Rebuilding a '77 Q-jet. Was replacing power piston (was in fine condition I thought, just needed a good crocus scrubbing), and noticed the primary metering rods wouldn't stay down in the jets (and putting that with the float stuff all set up is really hard in the first place), so I was having a really hard time replacing the air horn. I thankfully took it apart again before putting it on my car, and noticed one of the power piston 'wings' that the rods connect to was bent upward, causing the rod to easily pop out of the jet. I tried bending it back to normal, but am very wary of still using the piston. Is it wise to get a new one? And does anyone have a rough estimate about how much these parts are? It's off a '77 Caddy, and am hoping it's not some hard to find $80 part. Thank you.

It should be okay to use. You just want to get the height as close as possible to the other side. There should be a plastic ring above the piston that holds the piston in place. Push the piston to the bottom and push the ring into the hole on top of it. The ring should stick in the bore enough to allow you to assemble the carb easily. You can use a small punch to drive the ring in gently.

And you can, very cafeully, put a little "ding" into the power piston tower right around the seated ring to hold it in. Peening it, I think is the technical term. Just a little nick in the metal to keep the ring seated. I usually put two "nicks" in , 180 apart.