carb tees

[Ken Talbot]

I would try one of the Loctite cyanoacrylate adhesives made especially for bonding rubber. Bond the new rubber bit to the existing, and it should hold fuel.

[Larrym]

A New Hope

Episode IV:

Decades have passed since the Empire lost interest in the XS1100s they once designed and built. With cold and deliberate indifference the Empire watched as the lack of factory service and original parts thinned out the XS's numbers. Some owners recognized the need to cooperate and share the techniques and parts which could save the precious XSs from total annihilation. These rogues formed a loose association where they meet with others sharing the same goal. On planet "Earth" they have established a stronghold while the Empire seemingly ignores them.....

Just couldn't resist doing that!

Thanks Ken, for the loctite tip. Earlier I had gone to the NAPA store and saw only the Permatex product line. Nothing that I would have trusted. NEXT time I will find/use something to cement the fuel line to the Tees as an extra measure. As far as the "leak test", here was my set up:



Used the tank/filter/petcock on my Generator. Holds about 1 and 1/2 gallons. Not very much gravity pressure for the test but it was convenient. Carbs were joined and the "R+D" Tees were installed. Long Tees as fuel Inlets and short ones for the Bowl vents. ($40 new ones are still in the unopened package...) Per the God of Fire"s command I "Blipped" each float untill the air was replaced by fuel, dried the spilt fuel around the needle/seat/inner body, and WAITED.

After 15 minutes of my life passed away here's what I saw:



No leaks at the float needle/seat/gasket OR the "R+D" fuel Tees. Even used a little compressed air around the "well" that the needle sits in:



After they passed the "inverted" test I attached the float bowls and turned them rightside up for the float function test.



No Leaks, no runs, no drips. Left them there while I had lunch.

"R+D" Tees working thus far. Tomorrow will do final assembly/bench synch of carbs and if time install on bike.

(Girlfriends cam even has video/sound/macro features. Am beginning "negotiations" this evening....)

[Ken Talbot]

Episode IV:

Thanks Ken, for the loctite tip. Earlier I had gone to the NAPA store and saw only the Permatex product line. Nothing that I would have trusted. NEXT time I will find/use something to cement the fuel line to the Tees as an extra measure.

Actually, what I was thinking of was using the Loctite rubber adhesive to glue the new rubber bit to the old rubber bit. That's where I thought there might be the slightest possibility for a leak.

JAT...

[latexeses]

I have been following this thread because the tees' on my SF are of dubious condition.

In my small business I work with small brass tube. It so happens that the OD. of the tube I use is .312 inches. Seeing the prices for which these tee are selling I decided that there is a better way of making or buying these things.

Went out to the shop and grabbed some scrap tube and started messing around. The result is in the photo below.



The o-rings are actually a couple thousandths' of an inch larger than the plastic o-rings on the original tee. The width of the tee is the same and the bore is a bit larger. The "filler neck" of the tee is a couple thou. smaller in dia. than the original but is a bit longer. I doubt that would be a problem unless your fuel line is suffering from hardening arteries.

I have not put them to the fuel test to see if they are an adaquate replacement. That will happen in the next couple days.

What I would like to say is I would be willing to sell these for 25 bucks a pair and I'll pay the postage. What I do not want to do is sell these for resale. This is for the members here. Everyone here has been very helpful to me and if these make a difference, good enough for me. I'll also put the last 5 bucks into the Web site fund.

Whats left will help pay for the band aides and o-rings. Maybe some beer too.

It fits right in with my business model of "Buy High, Sell Low"'

They are a fussy little thing to build but they are a welcome interuption in the usual time at the lathe.

If there is any interest I will pump out a bunch of these things and keep them around when anyone needs them. Ask around and let me know.

If anyone would like to put them to the test on an actual "running" bike, let me know.

Hope this helps to ease the parts gouging that seems to happen to the guys trying to keep these bike on the road.

Rodger

[TopCatGr58]

Great work!

Hey Larry,
That's very promising for your technique. I'm just curious, are the outer grooves in the tubing really necessary, since it's an interference/pressure fitting to begin with? OR do the grooves help in being able to slide the "T" into the carb body whereas if it were solid, there would be too much friciton/resistance?? Shame you're having to use your "CHEAP" camera, but I won't be choosy!

Hey Rodger,

That looks great(I editted your post/link), especially for those less mechanically inclined to do the surgery themselves. I would assume that the O-rings are NEOPRENE or Buta-N type to be fuel resistant??

Did you actually have to solder/braze the filler tube to the "T"/Oring section? OR are these T's already made and you just cut the O-ring grooves??

I was wondering about this item also, and wondered about how hard it would be to make a similar item with some aluminum on a lathe?? Probably more time/work intensive than what it took to do what you did!?

As noted above, the rebellion members usually have limited resources, and so being able to acquire a PAIR for 2/3's the price of a single is a true bargain!!!
T.C.

[boyat68]

Larrym:

Be sure you test the carbs while slanted as gravity will take over and may cause one of the floats to hang on the side. This is important as the bike, resting on its kick stand will slant the carbs and if they hang on the side, it will cause a leak. Do this before you re-install the carbs on the bike. I have been down that road before.

[tarzan]

Nice work.The double o-ring thing should keep em straight and add a bit of insurance.That is a bargain.I bet they work great.

[Larrym]

These aren't the Droids you're looking for. Move Along.

Latexes,

Always nice to see what the right tools in the right hands can produce. (Drool....) Tee looks like as fine a replacement as the store bought. (Or is it a trick of the light and a better camera...sigh) My attempt is prob'ly tainted by the fact that I've been living on an island where resources are really scarce. Still trying to adapt to new home where "O-Rings-R-Us" is just a short drive away.

Looks like the original Tee you show is the shorty. Was it used as a fuel inlet? I have a thread going where I'm trying to figure out if its "normal" or not to do so. (Does size matter?) Also during my fab process I found that the Tees I made which fit the Fuel inlets were a sloppy fit in the bowl vent orifice. IMO I wouldn't have trusted it to not leak.

Boyat68,

D'oh! It's all in the details, eh? Will do upright "Lean and Leak" test before moving to next step. Thx!


TC,

Fuel line definitely is harder than O-rings and not so easily compressed. Grooves cut with triangular jewelers file allow the material to expand out to the side under more compression. More compression made for a tighter seal but in a smaller contact area. If no grooves then would only permit a lower compression/looser seal over a larger contact area. Bonus of grooves is that as this is a Shape/Test/Shape/Test process, each "ring" can be fine tuned/turned for the right "feel" as they go in the orifice.

[latexeses]

TC..

The o-rings are indeed Buna-n. The tee is two piece. The inlet and cross piece is an interference fit and is pressed together and soldered at the joint.
Thanks for the edit. That was written Very late last night.
The material I am using is 330 machinable brass. It is barrel stock for an air rifle. I wind up with ends that are too small to use for my kits. Thus, the scrap. If you want to see what I do with the stuff. www.convert-a-pell.com.

Larrym..

I didn't mean to step on your idea. It is a good idea. I just had time on my hands and a bunch of stuff in front of me... A bad combo for a tinkerer..
This idea has been in my head for a while now. Every since I First pulled the carbs apart way back when. I didn't like the looks of the "o-ring" design on the carbs and the tee's on mine came out way too easy. I never looked for replacements cause I was thinking along these lines.
What really tore it was some of the prices the members were coming up wit from the suppliers. I really don't like getting hosed.
This was the lower "Fuel" tee.

As I mentioned the tees haven't been put to the fuel test just yet. However the o-rings are a tight fit in the o-ring groove and they are a bit larger than the rings that came out. Honestly there is no money being made here. These tees' are a hobby project. SWMBO likes me to at least pay for the lights!

Rodger

[Larrym]

But I can't see anything with the blast shield down.

Latexeses,

No harm/foul on my side. In fact, I prob'ly am derailing Texas Rookie's carb tee thread. Still wanna see what he came up with. Your tees are something to get excited about. I'd be more excited if I hadn't already purchased/ordered/received the "Elite" Tees from motorcyclecarbs.com. (next step is to return/exchange then for the longer Tees...if possible.)

Too late for me but hope for the others who have an uneasy feeling about seperating their carb banks....

[Texas Rookie]

Let's see if I can get this to work (first post w/ pics , thanks trbig).

Scenerio: Leaking carb tees

Motivation: staving off the grim reaper or any other mechanical no-good-nik who would like to harm me or my bike with anything involving leaking fuel or volitile vapors and doing same in an economical and safe fashion (anyone can throw a bunch of money at something and make it work).

Method: install fuel injection o-rings on fuel tees as follows

Find appropriate o-rings for modification (I found these at Autozo--, about 7 bucks for the box, I like the 6mm ones, they are a bear to install into the carb body but they fit the tees and provided the tightest seal in the carb body)




then cut the rubber off the ends of the tees. After I did one and trial fitted it into the carb body (and having both o-rings stay in the carb body when the tee was removed) I thought about cutting a trough in the rubber for the o-rings to fit into, leaving the ends of the rubber for a retainer if you will. Worked on the long tees but the vacuum tees are just too short and even if you cut the trough for 1 o-ring the end tends to pop off anyway so better to cut the rubber all the way off then and use 2 o-rings. Important note: leave a shoulder out from the stem of the tee for the o-rings to press against so the o-rings seat well onto the carb body. I used a jigsaw blade to cut the troughs with the tee chucked in a drill and spun at medium speed (don't chuck the rubber too tight or you will bugger it up or pull off that retainer rubber you worked so hard to create). Hope this helps.
















Execution: an XSsy winning performance if I do say so myself

[XSPastor]

Great job!

Nice pictorial! This should be a tech-tip! You are a crafty dude. A utility knife blade might make a cleaner cut on the rubber. Great idea to spin it in a drill. Do the O-rings say anywhere on the labeling that they are ok for fuel applications? Kinda hate for you to get it all back together and then have them dissolve...

[Larrym]

I sense something. A presence I've not felt since.....

Texas Rookie,

Thanks for the show-n-tell. Makes it look as easy as bullseyeing womp rats in a T-16.

We can only hope that the empire doesn't notice this. Exactly the kind of thing which would bring their Death Star to our planet.

[Texas Rookie]

Pastor, the auto supply store sold these to me as fuel injection replacement o-rings so I assume they are fuel compatible (and yes i know what assume does to u and me).

Tried a razor knife first but it just cut the rubber and didn't supply the trench I was looking for. the best scenario is probably to cut the edges of the trough (trench) with the razor knife and then use the jigsaw blade to gouge out the rubber between the two cuts. would definitely make it purdier.

[XSPastor]

Pastor, the auto supply store sold these to me as fuel injection replacement o-rings so I assume they are fuel compatible (and yes i know what assume does to u and me).

Tried a razor knife first but it just cut the rubber and didn't supply the trench I was looking for. the best scenario is probably to cut the edges of the trough (trench) with the razor knife and then use the jigsaw blade to gouge out the rubber between the two cuts. would definitely make it purdier.

Ooooooh... I didn't realize you were also cutting a groove for the o-ring. I get whay you used a blade like that now!! Thanks.