im wondering if there is a big difference between these two carbs. would it be worth buying a holley 4 barrel to replace the rochester or just stick with the rochester and get it tuned properly? car currently has a bad stumble just completely dies then catches itself.

 

It's all what you're comfortable working with. Some guys love the Quadrajet and even race with them. Others love Holley's for the same reason. And, it also depends on what conditions are causing your stumble. There's no guarantee that a Holley out of the box is going to perform any better in that regard.

 

it's an age old debate but for sure swapping out to a holley would most likely just give you a bunch more tuning and jetting.

sounds like your accelerator pump is gone or the transfer ports are clogged.
could even be the gasket under the carb or some other vacuum leak.

if it's your carb ... don't go cheap on your rebuild, epoxy all the plugs and check to be sure the carb is still straight if you take it apart yourself. some times the carbs have been soo badly overtightened they are banana shaped in the front

 

The biggest advantage is going to be parts availability with the Holley. Everyone everywhere has parts for Holley carbs and books to repair them. And the more parts available the cheaper the prices.

 

so basically a holley would give me a wider range of tuning and cheaper price to fix...ive been reading that quadrajets are actually really good carbs if adjusted properly. i think ill stick with what i have and try to make it work, i just dont know how to tune it? anyone have suggestions on where to start or have any sites that explain the tuning of these?

 

yes the quadra jets are great carbs for idle quality and gas milage.
there's lots of parts for holley carbs because you need to rebuild them more often usually.
but mostly because they can be changed to fit many configuration to provide maximum power on any engine.
that " how to rebuild " guy has a book on q-jets.
most important part is air leaks that happen in carbs

 

here's a book
http://books.google.ca/books?id=QfGz...ed=0CDMQ6AEwAA

but i think bill fisher has one also