mreinsmith
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2008
- Messages
- 82
I wanted to tell you a story that might give you a good chuckle.
How far should you go when working on carburetors?
Well, that is a tough one to answer; but after doing some research I feel like the general consensus is to only mess with them as little as needed. Hands down Frank Acampora put it as succinctly and elegantly as possible in this post.
http://forums.iboats.com/showpost.php?p=2184925&postcount=5
Now, in my defense, I want to start by saying that I've always been a "how it works" kind of person. So I like to understand why something works the way it does instead of simply what part to replace. Not to mention that with the other projects I have going on (restoring several cars) I thought that rebuilding the carburetor would be a good learning experience.
So I decided to "completely" disassemble a carb and rebuild it, and when I say completely I only mean the parts that I had replacements for or areas that I felt should be cleaned. I followed the instructions carefully and I believe I was successful.
However, I have to say that after doing it, I agree that you should mess around with them as least as possible! As a matter of fact, I wasn't going to go as far on the second one after I had done the first.
Now, for the moment you have all been waiting for! The dreaded "but" in this story....
After carefully cleaning and blowing out all the passages on the first carb I attempted to reinstall the idler tube, but it wouldn't slide in to place. Under magnification, I noticed a small "something" sticking out of the passage to the idle adjustment passage.
With some careful finagling, I was able to extract THIS from the tiny passage between the idler tube and the adjustment passage:
Link to Picture
Now I realize the odds are probably astronomical that there would be something like this in the second carb! But my paranoia and curiosity demand that I take the time to do it.
So, you be the judge!
If, like me, Murphy is your next door neighbor then maybe a complete carb rebuild is for you.
M
How far should you go when working on carburetors?
Well, that is a tough one to answer; but after doing some research I feel like the general consensus is to only mess with them as little as needed. Hands down Frank Acampora put it as succinctly and elegantly as possible in this post.
http://forums.iboats.com/showpost.php?p=2184925&postcount=5
Now, in my defense, I want to start by saying that I've always been a "how it works" kind of person. So I like to understand why something works the way it does instead of simply what part to replace. Not to mention that with the other projects I have going on (restoring several cars) I thought that rebuilding the carburetor would be a good learning experience.
So I decided to "completely" disassemble a carb and rebuild it, and when I say completely I only mean the parts that I had replacements for or areas that I felt should be cleaned. I followed the instructions carefully and I believe I was successful.
However, I have to say that after doing it, I agree that you should mess around with them as least as possible! As a matter of fact, I wasn't going to go as far on the second one after I had done the first.
Now, for the moment you have all been waiting for! The dreaded "but" in this story....
After carefully cleaning and blowing out all the passages on the first carb I attempted to reinstall the idler tube, but it wouldn't slide in to place. Under magnification, I noticed a small "something" sticking out of the passage to the idle adjustment passage.
With some careful finagling, I was able to extract THIS from the tiny passage between the idler tube and the adjustment passage:
Link to Picture
Now I realize the odds are probably astronomical that there would be something like this in the second carb! But my paranoia and curiosity demand that I take the time to do it.
So, you be the judge!
If, like me, Murphy is your next door neighbor then maybe a complete carb rebuild is for you.
M
