Is this a good carb choice?

[gixxer711]

I am looking at a 17058278 for my 455 Pontiac build. Is this a good choice for my 75 Trans Am? Is it a 800cfm?

[Cliff Ruggles]

Excellent carb.  All of the 1975 and later Pontiac q-jets (non-CCC) will be the larger castings.

All of them are basically the same from 1976 thru 1979 if they came on the 350 or 400 Pontiac engines.  The 1975 models have the one year APT system, and are not as good as the later APT version. 

The 301 carburetors are not nearly as good in stock form as they have modifications made for the smaller CID engines.  They are however just as good once properly set-up.

I use a 1977 17057274 carburetor on my 455 over 550hp.  It is completely "stock" as far as the castings, but of course recalibrated for my engine and using our rebuild parts.

I've had it on the dyno and at the track scores of times and it has outran every other carb we've tested against it.  This includes very well set up Holley 4781-2 850's, HP-950's and Demon 850's.

Here's a clip of my car at the track using that carb on a factory intake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zVdoLR-VzM

I did upgrade it to an electric choke as well, otherwise it has not been modified in any way, just recalibrated for what I'm doing with it......Cliff

[gixxer711]

Thanks Cliff! I will call soon about getting a kit or having you build it.

[Cliff Ruggles]

Sounds great, we have done a LOT of those, and I consider them in stock form one of the very best Q-jets ever made......Cliff

[gixxer711]

Cliff, I have seen you respond to engine builds in a few of the forums in the past. I sent you a PM with what I am planning to build, which is what I would need your carb for. If you have the time, I would love your input.