Broken float post

[DeanR]

Opened up my spare carbs and to a novice eye they look to be in great shape, except for the fact that someone has broken off one float support post. The pin and float are hanging there from one post pretty solidly. The guy said it ran well (before he froze up the motor).
Anyway, I'm wondering if someone might have a spare carb body available that I could replace it with. That is, if you can substitute from a different set without any problems. Or, any other options?
It's the number 2 carb. Thanks!

[ivers]

you have probably already thought of this, but you might try a local machine shop. they could likely tig weld an oversize piece of alluminum stock on there, and then use a pen grinder to shape it up from there. it looks like there is enough room for a some what larger stand-off than what is there from the factory.
other than that, it would change the displacement of the bowl a little bit, but i don't think that would hurt anything.

it might sound crazy, but i do an awful lot of welding, machineing and fabricateing and i doubt carb bodies come cheap.

lots of luck!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Dean,

The float posts aren't hard to fix. Several techniques are available, JB Weld works well, also a product called MagnaSteel or such, can apply extra around the post and then use Dremmel as needed to file away excess so float bowl recesses will fit!
T.C.

[JWSanders]

I sadly, have broken off more than I care to admit. On a couple of carbs, damn my ham-handedness!

I'm now using 2 #1 carbs (in the #1 and #3 positions) and 2 #2 carbs in the #2 and #4 positions. You have to cap off the advance tube on the #2 carb (and put on a normal butterfly plate instead of the slotted one) to make it work on #4, but it works fine.

I picked up my extra set of carbs from Ebay, for $45. I got lucky, there was a glut of them at the time. They usually seem to sell for around $75-100.

Andreashweiss here on the site has a lot of parts, and has given me (and many others) some great deals. He may have just a single carb body.

I believe his email is: andreashweiss@yahoo.com

[Ken Talbot]

Can't remember where I got this photo from, but I'm sure there's a tech article here about float post repair:

[prometheus578]

Now THAT'S Sharp!

I took a thin strip of sheet metal, once. Drilled and screwed it into the post, and then drilled another hole for the pin to go into.

[andreashweiss]

I have a #4 carb body (78/79) It is the last one I have still complete if you need this style of carb and if it will work for you let me know. $25.00 price includes shipping. andreas

[SG-Olli]

they could likely tig weld an oversize piece of alluminum stock on there,

Are you sure the carb body is aluminum?
I thought it is zinc, just the bowl and the top cover are aluminum.
Or is it possible to weld aluminum to zinc?

[ivers]

i'm fairly certain the carbs are cast aluminum, sometimes called pot metal, and as far as i know zinc is not used as a primary substance in any alloy. i have only come across metals plated in zinc. such as galvanized.....

[SG-Olli]

Well,
zinc is widely used as an alloy in die-casting, click here
and especially in carb bodies click here
What I am not sure about if Yamaha used it for their carbs.

[ivers]

wow!

i had no idea that zinc was used as the primary matirial in so many casted objects. now i have some trivia for some of the guys at work.

thanks for the correction

[DiverRay]

Laxdad, I have a spare #2 body. If you cannot get the JBWeld to work, I can send it out to you. I'm out of town at the moment, and won't be back home until Monday night. That gives you the weekend to try and repair the carb you have, and the following weekend to replace it if needed.
Ray

[GNEPIG]

.. i have tried the jb weld fix before and it didnt work for me, i let it set up for a week be for using it just in case.. it looked good but it seperated in a couple months, gas is some harsh stuff.
..i like Ken's fix, i'm going to try it next