rebuilt the carbs

[Grimace]

I finally got the screws out of the angle holding all four carbs together. They were a nightmare. I had to turn them a little, and soak the shanks in mouse milk. After I got them apart again, I found my problem with #1 and 2 not taking fuel. The "t" for the bowl vent was corroded shut. I guess this was from sitting outside for 7 years (p.o.). I took everything damageable (is that a word?) and set it aside, in a cup labeled for each carb. Then I soaked the bodies in chem-dip for about half an hour each. Then I hosed out each hole and orifice with carb cleaner, and got it ready to re-assemble. The "t" fittings for the vent and fuel were re-usable, so I just took a correct size drill bit and hand drilled the shtuff out. They cleaned up so I put them back together. I am in the process of the pre-sync right now. I just wanted to share my find on the "t" fittings in case someone was having trouble with fule starvation. My bowls will fill up if they sit for a while, but those carbs would run out of gas. I should have checked this first before I ordered new petcocks.

Justin

[skids]

Re: rebuilt the carbs

Good find. Plugged vents can also cause overfilling of the bowls, according to a few carb gurus in here.

Originally posted by Grimace
(snip)I just wanted to share my find on the "t" fittings in case someone was having trouble with fule starvation. My bowls will fill up if they sit for a while, but those carbs would run out of gas. I should have checked this first before I ordered new petcocks.

Justin

[skids]

Re: Re: rebuilt the carbs

In fact, check out the post called, " FYI Carb Vents " that is VERY recent. (What a cooincidence!)

Originally posted by skids
Good find. Plugged vents can also cause overfilling of the bowls, according to a few carb gurus in here.

[Grimace]

Yeah, very similar. Thanks skids.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Grimace,

I hope those "damageable" parts included the butterfly shaft seals, or you supported the carbs and had them not sitting so deep as to not let the chemdip get to the seals if left in!? The chemdip can damage the butterfly shaft seals, and cause vacuum leaks!! The tech tips warn about this, but some folks don't read them first before diving into their carbs!? You can get replacements IF they did get eaten!
Otherwise, congrats, and keep at it!
T.C.

[JWSanders]

After getting my carbs apart, I got a Stainless Steel allen head screw set from a guy on Ebay. Every screw for the engine casings and ALL the screws on the carbs (even the big ones that hold them all together) are now polished stainless allen heads. The whole shebang was $41, including a few extras of various sizes and shipping.

Never want to have to go thru the trouble I did getting those carbs apart again. What a pain it was...

They come apart really easy now.


The guy selling the bolts is Dr. Bolts. at this link:

http://www.westcoastmc.com/store/

Just email him with what you need. He was a real knowledgeable guy, and did the research for me on finding out all the sizes I would need on the carbs. Gets an A+ from me!

[Grimace]

Thanks TC, I thought about that, but there are no vacuum leaks that I can find. After I got the carbs back together, and started the bike (first time for me to hear it fire on all four) I sprayed carb cleaner around the carbs with no change in idle. I hope this means that my shaft seals are still good. I might end up changing them later, I am sure they didn't like getting soaked in chem dip.

Thanks for the link JW, those bolts would look great!

[skids]

The first time I soaked my carbs from Cherry, those throttle shaft seals swelled (?), and I could barely move the throttle plates. I had to dip them in mineral spirits to get the motion back. I wonder if it just cleaned a sticky film off of the seals or shrunk them back to size? I wonder if they have completely decomposed by now?

Originally posted by Grimace
Thanks TC, I thought about that, but there are no vacuum leaks that I can find. After I got the carbs back together, and started the bike (first time for me to hear it fire on all four) I sprayed carb cleaner around the carbs with no change in idle. I hope this means that my shaft seals are still good. I might end up changing them later, I am sure they didn't like getting soaked in chem dip.

Thanks for the link JW, those bolts would look great!

[Grimace]

Mine move freely, (actually better than before). I think I am ok, but we will see. Thanks again for all the advise guys.

[LoHo]

I don't know where else these might occur, but in the San Joaquin valley we have a bee that likes to fill small holes with snipets of leaves to form some sort of nest for their young. This discovery arose from a botched fishing trip and hours of carb work before I noticed the small hay bale in the 3/16" fuel attachment opening...

[Ken Talbot]

Hey Justin - the reason you had such a time getting the screws out to remove the carbs from the 'rack' is because they were assembled with loctite. I haven't figured out why that would be, but I would be inclined to use loctite again when putting them back together. If you don't use it on the mounting screws, be sure to use it on the screws that hold the butterflies on their shafts. That is one place you most certainly don't want a screw to come loose because its next stop would be the combustion chamber.

[rickmcdougald]

Mouse Milk is ...

... wonderful, isn't it?!
There's nothing like it for ol' Rusty Headers, either.
RLMcD

[Grimace]

Thanks for the tip Ken. I did torque the screws down pretty good, hopefully the won't come loose. I never took the butterfly screws out, but should I re-check the torque on those?

Mouse milk is the next best thing to a pocket on a shirt, Rick.

[DeanR]

So, what the heck is mouse milk?

[randy]

I was waiting for someone to ask that question!

And how does one go about milking them? Their nipples are awfully small