Hey guys, I'm new to the forums, but I've been lurking for a couple months, and I love this site!

I have an 1984 trans am. I managed to get my hands on one about two months ago and as a 19 year old kid who used to drive a 1999 Saturn SC2 it's the best thing in the world.

So anyways,

5 speed, 305 v8 (LG4), and Rochester E4ME 4 barrel carburetor, ~140k miles, all stock except for silver paint

Now my question is, I have a little bit of lag sometimes and I feel like it isn't really laying down the rubber like it should. What happens is if I'm in second going ~20mph it's around 1,800RPMs and if I mash the gas it jumps at first but then kind of lags. I am just a kid and don't know THAT much about cars, but what it feels like is when that second set of barrels for the carburetor kicks in, it just straight dumps gas in and chokes the car. Does this sound like it's running too rich? It's almost 30 years old, so if there's some kind of vacuum tube going to the carburetor it could be dry rotted and cracking. Is there an easy way to adjust it without messing anything up or spending a **** ton? I feel like it's not just because my car isn't that great, I'm just not getting the full potential.

You really do have to talk to me like I'm an idiot, though. I haven't ever messed with a carburetor and only really know how to do usual maintenance and the general workings of a car. I have common sense and the internet and that's about it.

Also, I couldn't find on google what the idle speed was supposed to be for this car/engine. It idles at 1k RPMS after warmed up.

Thanks!

 

If your having issues at bogging initially at wot I would start with making sure the secondaries' air valve spring tension is set properly (search air valve spring you should find a thread or sticky on it). Curb idle should be 500-550 (500 is exact spec IIRC). Make sure it is NOT stuck on the fast idle cam when your setting it (theres a lever on the pass side of the carb you can push down if its on the fast idle cam).

If you see cracked vacuum hoses simply replace them and route them as they were. I can not STAND to see people just ripping stuff out of cars and/or plugging hoses that they don't "think" belongs there.3

Also, flip through some stickies theres a bunch of good info on here. Don't let anyone try to persuade you to going full mechanical carb and distributor - just fix whats there TRUST ME its less of a headache in the long run.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/quadrajet