Fast idle cam

[Brad S.]

Should the fast idle can on my 7029215 Quadrajet (427/390) be red or light green? My carb restorer seems to think it is light green. Thanks Brad

[Brad S.]

Re: Fast idle cam

It is a 69

[Michael H.]

Re: Fast idle cam

Brad,

Actually, neither color was the genuine original for your 69. All original Q-Jets from that era had a cream colored cam when they were born. However, shortly after, there was a massive recall that included ALL GM cars equipped with Q-Jet carburetors. The recall included the replacement of the defective design original cam with one of the two color replacements. (color depended on if manual or automatic transmission but I don't remember for which color was which) I don't know how the judging works on this. The colored cam may be correct, today, but it didn't leave the factory that way.

[Dick W.]

Re: Fast idle cam

We do not normally judge the color of the cam. I have the TSB and was reading it this afternoon. I will look it up and try to post the colors.

[Michael H.]

Re: Fast idle cam

Thanks Dick. I'm pretty sure red was for AT but not positive. (that was a long time ago) I still have several of the tools that GM distributed to the dealers for replacement of the cam.

Link (below) to a previous discussion on this subject.

https://www.ncrs.org/forum/archive24.cgi?review=203107

[Clem Z.]

did not the replacement cams have a round

piece of metal inserted into the plastic to add weight to prevent the "fan wash" problem and this what caused the plastic "cracking" problem? GM then went to metal fast idle cams

[Michael H.]

Re: did not the replacement cams have a round

That may be correct Clem but I don't remember that part. I only remember that the originals were breaking, falling into the fast idle cam lever and holding the throttle part way open. (or possibly WOT if it landed just right) I remember the eventual change to metal cams but I don't remember when that occured. Seemed like it was probably early 70's?

[Joe L.]

Re: did not the replacement cams have a round

clem, et al------

The original 1968-69 fast idle cams were, indeed, cream-colored plastic as Michael mentioned. The replacements were blue/green for manual trans applications and red for auto trans applications.

Later carbs (70+) and some later SERVICE carbs for 68-69 applications used the metal cam that you describe. However, the entire choke mechanism for these carbs is different and I don't think that the metal cams can be used on original 68-69 carbs (or, the plastic cams used on carbs originally fitted with the metal cams). I'm not 100% sure about this part, though.

[Jack H.]

I don't know how the judging works on this...

Section 4, Rule 9 of the NCRS Judging Reference Manual covers this:

"Factory Recall Modification

Owners able to document Chevrolet notice for a 'factory recall' modification to their vehicle and which appears to have been performed by a Chevrolet Dealer to factory specifications, will receive a minimum originality deduction."

I'd say if we can document the recall and the change as this thread appears to do, that knowledge should be rolled into the Judging Guide with specific advice/council on the 'minimum' deduction. My gut says that should be a 1 point originality deduct because 1 point IS the minimum deduction we can take at NCRS (I wonder why that isn't said in the rule?).

[Michael H.]

Re: I don't know how the judging works on this...

Jack,

I no longer have any of the original GM paperwork but I do know for sure that it was an actual recall, not just a campaign or recommended "repair/replace if necessary" item. Many items were repaired/replaced on a customer complaint basis, but not this one. EVERY affected vehicle was to receive a new fast idle cam. Some issues were a serious safety items and GM had to account for every VIN number. IBM cards with the vehicle VIN were sent to owners of the affected vehicles and the dealer service dept was required to forward the info back to GM. It definitely wasn't a "hit or miss" recall. GM had to be able to show the results of each repair.

The same was true for several more recalls in the late 60's. The PowerGlide TV linkage shield for 65-66 was another that comes to mind.

I would agree, if an item has been changed/replaced on a car at the dealer because of an official factory recall, it probably shouldn't receive a total deduction.

I'll see if I can come up with some of the original documentation on this.

[Terry F.]

Re: did not the replacement cams have a round

I believe I have one of those cream color choke pull offs. I will have to check.

Terry

[Joe L.]

Re: did not the replacement cams have a round

Terry-----

Original choke pull-off dashpots were sort of a cream color, too. However, to be clear, that's not what we were discussing here. We were discussing the choke FAST IDLE CAMS.

[Terry F.]

Re: did not the replacement cams have a round

I agree, I used the wrong term. I went and I looked at the quadrajet on my 68. It has the correct part number on it for a 4-speed car but the little plastic lever on the side is RED?? What a drag!! Sounds like it has the wrong fast idle cam installed on it?? I checked and found that I do have an original cream colored one (sort of looks like coffee with a lot of milk in it). Might as well call it brown now. Does anyone have a source for the correct color fast idle cam? I do recall the green colored ones in the past. I think they were very faded by the time I saw them. Thanks, Terry

[Joe L.]

Re: did not the replacement cams have a round

Terry------

If the carb has the correct part number for a 1968 Corvette AND a correct date, then the choke cam has been replaced and, apparently, with the wrong one for the application. It may have happened during the recall or it may have happened later. See if you can see a part number embossed in VERY small characters on the cam and report. Actually, there is very little difference between the manual and auto cams and I think that, for all practical purposes, they can be functionally interchanged

The "cream colored" one that you have IS the correct original cam. If you are talking about the blue/green ones, they are discontinued and not reproduced.

Many, many years ago I repaired my original cam with the careful application of epoxy to the cracked areas. It held up very well for years, but I removed the carb from the car for a complete overhaul many years ago and it remains "in the box" now. So, whether a repaired cam would hold up indefinitely, I cannot say.