Good evening all,
I'm new to the forum, and to flathead Mopars as well. I recently picked up a '54 Savoy sedan as a project, and I'm currently having issues with the Carter BBS 920S carb. The issue is that the gasket between the upper half of the carb that has the "climatic" choke and the lower half with the fuel bowl seeps fuel during and after driving. It's a paper-type gasket and it's visibly wet after driving the car around, and the interior smells strongly of fuel because of this. I've pulled the carb apart and verified that the gasket is the correct one, and ensured that all of the screws are tight between the two halves but it still leaks fuel. The carb was rebuilt by a shop in October of last year for the previous owner, and the shop had originally stuck two of the same gaskets between the halves which makes me think they thought this would solve the leak.
A few other things I've noticed about the carb are that it's missing the step-up rod, that the purple/pink gasket at the end of the accelerator pump looks worn and is exposing the springs behind it, and that the car's exhaust pops a good bit during deceleration or when I rev it up in neutral. Makes me think this gasket leak is causing a lean issue? I'll post a photo of the gasket below for reference. Any help will be greatly appreciated, and any tips on what carbs would be a good direct-replacement for this would be appreciated as well. Thanks for reading!