Need help with carburator overhaul
 

I live near Wenatchee in North Central WA. My carb needs an overhaul.
The previous owner gave me a carb rebuild kit when I purchased the car and I have The Model A Mechanics handbook. What I do not have is a real sense of confidence.

I would appreciate any suggestions, ideas, and/or reccommendations for finding a source of assistance.

Thanks all

Burt

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

The standard Zenith carburetor is not hard to rebuild. Get a couple cans of good carburetor cleaner. Spray off the outside before disassembly. Dry with compressed air. If you have a digital camera, take photos as you disassemble the carb. Lay each piece out on clean white paper towels, as you remove them. Draw pictures if needed. Clean the inside of the carb, and blow all the passages out with compressed air. Keep everything as clean as you possibly can. After cleaning, reassemble in reverse order. Be very careful with the brass parts, they can be rounded off or stripped very easily. I guess if I could stress one word, it would be, CLEAN.

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

There are some very helpful websites and downloads available on this topic. Here's a good tutorial by Tom Endy that you can download. Go to: http://www.ocmafc.org/Tom%20Endy's%20Technical%20Articles.htm and scroll down to nearly the end of the list of Tom's tech articles and click on "Zenith Carburetor Overhaul". There's also a book you can buy from the parts emporiums called Zenith Model "A" Carburetor Restoration Guidelines by Steve Pargeter. HTH

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

Go for it.
I did.... so you can too !!

Do as the others said.
Dont drill nothing !!!
Just demount and clean and use parts out of the rebuild kit.
Use a paper clip to clean passages

Have fun
Christoph

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

It really is not that hard to do, and you will find when your done a great sense of accomplishment. And if you find you can't do it you can send it to Brattons and they will do it for you. But try it your self first.

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

If you have access to a glass bead blaster that is one of the best ways to get it very clean. If you can not get some of the parts off,use a oxy acty torch to heat the area red-hot and dunk into water, do not twist the parts off by using too much force. Search my past posts for more info. Download, print and read the Tom Endy document and follow it. One small change to his document is I have found that a gas welder tip cleaner set works better than a paper clip.

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

I can attest to the quality of the ones returned from Bert's in Denver.

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

Here is a work sheet if you want to do it yourself;

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

I do my own carbs. I would recommend checking the jets close. If the jets are the numbered originals, I would reuse them. The jets in many of the kits that i've seen are junk that have not been flow tested. I usually , in such cases, just use the gaskets and needle valve assembly. Christoph makes a very good point, DONT DRILL NOTHING!!! If you break off a drill bit in the housing , tring to drill out a passage plug, your carburetor becomes a decorator or conversation piece and yes i've done it. I disassemble and use a 1/16th gas welding rod to probe and clean the passages. I use a small torch tip cleaner to clean the idle passage, just above the throttle butterfly in the upper housing. The throttle shaft will usually be worn and loose, and isn't included in the kit. Standard and oversize shafts and bushings for the upper housing are available but will require drilling the upper housing. If you look closely at your old throttle shaft, you can see the wear area. I have found that the easiest fix is to build up the worn spot with rosin core solder and file and test for a good fit. An electric soldering gun works good on the throttle shaft and saves. Pay close attention to the float setting. If the float is set too low, it will cause the engine to stall when the brakes are applied . The float setting is 5/8s from the gasket surface of the upper housing to the joining seam in the float. I usually set the float by eye. Float level can be set by adding or subtracting gaskets, under the needle valve assembly. Some venders offer an assortment of needle seat gaskets for this purpose. Make sure that only one washer gasket is used with the main jet and that there are no old washer gaskets remaining in the lower housing. If too many jet gaskets remain under the main jet it will effect jet height and will cause a drip out the choke end or just under the choke end of the carb. The best Video on Zenith model A carbs that I've seen is titled Carburetors and carbohydrates and is sold by many model A parts vendors. You can become a Zenith expert by watching Fred Carlton rebuild a rusty zenith in this video. Good luck.

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

Thanks all,

You have been a real help to me and I am going to give it a whirl.

Thanks again

Burt

Re: Need help with carburator overhaul
 

I go to the "CARB GUY" and his name is Richard Hansen. He lives in Kenosha WI. He rebuilds Zenith carbs and I highly recommend him as he is set up to do a show quality perfect job. I hate to tell all of you because now I will have to get in line to get my carbs done. All kidding aside he is one of the best! His PH: 262-552-7636
You will not regret getting to know him.....Ken