Does size matter?

[Larrym]

I'm taking 2 banks of 78-79 BS34 II carbs and trying to put together one functional set that I can use as a test bank. Along the way I've found broken float posts, broken idle screw points, stripped out screw heads, lost springs/balls for the cold start system. You know, all the really fun stuff. Site has steered me in the right direction cause now I've got 4 seperate and completely clean (???) carbs. Next step is to line them up next to each other, install the new inlet fuel Tees (plus the bowl vent Tees...), and mount them to the carb bracket. This is where things go CLUNK!

Both banks were old and both banks leaked at the Inlet Fuel Tees. Lucky Eddie found replacement Tees at motorcycle carbs.com. There were 2 different sizes listed so I took apart bank #1 and looked at the Tees. They were all the same size: the smaller shorter one. I ordered the parts and continued with the carb project. Ran into a snag where the PO had broken off an idle mixture screw tip and the "push pin" technique failed. I seperated bank #2 in order to get a new (LOL) carb body and found that the Tees were not the same..CLUNK!!

Bank #2 has the shorter Tees but only for the bowl vents. The inlet Fuel tees are the longer ones. In the repair manual (Clymers...) it shows that all the Tees are the same part number. (You just gotta love it when a manual has misinformation like say...the wrong firing order for your girlfriends Trans Am...) Initially I suspected that the PO of Bank #1 had placed Bowl vent Tees in the Fuel inlets. Ahah! That's why they were leaking! But even the longer Tees in bank #2 were spilling fuel.

I have the new shorter Tees arriving any day now but be they "vent Tees" or be they "Fuel inlet Tees."? One thing is for certain...they are $40 apiece. does anyone have a bike with the shorter tees installed as Fuel inlets?

[Tdog]

t's

Hi Larrym,
I checked my carb sets and spare bodies and can tell you that the large T's are for fuel and the smaller ones are for venting. It's due to the internal boss area. Your carbs are apart now so you can see what I mean. There is more/longer surface area for the fuel T's and just a short hole for the vents. While it is possible for the short ones to work for fuel, I think the longer T's will work better in the long run.
Regards,
Tdog

[Larrym]

'lo Tdog,

You're right about the difference in sizes in the carb bodies. I double checked inside the fuel inlet openings. Plenty of room for the longer Tees. The bowl vents have no clearance for the longer Tee and must have/use the shorter ones.

If I were going to use this carb bank for anything other than a test bank I wouldn't hesitate to buy the longer Tees.

Thanks for the additional eyeball!