I need mechanical skills

[nhbubba]

The 3rd party kits are an order of magnitude cheaper than buying all the OE seals. Some say the jets and needles are junk. I have no complaints though.

[Petorius]

A 3rd party carb rebuild kit may be worth your while. Check fleabay.

These are CV carbs? The "carb covers", is this the top (usually plastic) over the diaphragm on the top of the slide? Missing seals here could cause very, very poor performance. Vac leaks in general are bad. Vac leaks that prevent the slide from working are way bad.

You invest in the $80 harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner yet? That with a dash of simple green in it => carb cleaning nirvana.

I think I am going to go buy some of these rebuild kits.

Yes, I mean the plastic things over the diaphragms. There is not supposed to be a gasket all the way around the whole plastic thing, just under the one little vacuum port on each carb. What are these vacuum ports for anyway? Diagnostics?

Lets say I am going to give this thing a bath of some sort. Are there more seals between the two carbs that I should remove first? I have not separated the carbs so far, as I didnt think this was necessary.

[Kurlon]

I wouldn't separate the rack if you can avoid it. Not so much for being worried about disturbing seals as much as it's just a royal PITA.

On the carb tops, the diaphram itself acts as a seal for that portion. The vacuum port is used for synchronizing the carbs or in some applications used to operate a vacuum based fuel pump.

[Petorius]

Ha, just found this picture. I hope this is correct:

[aldend123]

Are you asking if there should be a paper-type gasket or some sealer between the top cup and the carb body's flat surface? Like a car's water pump has? Nope, that's what the o-ring is for, and you can see the hint of an integrated seal/oring on the diaphram peaking from under the cup.

But if the oring gives a lot of people grief, sometimes people will put a little liquid gasket sealer around the edge. If you do, go easy on it. And keep in mind it'll add work next time you take everything apart removing the old sealer before reapplying.

[nhbubba]

And keep in mind it'll add work next time you take everything apart removing the old sealer before reapplying.

This post contains an understatement. Can you find it?!

[Petorius]

You'll need some of 13 Piece Left-Hand Drill Bit Set and probably some 12 Piece Screw Extractor Set (not necessarily from HF, but a set of LH bits and a set of screw extractors will be your friend).

I have been advised to avoid these extractor things in favor of drilling all the way through and using a through-bolt/nut. I am unsure about that advise, it is possible that the person who gave it just had chronically bad technique with extractors, causing them to brake off far more often than normal. In a few spots, it seems like it would be difficult to work with a through-bolt/nut.

[number9]

I have been advised to avoid these extractor things in favor of drilling all the way through and using a through-bolt/nut. I am unsure about that advise, it is possible that the person who gave it just had chronically bad technique with extractors, causing them to brake off far more often than normal. In a few spots, it seems like it would be difficult to work with a through-bolt/nut.

I've broken a couple of those extractors, sure. If you use them on a very hard bolt then you run that risk. But as you note, simply drilling all the way through an existing bolt isn't easy, so it's not like the other options are way better.

The easiest way is to buy a welder and just weld on a new nut or bolt and remove that. Seriously though, all methods of busted fastener removal involve a compromises. I should know because I had an old Ducati...

[jasnmar]

Agree with #9. Everything is a bit of a compromise.

Drilling through isn't always an option. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

Drilling bigger and re-threading is possible. Often there is a reason someone made the fastener the size that it is... Will everything else be just fine if you make it bigger?

Yes, extractors can break. So can drill bits. If either breaks it becomes a pain to drill after that.

Welding is a great option, but for those without welders is a bit harder... Also various materials require different welding equipment / skills.

Extractors or not, left handed bits are, in my opinion, worth it. Even if you intend to drill through (or if you are just drilling to use the extractor), there's a good chance that as you are drilling you'll actually get the thing out.

[hdscarbro]

For hand tools, I think cabinets with more drawers make organizing and finding things easier. I have this cabinet from Harbor Freight and am happy with it. It has a rubber mat for the top.

Invariably, every horizontal surface (including the floor) where ever I work gets used. I guess I'm suggesting that you might want lots of workbench space. Having a separate bench for a long term project like an engine rebuild makes life easier. Benches on wheels are also very handy. Most of my benches are homemade, but I do have a couple from Grizzly Tools. Their woodworking benches and maple tops/metal leg benches are hard to beat price wise.

I was actually looking at one of these for a work bench for my own garage:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-52-...8#.UkWcroakrCc

[Petorius]

You invest in the $80 harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner yet? That with a dash of simple green in it => carb cleaning nirvana.

Spending $80 to save 30 minutes of work seems foolish. I am fascinated with the concept though, so I ran out and bought one. I dumped in waaaay too much simple green for the first run (nearly 50/50), and it did work amazingly well. After a few passes through, I took out the carbs and rinsed in a bucket of tap water. Then I blew everything out with compressed air.

A day later, the carbs are now covered in a thin white film, almost looks like chalky water spots. Any idea what this is? I'm going to run it back through the cleaner with water only.

[number9]

Spending $80 to save 30 minutes of work seems foolish. I am fascinated with the concept though, so I ran out and bought one. I dumped in waaaay too much simple green for the first run (nearly 50/50), and it did work amazingly well. After a few passes through, I took out the carbs and rinsed in a bucket of tap water. Then I blew everything out with compressed air.

A day later, the carbs are now covered in a thin white film, almost looks like chalky water spots. Any idea what this is? I'm going to run it back through the cleaner with water only.

Did you happen to take before & after pics? I'm really interested to see the cleaner work.

[Petorius]

I will have to check my phone, I think I did take a before picture, just of the outside of the carb bodies. It was amazing how gross the water was after a few passes through.

[ZX-12R]

Spending $80 to save 30 minutes of work seems foolish.

That's true only if you intend to use it for one job and throw it out.

[Kurlon]

That white chalk is bare aluminum doing it's 'thing'. It's how aluminum corrodes. The cool part is it's self sealing, so unlike rust that flakes and exposes more metal, aluminum just chalks up and then is preserved in it's own mess. Likely a bit too aggressive with the simple green, but you didn't go so far as to start really etching it sounds like. What I normally do is use just water in the cleaner first before trying cleaners. (Heat + Water + Ultrasound + time can do wonders) When the carb comes out it gets blow dried and then hit with WD-40 and so far I haven't had any issues.

[Petorius]

When the carb comes out it gets blow dried and then hit with WD-40 and so far I haven't had any issues.

WD40 to displace the water? Do you just spray the whole thing down liberally?

[TheIglu]

WD40 stands for Water Displacing formula #40.


Just spray it all down.

[Kurlon]

Hose it down, also nail ports/passages. If you have proper carb cleaner that works too as it leaves behind a similar oil film. Contact or Brake cleaner is no good, it evaporates fully.

[TheIglu]

Contact or Brake cleaner is no good, it evaporates fully.

Plus it always goes down and into a passage and back up and out another directly into my eye. Every fucking time.

[nhbubba]

It seems I take photos of nearly everything. Nearly.

What the camera doesn't show is the carb on the left was plugged. Carb on he right runs like a top.

Don't leave aluminum in the cleaner for too long. 30-ish mins tops.

[Petorius]

I read something about float bowls having solder joints that get wrecked in the ultrasonic cleaner. I dont really know what this means, but I inspected mine for seams in the metal (I would imagine thats what a solder joint is?) and I didn't see any. I am planning to throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner. Thoughts?

[Kurlon]

I've never had an issue. If there IS a hole, you'll notice when the floats, don't.

[number9]

It seems I take photos of nearly everything. Nearly.

What the camera doesn't show is the carb on the left was plugged. Carb on he right runs like a top.

Don't leave aluminum in the cleaner for too long. 30-ish mins tops.

That looks really good! When can I borrow it?

[Tunertype]

I read something about float bowls having solder joints that get wrecked in the ultrasonic cleaner. I dont really know what this means, but I inspected mine for seams in the metal (I would imagine thats what a solder joint is?) and I didn't see any. I am planning to throw them in the ultrasonic cleaner. Thoughts?

I think the metal floats are usually soldered together. Do you have plastic floats? Then they wouldn't be soldered. I think the bowls are just cast usually. I don't know how solder does with an ultra sonic cleaner..

[Petorius]

I made a ghetto carb sync (beer bottles with soda caps RTV'd onto them) and I seem to have it close to dialed in. One thing that is odd, the right cylinder pulls more vacuum at higher rpms. Once it settles back to idle, they are pretty much dead even. I can also see that the right cylinder is pushing something back out the vacuum port (little puffs into the right bottle of my carb sync). Is this a valve issue? Maybe just poor seals around the lines into the bottles?