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The carburetor sections are looking better. The original bronze coloring is coming off. It is not pealing it is just fading or rubs off. I have new paint on the way.

I am thinking about lowering the air pressure on my blast cabinet and giving the valve body and chock section a light blasting before I paint them.

This is the first carb I have ever dissembled so if this is the wrong thing to do please let me know.

The bottom image is of this tiny screen within the depth of the throttle body. I am not planning to mess with this screen but it was not mentioned in the manual that I have.

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Best to see what the experts recommend but I use a blasting media that cleans without destroying as its made of shells or something relatively soft like that. I would trust it on aluminum or castings but not a regular abrasive media as they will make the surface very rough even if used lightly.

Not sure that painting a carburetor is a good idea as the gold color that was there was an anodizing, if I'm not mistaken.

I get that there is no need to even paint it. Any work I do to make it look better will be covered up and it will not stay that way for long.

I guess my real concern is with the current anodizing.

Is it going to effect the carb any due so much of the anodizing wearing off?

Do I need to get the anodizing redone?

Stewart, I have rebuilt many Quadrajets in my earlier years as a mechanic. I do not recommend using any blast media on any part of a carburetor. The metal is soft and it is likely that any media, be it glass bead or walnut shells, will deform mating surfaces which will impact operation. I have always used a good "dip" product, such as ZEP (not sure if it is even still available), followed by a wash with hot water and then blow dry with compressed air. The loss of anodizing should not have much, if any, effect on carb operation, unless there is pitting on any of the internal air flow surfaces. I don't think applying any paint type finish to the outside would be feasible since it may allow heat to build up internally which could affect operation.
Just my two cents worth.....
John

jselph,
That's actually along the lines of what I wanted to hear.

Is the accelerator pump well the lowest point in the fuel bowls on these carbs? Has anyone seen corrosion cause issues in the check ball seat at the bottom of the pump well? Are floats available new for this carb?

I can't answer the corrosion question as this is my first carb rebuild ever.

As for the floats, I ordered some replacement screws fromquadrajetparts.com/.

Looking at the site now I see floats for everything except the 4Jet.

My float is all one piece and all the floats I see appear to be in multiple pieces. Maybe one of them is a modern replacement. If it is someone else would have to answer that.

Upon review, I guess I really don't have an answer at all. Do I?

A while back the wishbone float assemblies were not available. Now it seems they are that is one hurdle down. May I inquire, are you confident this is the original carb for a 55 352 Packard? Do you know the history or can you tell us if the carb has small #s stamped in one corner of the air horn and what they are. Can you post a pic of the throttle body to main body gasket that came out when you disassembled it and a pic of the new one in the rebuild kit? I agree with others above that the blades are better not removed from the shafts for a couple reasons and the carb base being cast iron won't show wear or require bushing like other carbs. The return spring on the secondary side however needs to be in good shape through close inspection and cleaning because a rusted/thin weak spring will cause inconsistent idle after hard throttle pulls. Sorry I am not fully up on your project blog. Have you checked the choke stove tube? The exhaust heat riser crossover valve and bimetal? The vacuum balance valve,ck valve, treadle vac, wiper, vac pump , distributor advance, ? Are you running the oil bath? Is originality a necessity? How will you be using the vehicle primarily? Sorry for all the questions but these need to be addressed to make appropriate decisions on how to proceed with this carb.

I can't tell you much about this 400. It followed me home from Memphis TN almost 5 years ago. I never drove it and like a fool, I never tried.

I took it entirely apart down to the chassis and now I am reassembling it.

Its the only restoration I have ever attempted so it's all new to me.

No worries I never drove mine either... but if you are like me...you'll be sticking Efi on it. ....should be fun with that dual quad I got.