1972 base engine carburetor

[Michael B.]

I recently repurchased a 1972 corvette of which I was the original owner. I intend to restore it to as close to original condition as possible. It currently has an incorrect carburetor installed. The correct carburetor should be a 7042202 Quadra-Jet. I'm curious as to whether a Rochester, or Carter would be the "most correct" choice. Unfortunately, I do not have the Protect-O-Plate which would have that information encoded.

My car has a June 1st, 1972 engine assembly date and I'm wondering if the factory installed carburetors in batches of Rochester's, and batches of Carter's; or if it was random from engine to engine.

I know it's a minor point, and either choice would pass judging; but if I have to purchase a replacement anyway, I might as well look for the best choice.

If anyone out there has a base engine/automatic car within a few serial numbers of 23830, I'd sure appreciate knowing what's on your car, and the date of the carburetor.

Thanks in advance.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Michael,

It makes zero difference. Both were used and were functionally (and nearly cosmetically) identical. I would be more concerned with finding the correct date and part number than worrying about whether Rochester or Carter (for Rochester) assembled it.

Having said that I generally find more assembled by Carter in 1972 Corvette base motor cars, but again I would not pay any attention to that at all.

Any chance you have photos of it when you owned it the first time that might show what you had and the date?

Patrick

[Michael B.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Patrick,

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the car when I first owned it. I was only a couple weeks shy of turning 19 when I purchased the car, and back then I didn't even know engines had numbers, much less carburetors. I was interested in girls, beer, rock and roll, fast cars, airplanes, and not getting drafted. Not necessarily always in that order. I should have paid more attention to my car.

I agree with your observation about the majority being Carter's. I've been searching Ebay for over a month and have seen several 7042202's. None were suitable dates for my car, but all were Carter.

I'm attending Bloomington next week, and Carlisle in August, so I'm hopeful I'll find something there.

Also, if you still make valve cover stickers I would like to purchase a set of "CKX" stickers from you. How would I do that?

Thanks,

Mike

[Mike E.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

I recently repurchased a 1972 corvette of which I was the original owner.

Patrick,

I was only a couple weeks shy of turning 19 when I purchased the car, and back then I didn't even know engines had numbers, much less carburetors. I was interested in girls, beer, rock and roll, fast cars, airplanes, and not getting drafted. Not necessarily always in that order. I should have paid more attention to my car.

Mike

Mike,

What a great story!....If you don't mind me asking how did you ever find the car so many years later?

I have this dream of winning the lottery and trying to find all the cars I previously owned and buying them back. Most of these cars at least the steel body ones I'm sure are long gone.

The one I would really like to find is the 76 Corvette i bought new when I was 19. Not really a very interesting car, but to me it was. The color was a somewhat rare Corvette Red with Smoke Gray interior. I've only seen one like it a few years ago but it wasn't mine.

Mike

[Michael B.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Mike,

It's a long story, and I'm a little embarrassed about it.

My Dad co-signed the loan for the car back in 72. He was killed in an accident in 1973. I kept a copy of the loan agreement because it had his signature on it, and it was the only "autograph" of his that I had. I pretty much forgot about that until I rediscovered that document in 1989. It had the serial number of my car on the loan agreement. I was living in Colorado at the time, but had sold the car in Maryland. The privacy laws weren't as strict back then and after a couple days of phone calls the Virginia DMV gave me the name of the current owner. I called him and a few days later flew back and repurchased the car.

Now the embarrassing part. I kept the car from 1989 until 1997. I was a pilot for an airline that kept filing for bankruptcy, and subsequently I was getting reassigned to different bases, moving, working my tail off, and never had time to drive the car. One day in 97 I went to drive it and the battery was dead; after an hour of screwing around with it I got it started, but then found out a brake caliper was leaking. I sold the car a week later.

A couple years ago (after retirement) I got the corvette bug again. I had memorized the serial number from my search in 1989. I had sold the car in the Houston area, so I got on the Texas DOT website, typed in the serial number, and saw that the car was still registered. The Texas DOT wouldn't cooperate at all on disclosing the owner's name so I called a private detective. Amazingly, I gave him the serial number and he called me back in less than an hour with the current owner's name. Unfortunately, the owner was not interested in selling, but we became friends and periodically traded emails.

I waited almost a year for him to change his mind with no luck, so last August I purchased a 72 LT-1 with air conditioning, same color, made the day before my original car. Then last month my new friend called and said he was ready to sell. What could I do? Thank God I've got an understanding wife. The embarrassing part is that I'm probably the only dipS*!t in the world that's bought the same corvette three different times. And each time it's cost substantially more than the time before.

But I really don't care.

Anyway, that's the story. The rest of the story will be the body off restoration that hopefully will begin next year after I have a few more OJ opportunities.

Thanks for asking.

Mike B.

[Mike E.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Mike,


Thanks for asking.

Mike B.

Interesting for sure. Sad about loosing your Father at such a young age, thanks for sharing. I need to dig more into the history of my '65 even though I've owned it since 1977. I still know where the previous owner lives, I need find out more while I still can.

I traded the 76 Corvette I bought new for a Smokie and the Bandit T/A because the insurance cost for the Corvette was insane for a 19-20 year old. I will take some credit, I bought the car prior to the Movie release, it was a great joy seeing the movie at the drive-in then cruising around the theater in the star of the show.

For some of us its more about the memories of our youth that we love so much about these old cars, you just can't put a value on that. Jamming a third guy in the rear of my Coupe and cruising in downtown Goshen Indiana was it for me. It's a different life for kids in the iPhone, Facebook & Texting world they live in today. Nothing wrong with today, just different.

Oh to keep this on topic...I learned something new today. I just assumed only supplier of Quadra-Jets was Rochester.

Mike

[Paul D.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Michael, thank you for sharing your story! I really wish we had a section on this forum for members to share their "history" with their cars and not feel guilty for "non technical" threads. For many of us, what makes our cars special is not the options or rarity of the car as much as the experiences we had while owning them. Chip.

[Michael B.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Paul,

I can't tell if your post is sincere, or if it was just a really nice way to tell me not to ever post anything non technical. I'm relatively new to NCRS and have a lot to learn. I did not mean to offend anyone by posting that story about my car. I'd like to refer anyone reading this back to my original post asking for date codes on their 1972 base engine/automatic cars. Again, I meant no offense to anyone and will not do that again.

Mike

[Joe L.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Paul,

I can't tell if your post is sincere, or if it was just a really nice way to tell me not to ever post anything non technical. I'm relatively new to NCRS and have a lot to learn. I did not mean to offend anyone by posting that story about my car. I'd like to refer anyone reading this back to my original post asking for date codes on their 1972 base engine/automatic cars. Again, I meant no offense to anyone and will not do that again.

Mike

Mike------


While essentially non-technical in nature, that type of post is generally allowed here. For example, there was another thread regarding how long folks have owned their Corvette. That thread has been around a LONG time and keeps getting "revived". Judging by the number of responses, it's quite popular. So, no apologies necessary.

[Paul D.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Michael, as Joe said, no apologies necessary! I was absolutely sincere and no offense taken. I was just stating that I enjoy reading that type story and wish we had a section dedicated exclusively to stories of ownership of these beloved cars. Thanks again for posting yours! Chip.

[Michael B.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Joe & Chip,

Thanks for your responses. I'm relieved I didn't inadvertently violate the forum protocol. I very much appreciate this resource, and can't imagine how hard it must have been to correctly restore a corvette prior to the Internet. There are so many knowledgeable experts on this forum that are all willing to share their advice. Thank you all.


Mike

[Don L.]

Re: 1972 base engine carburetor

Had to jump in on this thread. On the contrary, I'd submit that the nature of the thread is indeed technical. It covers how to successfully trace history of our cars. I see, read and hear so many stories where owners try and try to trace their car's ownership to determine significant information such as originality, collision history, etc with little or no success. Good to see that this tact worked here. I think others can learn from Mike's experience. Thanks for sharing, Mike.