Yep you hit the nail on the head. I pulled the throttle shaft off thinking I could take off the linkage parts only to find out that the linkage parts don't just slide off like I was hoping, so now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the carb seeing as I can't use the throttle linkage that's on it.

Being uneducated about all this just cost me, but I surely won't make this mistake again.

 

Just wanted you to know that dodge 360's did in fact come with rochester 4 barrels on them, thats what came factory on my truck. Sounds like you are getting some good advice on your build here I agree with pretty much all of what mr clean is saying. you should end up with a great 318 that you will be very happy with just be sure to break it in properly

 

So, now that I know my Quadrajet wont work and I will have to get something else I'm trying to decide between 2 carbs. I want to go with either a 600cfm square bore Holley, or the spreadbore Thermoquad. The reason I like the Thermoquad is because of the small primaries, and the fact that if I am careful I can still get around town economically. The Holley on the other hand comes with the fact that Holley's are some of the best carbs out there and are very easy to tune and work on.

Any advice?

 

Which Thermoquad are you getting? The small one should do just fine.
"There are two basic ThermoQuad Carburetors: one with 1 3/8" primaries and 2 1/4" secondaries for the 318 and 340 (A) engines and a Holley comparison CFM of 650 CFM. The second one had 1 1/2" primaries and 2 1/4" secondaries with a Holley comparison CFM of 820. It's used with some 360s and all the 'B' engines. Actually, Carter called this one a 1000 CFM unit. Their airflow numbers were measured differently than Holley. Also, some ThermoQuads had the secondary air-door limited, which also decreased the CFM." INFO is from http://promaxcarbs.bizland.com/thermoquad.htm
Also, don't forget about Edelbrock carbs. They Work good also. The way I tell people about carbs is a Holley is for performance and an Edlebrock is for gas mileage.

 

I dont really have any experience so this is based wholly on what I've heard from others, but I heard from multiple sources that Edelbrock carbs just arent that great, and are made "cheaply". Thats the only reason I havent really looked at them. If you had a different opinion I would be glad to hear it, as this is what I've heard from most people.

 

Yes, get a smaller carb, no bigger than 500cfm and preferably a 390. Unless the cam and compression can support a carb as big as a 600cfm carb.

 

I have had three Edlebrock carbs... all worked flawlessly and had great support and jet kits so I got them all dialed in easily.

 

I have not had any problems with the Edelbrocks that I have used and I know a lot of people that use them and love them. You tune them just like a Holley. If you are looking for good mpg, they are better then a Holley for that. If you dont mind to lose some mpg and what more performance then you want a Holley. A Holley comes factory tuned for performance and an Edelbrock comes factory tuned for mpg. You can tune both of them to do what ever. So, it is really all up to what brand you want to buy/run. I know people that just because they have an Edelbrock intake they have to have an Edelbrock carb. They wanted everything to be the same. They had Edelbrock heads, valve covers, intake, carb, air cleaner, cam, timing chain and gear, fuel pump, water pump. You get the idea, everything Edelbrock they could buy. As I said it is all up to what ever you want.

 

The 450 and 390cfm carbs are more expensive than the 600cfm is the only reason that might be my choice.

I will take a look at Edelbrock and see what they have, mind you any carb I get will be a rebuilt and not a brand new one.

 

I know some of you suggested this in the beginning and me being me I wanted to rebuild but....

I just found a 318 magnum for sale for $500, running in the truck. Its swapped to carb. Will the 318 magnum bolt right into my '74 and the stock auto trans thats in it now?

$500 is a hell of a lot cheaper than my rebuild cost right now, and it already has a nice Edelbrock intake and carb on it now that are worth close to the $500 by themselves.