OK - here goes my carpal tunnel
And Bart - absolutely no offense meant, but you have read some misleading information somewhere.
TQ cracked bodies - the thermoplastic bodies ARE prone to cracking WHEN Dr. Goodpliers neglects to remove the two body screws hidden beneath the choke butterfly and then uses a screwdriver as a prybar to separate the body castings! I have worked on thousands and have yet to see one that warped or cracked without help.
TQ sunken float - the earlier TQ's used brass floats, not the poly-nitrophyll foam. Later TQ's did use the foam float, like everyone else, and yes there is a problem with the foam floats. I use the brass ones.
Stuck choke - the electric choke you mention was, to the best of my knowledge, used only on the 4 aftermarket TQ's (9800, 9801, 9810, 9811). Same electric element used by everyone else; and occasionally, one did fail. If one was used on an original equipment TQ, I am unaware of it. Most of the chokes were divorced units, with a rod up to the choke shaft. Some were equiped with manual choke, which is my preference.
And I was not attempting to overwhelm you with numbers; simply letting you know that with all those to choose from, the TQ is my carburetor of choice.
There is another issue of leaking IF the rebuilder uses the cheap FLAPS repair kits that contain O-rings rather than the more expensive X-Rings.
The major reason why the TQ's were replaced by Holleys is that for the most part, the original equipment TQ's were on Chrysler engines, which were strong polluters. After 1974, the standard TQ's were calibrated at an A/F ratio of 16.8:1; while the lean-burn TQ's were calibrated at an A/F ratio of 18.2:1. These A/F ratios were required so the Chrysler engines would pass California/Federal smog emissions requirements. After replacement with the Holleys, the vehicles would no longer pass smog emission tests. Lots of performance TQ's were produced for export, especially for Ford.
Jon.
