[poncho-mike]

About 20 years ago, I met a guy named Randy Williams who was collecting 62 - 63 SD421 stuff. I had a bunch of NOS SD421 parts from a guy who raced those cars, including heads, intakes, blocks, rods, etc. Randy Williams was well known in the Pontiac circles and said he was a supplier to Pontiac.

Anyway, we did some trading and I came away with a set of NOS SD455 heads, valves, valve springs, rods, an intake, and a 7043270 carb.

He claimed he got the parts through his contacts in Pontiac R&D. He said the 7043270 carb had been used by Pontiac engineering to do air flow testing on, and had never been on a car. I have no reason to doubt that, but I'd like some input on this carb. The date is relatively early (0133) based on the 73 SD455 cars only being produced late in the 1973 model year.

Anyway, I'd like the experts on the board to give me their thoughts. The only thing I found that looks a little odd is the gasket under the top plate. I believe the white stuff on the gasket is residue from old newspaper the carb was packed in when I boxed it up and stuck it away. It scrapes right off.

Also, does anybody know what that pink tag is on the back with 270 printed on it?

So, what do you think?

[johnta1]

Cool carb!

I'd say the SD 455's were being built in December of 72 for the 73 SD's at least.

So this could be used on a SD Bird.



Have a record of at least a June 73 TA having a K112 XD block (engine).
(most of the 73 SD's probably had a Dec to Jan blocks)

[johnta1]

Also what is it above the 270 on the paper tag?

SS?

[poncho-mike]

I'm not sure what it is. It looks like an exaggerated SS to me. I've seen very few NOS carbs, so I have no clue if it was installed at the factory.

I bought one of the replacement SD455 carbs from Pontiac (starts with a 170 pn) and I don't remember it having any tags.

[njsteve]

I believe the pink sticker is just the manufacturers sticker with the last three digits of the carb number on it. Here's a shot of the over-the-counter 17054910 replacement carb that came along with the original 7043270 carb, when i bought my SD. (The original is back on the car now).

[poncho-mike]

I don't remember the over the counter SD replacement carb having that sticker. But it's been probably 30 years since I bought one, so I could be wrong.

I'm frequently wrong, ask my wife.

[Held for Ransom]

Tag is RP (Rochester Products) 270.

[eaglesan13]

I feel your pain.

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I'm frequently wrong, ask my wife.

[johnta1]

Tag is RP (Rochester Products) 270.

Makes sense.



But their 'cursive' is worse than mine.






Does the over the counter/service replacement carbs have the 'pick' code on them?
(JD on this carb)

[Held for Ransom]

I don't think SR carbs had a pick code. Yours is missing the angled vent stack.

Pictured is Steve's SD carb, dated the same 0133 (although you can't see it).

[Transamric]

I've had a few NOS (bought from AC Delco) "turtle pack" carbs with a tag like that, but not in pink. They've always been white.

[carbking]

The post 1967 O.E. carbs carried a sticker tag that was color-coded, as were the pre-1968 metal tags. The colors were coded to the "plant code" or "picking code" for the unit.

Jon.

[sdbob]

I'll have find my nos 74 SD carb and see. I'll will go record and say this I new Randy,we traded parts and we would talk at Norwalk.I would trust him,he was a true gentleman.Now to get to the answer.

[The Boss]

Sticker on the back is not specific to 73 or to the SD program at all - note my 72 HO carb.

[poncho-mike]

There is no doubt that Randy was a great guy. After he bought my 62 GP with a 421SD and a bunch of SD389 and SD421 parts, we kept in touch. I lined up a few other deals for him on early parts over the years.

Originally Posted by sdbob

I'll have find my nos 74 SD carb and see. I'll will go record and say this I new Randy,we traded parts and we would talk at Norwalk.I would trust him,he was a true gentleman.Now to get to the answer.

I wanted to get the experts on PY to shoot arrows at the carb. Since it was supposed to have been obtained from Pontiac engineering, I know it's possible some things may have been changed. I'm a design engineer myself, we dabble and tweak.

Would it be reasonable to advertise this as NOS, or state it came from Pontiac engineering and has never been installed on a car? Randy said the carb had been used for air flow testing.

Mike

[The Boss]

NOS, From Engineering and never been installed on a car are all very specific claims Mike that in this case may just be based on a conversation. Without any kind of conclusive proof, I personally would not list them as such. I would relay the conversation you had with Randy and what his claim was to the origin of the parts but would be sure to pepper the description with "as I've been told" or "according to the prior owner" or maybe even a "believed to be". To say they "are" or "were" without conclusive proof could be misleading and leave the new owner or even you with a disappointing result.

JMO

[Held for Ransom]

Usually a master carb would have had a tag on it other than the RP tag.
http://www.forums.maxperformanceinc....d.php?t=507425

Being that it's missing the correct stack, it's hard to say what to call it. But, I'd lean more to NOS or Rochester rebuilt.

[poncho-mike]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

Usually a master carb would have had a tag on it other than the RP tag.
http://www.forums.maxperformanceinc....d.php?t=507425

After I saw your post, I went back and looked for some old 35 mm pictures I took of this carb when I first got it. It turns out I've had it longer than I thought, having acquired it before I moved in 1992. It spent at least a year sitting on a shelf in the basement of my first house.

When I got the carb from Randy, there was a piece of paper slightly larger than the card stock that had a mixture of pre-printed and hand written information on it. The paper was oil stained and nearly illegible. I'm not sure where the paper ended up, but I no longer have it.

I also got a 7044270 carb from Randy, but it was obviously a used carb.

Thanks for the info.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

Usually a master carb would have had a tag on it other than the RP tag.
http://www.forums.maxperformanceinc....d.php?t=507425

Being that it's missing the correct stack, it's hard to say what to call it. But, I'd lean more to NOS or Rochester rebuilt.

Nearly 20 years ago, I had the privilege to examine over half dozen of these Master RA carbs. These were in a MONSTER cache of boxed Qjets from the Rochester plant. All of the Masters looked exactly like the pic of the one in the years old topic which Jeff (Uncle Judge) put up a picture of. All of these "Masters", their air horns & float bowls looked like they had been misted with gold spray paint, NOT the correct zinc dichromate finish. All of these master also had the beige paper tags hanging from them. I was not interested in purchasing any of them, as one was only interested in buying original pick code style RA & 455 HO Qjets. Ended up buying a few original dated '71 & 72 HO Qjets, two of which were Rochestor plant rebuilds. another of which had been rebuilt, elsewhere, & had a vac modulator line fitting added. my feeling Mike, is your '73 SD carb is one of the first actual production run & could have possibly been cycled back through the Rocjhestor plant for a factory rebuild.

[poncho-mike]

Thanks oPH. It's also possible my memory is wrong.

There were a number of documents that came with the parts I got from Randy. I wish I had done a better job of storing this paperwork, but at the time I didn't think it was very important. It's also possible that the sheet I remember seeing was associated with the SD heads or the SD intake. I remember one of the documents contained hardness measurements for the set of new SD455 rods that I got.