Leaky Holley 885

[Marv 49]

Grandpa years ago had tried to fix the leaking fuel line fitting that goes into the carburetor with JB weld. This slowed it down but never stopped the leak. He always kept a baby food jar under it that he dumped each time he drove the car. When I got the car, I founded a “self tapping” fitting that I screwed into the bottom of the carburetor. I had much better results, until now. It started leaking a while ago so with light pressure I tried to tighten and it went from tight to loose. There is very little threads left now and looking for solutions. I read on another post where someone used Devon Metal patch around the threads. I know these carbs are a little bit of a pain and hard to come by. Does anyone have some ideas? Also, does anyone know what the original thread and pitch was of the fitting that is supposed to go in it? Thanks

[rotorwrench]

I have mid century Mercury cars and I've had several carbs that had heavy handed treatment. They are susceptible to warping and folks would try to fix it by applying more torque. Eventually, they just will not seal. I purchase 885 carbs just for parts but some are just as bad. I eventually find one that is good though. Most folks can't give those carbs away to I've never paid much for one yet. I look at the condition of the screws when looking. If all the screws are in good condition then there is a chance that it may still be usable.

Ford trucks, Mercury cars and Lincoln cars used them. I thing international trucks used them as well but trucks generally only have a mechanical choke cable set up. If you change to another type like the Rochester 2G or 2GC then the distributor should be changed as well.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Marv 49

Grandpa years ago had tried to fix the leaking fuel line fitting that goes into the carburetor with JB weld. This slowed it down but never stopped the leak. He always kept a baby food jar under it that he dumped each time he drove the car. When I got the car, I founded a “self tapping” fitting that I screwed into the bottom of the carburetor. I had much better results, until now. It started leaking a while ago so with light pressure I tried to tighten and it went from tight to loose. There is very little threads left now and looking for solutions. I read on another post where someone used Devon Metal patch around the threads. I know these carbs are a little bit of a pain and hard to come by. Does anyone have some ideas? Also, does anyone know what the original thread and pitch was of the fitting that is supposed to go in it? Thanks

[38 coupe]

If you look closely you will notice the threaded portion of the bore is just the bottom. A friend of mine with a 53 Mercury tapped the hole much further into the carburetor, and turned a new brass fitting on a friend's lathe to go into the carburetor. The bottom of the new fitting sticks out long enough that it was drilled into from the side and tapped for pipe threads. A pipe to flare adapter then allowed a traditional fuel line to be made up.

[scicala]

If it were mine, I would look for a core carb on EBAY for the same model year, and use the bowl from it. I see them quite often and usually very affordable.

Sal

[tubman]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I'm glad to see that Sal (above) checked in. To those who don't know, he is the resident expert on these carbs and can work wonders with them.

It would be worth your while to get in touch with him.

[scicala]

Originally Posted by tubman

I'm glad to see that Sal (above) checked in. To those who don't know, he is the resident expert on these carbs and can work wonders with them.

It would be worth your while to get in touch with him.

Thank you tubman

Sal

[Marv 49]

So luckily I found another carburetor that grandpa had. This one is a little different. Where the fuel line threads in, it looks like it’s possibly a flared fitting thread. However, I can’t find a fitting that threads into it. Does anyone know what the original thread size and pitch is? Hopefully you can kind of see from the picture I took.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Marv 49

So luckily I found another carburetor that grandpa had. This one is a little different. Where the fuel line threads in, it looks like it’s possibly a flared fitting thread. However, I can’t find a fitting that threads into it. Does anyone know what the original thread size and pitch is? Hopefully you can kind of see from the picture I took.