Carb questions

[Junebug]

Forced to spend a little more time with my disassembled carburetor after mangling my idle jet. A few questions. Carb cleaner stripped most of the paint off so I kept stripping. Does it need painted or can I leave it bare? 2: there is a small gap where the fifth bolt was later added to attach the upper lower housing (maybe causing a lean mixture I read). Short of milling it flat will a sealant help? 3: Does there need to be any goop on the gasket in general or does is just go on and get bolted together? Also any sealant or tape for the brass nipples and plugs that don't seem to seat all the way? 4: And lastly, does the idle jet come with the late model carb rebuild kit? I need one of those now and wouldn't mind the other extras. Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to address any or all of these queries..

[Mo]

a few thoughts

Hi Junebug,
Can you take some pics of what you have on the go there.

- paint is not a problem
- typically, nothing added to gaskets
- the gap...have a pic of that? Typically it closes up but if it doesn't it will need sealing. I will leave that one to Dave Neptune because he is the carb guru. If it was me I would put "seal-all" around it after it is all back together and leave it for 24 hrs. It is not affected by gas. I always try and keep sealants off the gaskets because it's so easy to have a blockage in a jet and it will need to be taken apart from time to time. Dave will have ideas for ya though.
- take a pic of the idle jet for us too if you can.

Call Ken at MMI and ask him what comes with the kit...I would imagine it does. If that carb is the old type maybe you should look at getting your hands on the newer one with the 5 bolts.

[robshepherd]

Hi Junebug,

Having just gone through the carb recently, I can tell you that I did not use sealant on the gasket, nor on any other parts. I've had no leaks.

The only "adjustments" I made were to get the float parallel with the carb body, and set the idle adjustment while in forward against the dock lines at low throttle.

Since then, carb has been working like a champ! -Rob

[Dave Neptune]

The Gap

Junebug, been a while. The gap is not a big deal and do not use sealant YET! The halves can be flattened but you only work on the top as it is the one that tweeks. The honing can be done with wet-dry sand paper on a flat surface or by using a flat hone my personal choice. You need to work from the middle out as the middle is the hi-spot.
The gap has very little affect on mix or much of anything, it does allow KRAP to get in though. After a bit of flattening (top half only) the carb can be assembled and run. I do suggest that you run it first to be sure all is well then put a bead of "hi-temp" orange or red Peermatex silicone around the outside of the gap. It will work fine and last a long time. I will post a pic later that I have on my work machine.
The bowl is vented to the inside of the carb (updraft/marine) and the only "balance" is the differance between the air in the throat and the outside air or not much and nothing to worry about!!!
If you are wanting to try the honing go ahead then assemble and test BEFORE sealing.
More later!

Dave Neptune

[Dave Neptune]

Pic

Junebug, hopefully I successfully reduced this pic of the sealed carb. Checked and it is large sorry but this old machine here won't let me manage the size although it does say 620 x 280.

Dave Neptune

[sastanley]

whoa!

the CTRL key and + or - will resize the entire IE window for you to see the picture in nomal size..

I can't remember how to do it Firefox since they unloaded it from my PC here at work.

You'll just have to CTRL + back up again to read the text/buttons & exit the thread.

[Dave Neptune]

Nope

Shawn, I can do it on my lap top but not here. If I hit CNTRL a little "stop hand" pops up. What does IE mean?
Sorry.

Dave Neptune

[JOHN COOKSON]

More Free Advice

Short of milling it flat will a sealant help? 3: Does there need to be any goop on the gasket in general or does is just go on and get bolted together? Also any sealant or tape for the brass nipples and plugs that don't seem to seat all the way?

Be careful with stuff that doesn't seem to fit together properly.
You should not have to use any sealant in the carb. I've been around this mulberry bush before with the main jet and the carb halves fitting together properly. The results were not plesant.
That said Dave N. is the expert. He knows what works and what won't work.

TRUE GRIT

[sastanley]

stupid computers!

Dave, Sorry it doesn't work for you. That was mostly just a general note to everyone on the forum that uses a PC & Internet Explorer (IE ) that you should be able to Zoom the whole thing in & out with the "CTRL" key and the "+" or " - " key.

That is a GREAT picture of your carb though..

[Dave Neptune]

Oh well

Shawn, I'll reduce it tonight and re-post if I remember.

Dave Neptune