Well I would like to start by saying it is good to be back! After a near 4 year hiatus (had 2 kids) I am ready to start working on my F-Bird again!
When I left you guys I was having troubles with my 2 barrel carb. and I have concluded that it needs to be rebuilt or replaced. I am thinking of getting a Q-Jet and 4 barrel intake. My car is a 69' with the original 350 engine and 4spd. It has been rebuilt to more or less original specs, with a little hotter cam (it is hardly noticeable).
Would there be any advantage to adding a 4 barrel? What gains in performance (if any) would I see? What would be the best setup for me as I am not into racing, reliability and drive-ability are what matters.
If I change over would I need to change the throttle cable or any of the linkage?
The cable shouldn't be a problem. Finding the right bracket for the intake will be a hunt. If I were doing that swap, I'd be thinking of a cam as well as heads.
I put a quadrajet and factory manifold on first with no head swap or cam. The car ran fine but it wasn't much of an improvement. You really had to stomp it to get the secondaries to open.
Later I swapped heads and cam and the improvement was dramatic.
That's the right idea. It's kind of creepy that the seller didn't even clean that manifold before fogging it with the wrong blue paint. It's also not a 1974 manifold. I can't see the date code next to the water neck but it looks like an earlier '67-'72 manifold which is better since it doesn't have EGR. The carburetor number given in the questions looks like a 1971 Pontiac with an automatic.
You might be able to do better if you research it a little and look for the parts locally. But if you want to take the risk, those look like the parts you're looking for.
Next, you'll need a throttle cable and bracket. If you have an automatic, you'll need a means of controlling your downshift.
It would be a good idea to upgrade your cam when you make the swap. Something like this:
