Contact these people:
http://www.thermoquads.com/index.html
They say they have a $29 rebuild kit for 1975-1984 thermoquad carbs. Maybe they can tell you if these parts you need are in the kit. If not, maybe they have the parts separately.
4404spd
02-13-2008, 07:01 AM
Good luck with the rebuild, Those carbs are the best in my book. I have friend that really knows how to set them up.
Dodgevanman
02-13-2008, 07:30 AM
I think you can still get rebuilt Thermoquads from your local parts store. Not cheap though.
Personally, I'd swap it out to an Edelbrock Performer carb. Summit has the adapter kits to mount it to the factory spread-bore intake.
scottkern3
02-13-2008, 11:47 PM
I already have to rebuild kit and it doesn't contain the plastic wells that I was talking about. I also found on a website that I should use JBWeld to secure them to the center section. There was definitely some sort of glue holding them on in the first place that just didn't hold. I'll post some pics if anyone is interested and will do a follow up in case someone else has to do this.
Just out of curiosity...I was looking at Eldelbrock carbs on summit and was wondering about the electric choke. How does it work? would I just connect it to 12V or a sensor. Thanks all!
Dodgevanman
02-14-2008, 09:11 AM
Just hook it up to a keyed ignition source.
alloro
02-14-2008, 09:49 AM
Make sure you use a 12v source that is part of the ignition and not the accessory circuit. Otherwise, if you're sitting there with the key in the accessory position listening to the radio, your choke is being powered and you could have trouble starting the engine. I also believe there is also suppose to be a delay control to keep the choke from opening too soon.
scottkern3
02-14-2008, 03:42 PM
well, if I can't get this thermoquad running good, I think I'll go that route.
scottkern3
02-18-2008, 04:07 PM
Well, I rebuilt it and it runs great but... it's leaking fuel. It's leaking at the gasket between the top and center section but only in the front. I tightened the crap out of it and it slowed but I don't want to break the screws. Do you guys thing I should take it apart and put some sort of gasket sealant on the gaskets? Do they make a sealant for carbs?
scottkern3
02-18-2008, 04:08 PM
sorry the picture is so dark but at the corner, you can see that it's wet (shiny black).
B-300
02-18-2008, 05:24 PM
Are you sure the right float piviot pin isn't stuck in the gasket area or a small piece of debris in the right float valve? I have had leaks occur at the passage buttons (pink spot in post #9) also.
The housing is more likely to break before the screws. There are different gaskets for different #carbs, so make sure you have the correct one.
scottkern3
02-18-2008, 06:19 PM
I have the pins so that the head of them is toward the center of the carb. The ends of the pins didn't protrude from the exit hole, they were flush. The leak is coming from the gasket, basically on both sides right where the float pivot pin is. If I were to take it apart again, I would like to put a gasket sealant on there. Is there such a product?? fuel resistant??
The kit I bought had 3 different types of gaskets and I matched the new one to the old one.
Dodgevanman
02-19-2008, 05:48 AM
There is a sealant called gaskacinch (or something like that) that is impervious to gasoline.
charlie1935
02-19-2008, 05:12 PM
Make sure you use a 12v source that is part of the ignition and not the accessory circuit. Otherwise, if you're sitting there with the key in the accessory position listening to the radio, your choke is being powered and you could have trouble starting the engine. I also believe there is also suppose to be a delay control to keep the choke from opening too soon.
I believe that most of the factory electric chokes used an switch operated by oil pressure to get power to the choke. :gr_patrio
scottkern3
03-30-2008, 12:08 PM
I rebuilt the Thermoquad again about a month ago and it's been running fine and not leaking. I ended up using Permatex 2B (I think - I'll make sure that's what it was). The only problem that I have is when it first starts, It wants to die after about 5 min. but when it's fully warm, it runs fine. any thoughts?
alloro
03-30-2008, 12:35 PM
Possibly an incorrect choke adjustment.
scottkern3
03-30-2008, 07:47 PM
I followed the haynes manual... 1/16" open cold, open in 5 min. I thought it was right or is there more to it?
alloro
03-30-2008, 10:04 PM
When it comes to fine tuning: A manual is a guide, not an absolute.
If the choke is opened at 5 minutes and the engine wants to stall at 5 minutes, then the coincidence is too obvious to overlook. Add to that the fact that the engine runs good after it's fully warmed up and a problem with the choke adjustment is only too likely.
scottkern3
03-31-2008, 12:33 AM
I agree with you but what can I do about it? All I have is the manual which doesn't give anymore information. Hopefully someone here can help me.
Dodgevanman
03-31-2008, 06:16 AM
I have a 1980 factory manual. I'll take a look at the choke adjustment procedures and scan them.
B-300
03-31-2008, 01:22 PM
At about 5 minutes of runtime, I would suspect the choke opens far enough that the fast idle adjustment drops into the curb idle area of the fast idle cam.
scottkern3
05-29-2008, 05:10 PM
Now that I have time for this beast... I've adjusted the fast idle speed and the choke is working perfectly. The curb idle speed wasn't set right. The chilton's says adjust the curb idle screw... I don't have one. The picture shows one drilled through a piece of metal hanging off to the side of the upper half of the carb. I don't even have a screw hole on mine. I ended up messing with the air/fuel mixture screws (unscrewing) and got it to stay running when it's at normal operating temp. Is this normal for this version of the thermoquad? It runs perfect now but just want to know if I did the right thing. Is there another way to adjust the curb idle? I don't need emission testing done in my county, so I'm not too worried about it though. Any thoughts?
