Stuck Quadrajet
 

I picked up a 69 Quadrajet that is in good shape and complete. It may have been cleaned and left on a shelf for some time. The throttle shafts are stuck, the choke shaft is stuck and the rear two screws that on the air horn seem stuck. Idle screws are free and inlet threads are not stuck or corroded away.

I would like to save the carb without breaking, hammering, cutting. Any advice on how to free up the stuck shafts and screws? The body and air horn aren’t corroded and seem to have the original coatings in good shape. The throttle base is clean and not damaged or showing any major corrosion.

What’s the best way to save something lie this?

Spray penetrant, heat it up, then worky loose.

I can tell you how I did a 66 Carter AFB that might have been in even worse shape then your carb.

First to get the rear air horn screws out sit the carb up on a block of wood so it can’t rock.
Next get a tall socket that’s small enough to sit on the head of the screw ( I think I used a 5/16” ) then tap on the socket with a hammer.

This will allow you to jar the screw loose from the threads in the throttle plate.

For the next step to free up the two shafts one of the main things you will need is a electric heating pad.

If you have one then get a gallon of WD-40, a aluminum cooking pan that’s just big enough to hold the carb, it does not have to be tall enough to submerge the carb .

Next cover the heating pad with foil, set the pad on high , put the carb in the pan and pour enough WD-40 in to go half way up the carb.
Once the WD-40 gets up to about 105 degrees it will only take some 3 hours of the carb sitting in the pan to bust the two shafts free.

A propane torch will save your day.

If the carb is stuck from getting water in and on it you are in trouble. If it's just stuck from years of sitting on a shelf a little penetrating oil and some heat from a propane torch as mentioned will free things right up.

I would recommend grinding the staked portion of the screws off the throttle plates and removing them then gently tap the shafts back and forth in both directions to free them up vs trying to twist them. The primary shaft in particular will twist out of shape easily and it's difficult to straighten. I get LOTS of practice straightening bent and twisted throttle shafts as the carb will NOT work well with twisted shafts in it no matter how good you do on the rebuild.

First order of business in your case is to remove the long screws so you can get the baseplate off the carb. Not a bad idea to soak it for a few days before attempting to free things up. Diesel or kerosene works well for that purpose, just drop it in a bucket with enough in to cover it. If the baseplate got water in and on it you may find removing the idle mixture screws much harder than the shafts. I've got a huge stack of baseplates with busted off mixture screws in them that weren't coming out despite your best efforts......

The back pair of long screws can be the worst lockup ever.

I usually use a bath of diesel and some ATF
.

Post up some pics and let's see its condition.

Pics

More pics

Sounds like a Vicker carb

You'll be fine, just soak all the key spots with WD & BP Blaster
Give it time to soak and keep repeating

Interesting.
Just pulled apart one that I have.
Same plant made just 20 days after this one.