[Craig Hendrickson]

Don't feel bad about being a newbie. We all were once. I will answer your questions in order asked.

Originally Posted by Squidward

I planned on converting a DP Holley, but I have a 72 Buick 350 Qjet that I could play with. Might be worth some tinkering! This qjet used a divorced choke, so I shouldn't have to mess with sealing off choke stuff as much.

Actually, the choke on a QJet can be a problem because there is a shaft that goes though the body and actuates the choke blade. That is a leak point also.

The bonnet just covers the big hole and the bowl vent, correct?

NO!!! The bonnet is the trick to the whole blow through system! I have a M.S. in Astronautical Engineering (Rocket Science) and part of that is knowing aeronautics inside and out. Probably because of this I was able to engineer a bonnet (hat) that could evenly distribute the air flow over the top of the QJet air horn. To my knowledge, there is no current bonnet (except for the H-O T-F, of course) that can do that. A Holley is a different matter and there a few that work with the Holley. Unless you can get a H-O T-F bonnet version 2 or 3, go with a commercial hat and a Holley.

I gather you used check valves for the vac ports.

Those vac ports that go to the intake manifold don't need check valves. Likewise for the line from the back of the carb to the brake booster. It already has a check valve.

On your kit back in the day (forgive me, I was in 4th or 5th grade when you created this setup) how did you address ignition timing? Specifically, did you limit or eliminate vacuum advance or mechanical advance? I am guessing you set timing somewhat conservative? - I didn't think that there were digital timing retards like MSD makes nowadays to pull out timing proportional to boost.

H-O Racing supplied as part of the kit the 1963 Corvair vacuum advance/retard for the turbocharged flat-4 Corvair. We had to modify it for the HEI, but otherwise it was the same. That is what I used on my 1976 Firebird TurboForce Revival project. Unfortunately, you can't get those advance/retard units anymore or if so, they are rare. Today, you can buy an MSD for boosted applications that does the same thing.

I apologize for my newb-ness! The linked literature stated stuff that I am hoping for: "You will not know a turbocharger is installed until you put your foot down."

Yup! You can let your wife/GF drive it to the store for groceries and she'll never know the diff. Unless, of course, she's a hot foot too! In which case, it'll start frying the tires and ripping her head off. Then...

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by Craig Hendrickson

Yup! You can let your wife/GF drive it to the store for groceries and she'll never know the diff. Unless, of course, she's a hot foot too! In which case, it'll start frying the tires and ripping her head off. Then...

I'm sure she (wife) can appreciate some face-melting acceleration! She has a '14 Mustang, so she does possess a sporty side.

Thanks for the answers. I really enjoy the simple tech.

I guess that the Holley carbs must use a different throttle shaft concept. None of the Holley conversion discussions I've seen have ever touched on any kind of throttle shaft pressurization.

The shaft pressurization is cool. I work in the semiconductor biz on high vacuum machines, and I thought to myself "Hmmm... like a vacuum differential seal, just backwards!"