Who's tired of having to prime the carb?

[grey beard]

I use electric bellows pumps mounted in rubber right next to the tank, with a filter in between the two. Never hear it and never have to crank before it starts. I crank till the oil pressure gauge moves, turn on the switch and go.

[Normspeed]

My electric is mounted on the inside of the frame near the tank. You can hardly hear it before you fire up the motor, and can't hear it at all when it's running. Mine's the little Auto Zone unit. Also has a built in anti backflow valve.

[Reg Evans]

OK...OK...I'll get some. I guess I'm remembering the old style metal ones that bolted to the frame and sound like a metal wood pecker.

[Young Ed]

Reg I don't have one on either of my cars that start after sitting all winter. They both have the modern inline filters with the rubber hose at each end. I'm starting to get more curious to the cause here too. All 3 of my cars have carbs that I rebuilt. Could I have messed the 51s carb up? Maybe I guess.

[Normspeed]

Both my recent B&B rebuilds were having issues with fuel leaking down into the intake as well as around the base, throttle pivot, etc. after the engine was shut off. It made for a warm restart problem (flooding), stained my beautiful aluminum Offy intake, and it stunk. I went back through both of them and I think I have it cured. Two areas I think I was messing up:

One, the check ball under a small brass plug. There are two sizes of check ball in the kits. If you put the smaller one in there it does not seat properly. Likewise, if there's corrosion in the area or on the old ball, it will not seat. Use the larger size ball from the kit. The smaller one goes under a spring clip below the accelerator pump and it's best to leave it alone, the clip is a pain to R&R without scratching up the pump bore.

Two, (more likely the problem), is the step-up needle assembly. There is a tiny black rubber washer (not a stiff washer) in the kit. It seats down in the bore where the brass piston resides. Need to take out the old one (if it's even there) and carefully work the new rubber one down in there with a tiny screwdriver or a toothpick until it seats flat on the little ledge. Then there is a brass needle that rides up and down in the step-up jet. On my rear carb, the tapered tip of it was clearly worn so it was no longer an even taper. I searched through my B&B used carb parts and found a good one, and used it. You also need to read the instructions about making sure the needle linkage has room so the needle can fully drop, cutting off fuel in the jet. I also polished the brass piston and the bore and the needle with a 3M pad.

Last, I was doubtful on this but a friend convinced me to try a thin coating of RTV blue silicone on that pesky top flange gasket. I thought the fuel would just melt it but I tried it, let it cure overnight before running the motor, and I think I've really got two non-leaky carbs now.

Oh, and the kits NAPA sells (NAPAonline.com) seem to be good quality and readily available.

[bob_amos]

Well, I went out and filled the carb last night and returned to have a second look today. There are 2 lead plugs on the underside of my carb and one of them was leaking fuel. There is a large wet area on the intake manifold. This was clean and dry last night when I slammed the hood. Not so now.. So, one leak point might be right there if you can see fuel tracks on the manifold. At the shop today, I opened a carb that I have sitting around and had a look inside. All of the other places we have been chatting about here are there and certainly would be suspect on any B&B carb. So.. that said, I will be removing the carb Saturday, putting the carb, temporarily, out of my 54 wagon on the 53 and do an intensive rebuild of the original 53 unit. I am fortunate to have a Carter service kit with the lead plugs and a number of other items lying around the shop some place from the OLD DAYZ.

[Don Coatney]

Good point Bob;

Go to the next step and bench test the carb you rebuild on the bench with gasoline overnight before you install it on the car.

[Reg Evans]

Hey...this is starting to remind me of "Mythbusters" I think I'll try a little experiment to see how long a float bowl of gas will take to evaporate from a NOS B & B float bowl if the top is left just sitting loosely on top to simulate a warped top.

Let's see....I'll run the engine up to operating temperature,shut it down and then loosen the top and then check it in a week and note the results.

Then with the same NOS carb. I'll try the test again with the top tightened down.

[BobT-47P15]

Wellll......I did notice recently that when we tightened the screws that join the top to the carbureator, the car did commence to start better. May be something to that air leakage stuff. Mine evidently drains also when left to sit for several days or more. Tightening the halves and using the choke have helped.