Wet set floats on '79 special?

[pbjman]

Hi. I just rebuilt my carbs with the kits from GeorgeFix. I checked my float heights per the method in my manual, carbs upside down, 25.7mm +/-1mm. They are all even and now that everything is cleaned they move freely and have smooth action on the new spring buttons.
Do I still need to do the clear-tube process? It's not in my manual, and my carbs don't have the nipples where the drain screw goes in the bowl.
What do you guys recommend?

I'm going to bench sync the butterflies using the simple method of lining up the bottom of the butterfly to the little hole in the bottom of the carb throat.

Then I think I'll be ready to put on the carbs, octy, hoses, gas tank, and fire it up. (Newly rebuilt octy and petcocks also)

[pbjman]

Oh, another question!

Should the screws be set at 1-1/4 turns out per the manual or something else that you guys have learned works better?

[tarzan]

If you set the floats correctly, and they are straight and not twisted, I would say you are good to go.That is, as long as they are squeaky clean inside and out. Also, are you aware that sometimes the gaskets can interfere with the side of a float and hang it up?Which will cause flooding. So, I would just check to make sure the gaskets don't overhang the inside edge of the bowls.
It would be a pain to do the clear tube method. You would have to rig up some nipples to screw in the bottom of the bowls. Not really necessary if you have them set right.

[oldnortonrider]

Hi. I just rebuilt my carbs with the kits from GeorgeFix. I checked my float heights per the method in my manual, carbs upside down, 25.7mm +/-1mm. They are all even and now that everything is cleaned they move freely and have smooth action on the new spring buttons.
Do I still need to do the clear-tube process? It's not in my manual, and my carbs don't have the nipples where the drain screw goes in the bowl.
What do you guys recommend?

I'm going to bench sync the butterflies using the simple method of lining up the bottom of the butterfly to the little hole in the bottom of the carb throat.

Then I think I'll be ready to put on the carbs, octy, hoses, gas tank, and fire it up. (Newly rebuilt octy and petcocks also)

Excellent thread here re the subject ~~> http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...t=carbs+upside
~~ pics, post no.13 ~~ you don't need a special drain plug hook-up; just screw in by hand, a small size clear fuel-line type, into the float bowl drain hole ~~ line about the size of the battery vent hose ~~ do one pair at a time, or all 4, bench check, get 'em good and level.

[natemoen]

No, you do not need to do a wet set. There is no states spec for what you are looking for in height with the early model carbs anyway.

[natemoen]

Should the screws be set at 1-1/4 turns out per the manual or something else that you guys have learned works better?

Personally I find 2.5 turns out better as a starting point with today's gas.

[skids]

You also need to make sure that the "punch-outs" are all removed that need to be removed for the cab gaskets. Look carefully at the mating surface of the bowls...

The vacuum synchronization will be important and this affects the mixture settings (pilot screws) because the relative positions of the throttle plate are directly affected by the synch. If you get the close with the bread tie method, you can set the mixtures. I do use a mercury manometer set for that.

I like to color a set of plugs at about 1200 to 1500 rpms to set the mixture screws. I refresh the plugs using a butane torch as this is an iterative process. There are those that will argue with the rpms for setting mixtures. Some say to get the prms as low as possible, say 800 or 900 rpms. This may have some merit because the bike will probably idle better. The colortune tool is not what it is cracked-up to be IMHO, but you can see if there are any problems with it.