Thermoquad Advice • The Dodge Challenger Message Board

by **Bob B** » 21 May 2001 23:31

I'm upgrading my tired 318 to a lightly worked 360 and have just obtained a thermoquad to top off my iron dual plane spreadbore manifold. I don't have any ready reference on these besides a few magazine articles. Anyone out there have some nice diagrams / reference material available for the TQ? I am trying to avoid buying any additional books/manuals.

Thanks,

Bob B

by **frank** » 22 Jun 2001 3:43

i will look around bob, seems i just saw an article in one of the mopar mags that talks about thermo-quads i had one on my last challenger and everyone would call them themo-bogs but if they are working right there is NO bog really a great carb and the bog is an easy fix...

by **frank** » 10 Jul 2001 4:34

Finally found it! and though i read it months ago the mag is mopar action,june 2001,it tells you how to fix the bog as well

by **Joel/mido** » 10 Jul 2001 8:29

I guess that all of you guys must be into complete and exact restorations, no mods here, right?

by **dave-r** » 10 Jul 2001 8:41

Why do you say that Joel?

by **Joel** » 10 Jul 2001 8:59

Many of you have mentioned several times of putting stock parts back on engines and origanal paint back on the bodies.

On my car the origanal paint job was B5 blue, but now has a royal blue with a sort of T/A paint scheme.

by **dave-r** » 10 Jul 2001 10:16

But get back to this message thread Joel. It was about a ThermoQuad carb. When you talk about putting 'stock' parts back on cars what I think you really should be thinking about is putting the BEST parts on your car. The TQ is one of the best and a far better street carb than a Holley. So why not put it back on the car? Do you know something we don't?

My car was B5 originally too. It is hemi orange now because I like it that way. But I sure am glad some people keep their cars stock. We need a baseline reference. A contol group. A way of knowing what we are starting with. A way of putting right the mess that previous owners often make.

A lot of my enjoyment of these cars is in the history of them. Without restored or original cars that history would be lost.

by **Joel** » 10 Jul 2001 11:07

You sound like you're doing a narration on the history channel.

But you are right though. My car was a product of some dum@$$'S so called RESTORATION. My car had two previously owners before my brother bought the car, which whom I bought the car from. I don't know how many owners hands that the car passed through, but I know it had two owners before my brother bought it. The first guy got into an accident. The guy didn't even use washers when he bolted on the rear bumper on. When I bought the car I went to take a look at the rear bumper to see why the thing was jiggling a inch and a half. The bolts and nuts holding the thing to the car were pulling through the brackets after so many years of jiggling around. What a dum f#$k. Gees, I hate dum people like that. That is not the only thing that is wrong, but i can't remember all of the things, the list is too long.

I remember a guy who early asked about a manual for a ThermoQuad. I happen to have one. The only problem is that I don't have a real computer to scan and send the sections in the manual that the guy needed. I am using a COMPAQ MSN Companion. All I can really do is email and if my dad buys a printer, it is his COMPAQ MSN Companion by the way, I could print things then to.

So, tell me more about the ThermoQuad. I am interesrted in this "great and mighty" carb you refered to. I have always been curious about the TQ. It is a spread bore, right? I always been partial to a Holley duel line feed.

by **Jack T** » 10 Jul 2001 23:57

OK, I have a 1971 MOPAR with the 318/2 barrel on it and after driving my 72 Challenger with a 340/4 barrel, I'm wondering where I can buy a spreadbore intake manifold and a Thermoquad to help the 318 get up and go a bit better.

by **frank** » 11 Jul 2001 5:51

i had a thermo-quad on my first 70 and although they didn't make them untill a few yrs later i would not change it back to stock cause it was a great carb! in the 8 yrs i owned the car i put 2 accelerator pumps in it(guess why!) and adjusted the secondaries once,it was still on the car when i sold it,... so no exact resto on that car!

by **Joel** » 11 Jul 2001 6:26

No, I can't guess why you had to put 2 accelerator pumps on it. You know something I don't?

by **Joel** » 11 Jul 2001 10:44

Dare I ask, gulp. Does anybody like Edlebrock?

by **dave-r** » 11 Jul 2001 13:46

Yes. I do. Very much. It is based on the Carter. Almost identical to the Carters that were originally on the mopar 4bbl cars before they started using the T.Q. Did you not know that?

by **hans** » 11 Jul 2001 16:32

But Dave, I can remember you said some time ago that you would go for a holley... so what do you like most ? Or should I ask, what is the 'fastest' carb.

by **Joel** » 11 Jul 2001 21:31

The Holleys of course. I hope you don't mind me saying so Hans, butting in and all.

Everyone knows they put Edlebrocks on all the c h e v y's, noticed I used a lowercased c, so of course any REAL Mopar enthusists would know using Edlebrock on a Mopar, or at least the Mopar nutz in the States should know better, is a BIG NO NO! Just because they are basiclly the same design as a Carter, doesn't mean it is as good as a Carter.

They maybe good enough for c h u v y people but not for Mopar lovers, especially the Dodge Challenger lovers, wink wink nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more.

by **frank** » 12 Jul 2001 5:54

i never liked holleys cause you would punch it and blow power valves way too much. but to be fair i heard holley has fixed that problem does anyone know if thats true?

by **Joel** » 12 Jul 2001 7:11

Yes, they have fixed that very irratating problem. If you had a hi performance engine that was common, but for me, when I had my stock 318 that was running 280hp, it never blew out the power valves. Hopefully when I put engine back in after the body work is finished and put on my newer Holley, I hope it is one that is equiped with the new valves that don't blow out, cus my engine is no longer, technically, a 318.

by **dave-r** » 12 Jul 2001 8:19

I would only use a Holley myself on a serious street/strip or strip only car not because of their 'great' design but because of the range of parts and sizes available.

I am stuck with them on my car because I wanted a 6-pack and forgot how much I hate them. I think if I was building this engine again I would use two edelbrock 500cfm carbs on a twin carb dual plane manifold OR a single Holley-based 4bbl of some type.

If I had a stock or milder 440 I would ALWAYS use the Edelbrock or ThermoQuad. These are both GREAT carbs. The TQs advantage over the Carter/Edelbrock of course is the plastic body that keeps the fuel cool. The Edelbrock comes with a fantastic tuning manual and you can get a great box of tuning parts containing jets/needles and springs. This one set allows you to fine tune the carb for any engine with great accuracy. You don't have to remove the carb from the engine or spill fuel or even open the carb in most cases. You can go richer/leaner in 5 mins and two screws.

by **Joel** » 12 Jul 2001 8:33

Guess what, Holley also sells a great box of tuning parts as well! You know, I never had to take my Holley carb out of the car to tune it. I don't know what or I should say how old of a Holley you used but mine was old and never had any of the problems that you have come across, hmmm. I had a idle screw, a mixture screw, and a fast change secondary, even an idiot like me could simpily tune the thing very very well.

by **dave-r** » 12 Jul 2001 8:53

Do you never sleep?

A stock Holley is just a pain to tune though. You can get fuel leaks very easily and you have all those gaskets everywhere. The power valve system is a joke.

On the edelbrock/Carter you take two screws out and change two springs to change the opening/closing point. Same to go richer/leaner. No fuel loss. All the fuel is below the one gasket. You can take the top off the carb if you want to do something like inspect or adjust the fuel floats without spilling a drop of fuel. The secondarys have an air damn that opens with air flow. On the Holley you have a complicated vacuum diaphram that needs replacing every few years.

The Holley 4bbl is not that bad a carb. I just think the carter type is easier from a tuning point of view. PLUS having spent a lot of time getting my 6-pack to run right I am just getting sick of Holleys! Try making adjustments to one of these set ups and even you would soon get sick!

by **Joel** » 12 Jul 2001 9:19

Yes I do sleep, but I work at nights you see, I get home usually between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.. Depends on whether or not the cows decide to give me a hard time. I can be quite intelligent, but contending with stupid animals for long agonizing hours, can leave your mind numb.

Yah, I have heard about the horrors of trying to tune a Holley 6-pack, they are a pain in the you know what. But please, try not to judge the other Holley models so badly because of the nightmare you have had to go through of tunning a 6-pack.

by **Joel** » 12 Jul 2001 13:27

Dave, I just realized that I have either a .450/.455 or a .474 cam, most likely the .474 in lift cam. My 600 cfm carb is not going to be enough. I think I am going to need a thermoquad. Talked about it with my brother Tim, he is the one I bought the car from. He says to get a thermoquad for sure.

Do you know if they make reproductions?

by **frank** » 13 Jul 2001 2:46

heh..sounds like i am missing nothing..holley shmalley....lol,t-q's are getting hard to find and cause of a bad reputation(my opinion)they are not reproduced that i am aware of.

by **Joel** » 13 Jul 2001 8:10

That is not the kind of news that I was hoping for. I know that Tqs bog, but I have heard earlier in the thread that it is an easy fix.

by **dave-r** » 13 Jul 2001 10:56

Just use the Edelbrock. The only advantage I can see to the TQ over it is the plastic body insulates the fuel and keeps it nice and cool. I found with the Edelbrock I needed to block off the exhaust heat passage in my alloy intake otherwise the fuel could boil in the carb. A plastic spacer would have done the same job.

by **Joel** » 14 Jul 2001 3:19

The reason I like using the Holley is that they are simple in function, 6-pack is the definite exception. They are reliable, unless you have the nasty habbit of blowing out power valves all the time. Changing the cams, which is in a easy to locate position, on the side of the carb. I suppose that we all make our choices of what the best products and parts are, based on our personal experiences with them. For me I have had very little trouble with Holleys, thus I think that Holleys are a pretty darn good carb. My personal experiences with dumb chuvy fanatics and their Edlebrocks has left a negative effect on my siblings and myself. From what I have heard from everyone on the message board, Edlebrock is a good product, but is not very easy for me to change from a trust Holley to a Edlebrock, which I have heard to be a easy carb to manage and use. I can safely say that I would not mind trying out an Eldbrock and make my decision based on fact and not on 1st and 2nd hand information.

by **Joel** » 14 Jul 2001 3:23

I am already using the multi individual layered spacers, which spaces the carb from the intake with a half-inch of space or more. It does a superb job of cooling the fuel and the air as it travels into the intake.

by **Hans** » 18 Jul 2001 18:02

Now we're talking about carbs, how can I check what kind of carter carb I have spare? I changed to a edelbrock performer 750cfm and I saw the old one is a carter. Is this something worth? I wanna find out which carter I have. Any help apreciated.

by **Joel** » 18 Jul 2001 18:07

Say, do you feel like parting with your retired carter? What is the cfm, if it is a thermoquad?

by **hans** » 18 Jul 2001 19:02

That's what i asked Joel, how can I check the type and cfm of a carter carb. I will check the numbers this weekend and will post them. Maybe genius Dave can tell me more when he see the numbers. Then I think what to do with it. Also with the other spare parts I have. (weiand intake, original 72 manifolds and a cam).