Tillotson Carburetor

[WHN]

Originally Posted by JohnB15632

Well, at this point in my restoration, a new $545.00+ Zenith 1 carburetor is out of the question. Thanks

Take your time and enjoy your car. It's a hobby, and when done it's a great fun car.

I just have one recommendation that's coming from an old guy that's been at this for a long time. "Do it right the first time". I do not like to see people trying over and over to make worn out or cheap replacement parts work. In the long run your better of, "Doing it right the first time".

Remember, advise is free and it's easy for me to spend your money. Enjoy.

[JohnB15632]

To WHN,

That is exactly what I am doing. When we tried to start the engine on Saturday, it would not catch. We figured out that we had spark but no fuel. I took the carburetor off and discovered that the inlet gas line connection was plugged. I disassembled the carburetor and and cleaned everything. All passageways were open and flowing freely. I almost reassembled the carburetor wanting to reinstall it and try to turn the engine over.

Well, I remembered what my dad told me, "Never reuse an old tired gasket ever if it looks good". So, I have ordered a rebuild kit. I will rebuild the carburetor, taking my time, and putting it back together carefully and correct per instructions. It will probably take me most of the week, life tends to get in the way sometimes, and try again next week.

I do appreciate your help and advise!!

Thanks,

[JohnB15632]

Guys, I am sorry to do this, but I must admit that I have lost the diagram which shows setting the float in inch from......

Also, from where on the float is the 1 inch measurement taken from.

Again, please accept my apology for misplacing this information. I guess I am getting old.

Thanks,

[Patrick L.]

1" from flange to bottom of float. Carefully adjust tang to get this height.
But, first carefully file/sand away the dimple the needle has worn in the float tang.

[JohnB15632]

To Patrick,

Thank you bunches. I measured mine and the dimension was off. So, thanks to your help I have corrected it.

Thank you for help this old geezer!

[Roadster Rich]

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I used the kit from Berts. The carb had been on the car and not driven for 30 years. It did not leak any gas but I never tried to start the car. Took it apart and did the replacement of all the parts and when I went to put together it was unbelievable how warped the top to bottom was. Even though it was tight before, taking it apart and just a soak in carb cleaner and a month later trying to reassemble was impossible. Huge gap that could not be closed by tightening. Some say this is easy to fix, but I see no way without a precision mill and set up, since parts rise above the joint. Check for warp before spending money on parts.

[JohnB15632]

To Roadster Rick,

My carburetor is a tad uneven or warped, but not nearly out as you described. I have been able to reduce the unevenness or warpage by I bet half already. I have been filing and grinding the surfaces. I am in no hurry to reassemble the carburetor. This is a retirement project. So, I believe that by the time it comes to reassembling the carburetor, I will have the two halves meeting!!!!

In any event, I am going to apply along the gasket, Locktite 515 gasket maker. This come highly recommended by my diesel mechanic son. He told me that this is all that his company uses when it comes to reassembling part.

I must be luckier than you as my carburetor is repairable.

Thank you,

[JohnB15632]

I got in the mail today, Repairing and Restoring the Tillotson Carburetors by David R Hatch. On pages 17 - 19, there instructions on Milling the Bottom Half of Carburetor. I have followed these instructions and filed the bottom half. I almost have no light between the halves when I placed them back together.

With just a little more filing I am sure the two halves will now fit together with no light showing between them.

Success!!!!

[Tacoma Bob]

I have had success with the oven method on two Tillies. Take the two halves and clamp them with an rad hose clamp and bake them in the oven. Don't remember the time .....maybe 20-30 minutes. while still hot tighten a tad more and let cool naturally. Worked pretty well.

[WHN]

Guy's, am I missing something here.

These carbs were cheap replacements when new.

Why all the effort to make a worn out non orginal part work again?

Can someone please explain this to me?

[JohnB15632]

This carburetor is original to the car that I received from the garage of my brother. It has set idle for over 50 years. So, this carburetor is original. It make all of the sense to me to restore any of the original parts that I can.

It also makes sense to me to try to restore an item rather than spend over $545.00 to purchase a replacement carburetor which is not original.

Besides, I now have a full working knowledge of the Tillotson Carburetor. It is one item that I will know how to fix should a fix become necessary on the road.

In addition, it is cool to me to be able to restore the carburetor to work like it did originally.

Thanks,

[1955cj5]

Originally Posted by JohnB15632

This carburetor is original to the car that I received from the garage of my brother. It has set idle for over 50 years. So, this carburetor is original. It make all of the sense to me to restore any of the original parts that I can.

It also makes sense to me to try to restore an item rather than spend over $545.00 to purchase a replacement carburetor which is not original.

Besides, I now have a full working knowledge of the Tillotson Carburetor. It is one item that I will know how to fix should a fix become necessary on the road.

In addition, it is cool to me to be able to restore the carburetor to work like it did originally.

Thanks,

I agree.

I kept and rebuilt the Tillotson because it was on the truck when my dad bought it in 1962.

Works fine.

[Herb Concord Ca]

To answer question in #30, the Tillotson carb is a later improved design over the Zenith.

[Patrick L.]

Originally Posted by JohnB15632

I got in the mail today, Repairing and Restoring the Tillotson Carburetors by David R Hatch. On pages 17 - 19, there instructions on Milling the Bottom Half of Carburetor. I have followed these instructions and filed the bottom half. I almost have no light between the halves when I placed them back together.

With just a little more filing I am sure the two halves will now fit together with no light showing between them.

Success!!!!

I've not had one warped badly enough to have to scrap it. I'm sure they may be out there somewhere though.
I've had good luck filing them or using the oven method.
These are a good carburetor when done correctly.

Zeniths can be found quite cheap, there's lots of them, and are also easily rebuilt.
Marvels seem to be the harder ones to find.

[WHN]

Originally Posted by Herb Concord Ca

To answer question in #30, the Tillotson carb is a later improved design over the Zenith.

The Tillotson was sold by Ford Dealers as replacements after the Zenith was no longer available.

To the best of my knowledge, Tillotson was not and has never been considered to be an improved design over the Zenith which was the Ford production carb used on Model A Fords and other Ford four cylinder "car" engines until production ended.

I fully understand everything being said about keeping things as they were found.

My only question was why someone would want to continue using something as important as a carb that leaked, was warped, etc. I now understand the reasoning behind the need to try and save the old carb. I might have tried the same thing given the family car history.

[JohnB15632]

I have completed the restoration of my Tillotson Carburetor today. Man to the flanges fit tightly together with almost no noticeable light between the two halves. All part are on and reassembled!!!

Tomorrow, I will reinstall the carburetor and the gas line. If all goes well, hopefully in the afternoon, I can try to turn the engine over. First time in over 50 years. This will be a momentous event in the life of my Model A!!

[Marshall V. Daut]

Nice job! It looks great! Be sure to open the GAV at least 1/2 turn to the left, maybe 3/4. Tillotsons are fussy when first starting up and seem to need a little more fuel nixed in than Zeniths at start up.
One question: did the idle air mixture screw on the side and the GAV needle in the rebuild kit fit? These parts in the last few Tillotson carb kits I bought did not fit worth a darn. Both were either too short or the threads would not catch inside the carb. I ended up using the original parts, which fit like a glove. I can't believe I'm the only guy who got stuck with these crap parts.
Marshall

[JohnB15632]

To Marshall,

For me, everything when together as it should. But then, this carburetor, along with the engine has not run since 1961. So, this carburetor was not badly out of shape. That being said, I still chose to restore with all new parts where I could. For me, all of the parts fit as I expected. I guess I was extremely fortunate.

Thanks,