Carb bowl gasket seeping

[Mark D]

Last couple of cruises I've noticed that I could smell gas inside the cabin of the car. Today I spent the day in the garage detailing and noticed that the bowl gasket is wicking gasoline from the bowl. I rebuilt the carb last year with a kit from Roberts. I've tightened the cap screws as tight as I dare without stripping threads or breaking the casting. Anyone else ever expirienced this? Wondering if I should go for another carb rebuild....

[Niel Hoback]

Check the float level to make sure its not too high. Take the top off and put it on a known flat surface to make sure its perfectly flat. If not, rub it around on a sheet of fine sandpaper to level it out. Coat the gasket with silicon sealer and let it harden so it becomes solid and the gas can't seep through it. Or, just clean off the carb once in a while.

[greg g]

Yep I'd lower the float a bit. Also some fine sandpaper on an old piece of window glass will true up the carb top in a few swipes.

[JBNeal]

here's some examples of something that might help fill in the gaps

[Mark D]

Thanks for the suggestions gents, I'll give these a try.

[randroid]

Ruby,

Have you considered a bee's wax seal? It was mentioned in an earlier post.

-Randy

[Mark D]

Randy - I'll give that a search. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Darbone85737]

Tightening the screws as much as you seem to have is how those parts get warped. I would also suggest taking it apart and using a piece of emery cloth on a glass table top (or similar) to restore the mating surfaces. Use a new gasket and try go a bit easier with the tightening.

[ggdad1951]

Young Ed came over Saturday to help me with this exact issue on my truck. We did adjust the float a bit "low", maybe 1/64 down, but it still leaked at first cold start, once running, no issues. I plan on pulling the head of the carb and doing the sand on glass to see if that helps (how does one dress the carb body since it's not flat?), but I was wondering about the permatex concept. Because yes, I'm not confortable tightening the screws much beyond what it is right now.

[Niel Hoback]

I think that I would work on coating the gasket, including the edges with something that would keep the gas from being absorbed and weeping thru the material itself. Possibly coating the entire gasket, top, bottom, and edges with a silicon sealer like RTV and let it harden good before installing it. If you have a carb rebuild kit, there may be gaskets of different materials you could try. I tried using two gaskets stacked and it made the leak worse. Good luck, and please let us know if you find a cure.

[Don Coatney]

I have the same issues but I dont get the gas smell.

[Cpt.Fred]

i tried a lot on my carbs, and they're quite clean now, but i never got them completely dry. now i just wipe them clean once in a while.

i think the most important thing is they don't flood and drip gasoline all over the hot stuff below,

a little sweating doesn't really hurt anyone, does it.

[ggdad1951]

well several sheets of 600 grit later and obviously some warp on the top of the carb it now looks like the picture below. Here's hoping that solves the weeping during cold start ups. It was obviously warped and several small "channels" are now gone.

[Cpt.Fred]

looks smooth! good luck!

[ggdad1951]

FEF got ran today and after decking the top NO LEAKS!

http://s1178.photobucket.com/albums/x365/ggdad1951/?action=view&current=video-2012-05-27-11-51-21.mp4

[Mark D]

Nice work. My carb is still seeping, but only due to the fact that I don't have much spare time at the moment. Good to know this solved the problem. I'll likely tackle this in August when the honey do list is shorter and we're back from our trip to Finland. Will post results then.