Reputable and Affordable Carb Rebuild Kit

[Bingster]

I was looking at some carb rebuild kits at Mike's online and they were pretty hefty.  When you rebuild a carb, which new parts need to be replaced and which ones can be put back in?

[Dodgeb4ya]

You can buy the correct carb kit same as you get elsewhere....

It's the Carter B&B carb kit from O'Reilly's or RockAuto etc for $45.00 or less.

I recently bought two kits from O'Reilly's for $78.67 incl. Tax

That's where I buy them.

Walker #15021B

Edited March 21, 2023 by Dodgeb4ya

[D35 Torpedo]

I purchased mine from Napa

[Saskwatch]

1 hour ago, D35 Torpedo said:

I purchased mine from Napa

Would you have the part number?

[Dodgeb4ya]

NAPA #CRB 25066A

Might be costly.

[harmony]

That's a good question.  I'd say it depends on how bad the replaceable parts are in, once you take them out and inspect them.  Those carb kits are hugely expensive and most of the pieces you never use since they fit a few different models.

My car has the Carter B&B EV1.  I have 3 of those carbs and I bought one complete rebuilt kit. I was shocked at the landed price of that kit.  So for the other two carbs, for most of the gaskets, I reproduced myself.  The only part I really couldn't revive was the accelerator pump and the dashpot pump, on one of the spare carbs.  If you get lucky, sometimes the leather on those pumps will come back to life after soaking them in a fine oil.  I used sewing machine oil.  As for the tiny flat redish/orange washers under some of the jets, etc.  Those are pretty tricky to reproduce with a punch, but here in Canada we have Princess Auto, which I believe is similar to Harbour freight for some stuff.  You can buy a variety pack of tiny similar washers for under $10.  They work fine.

I was missing one of the tiny steel balls in one of my carbs.  It is 5/64" diameter.  Mike's Carb, wanted about $20 for that ball once it landed with all the taxes and shipping.  I went to a local bicycle shop and they had a drawer full of them.  The guy at the counter asked how many I wanted.  I said I might as well get a few while I'm here, incase I drop one.  NO CHARGE!!

 

So I suggest you improvise, be creative, and shop around. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by harmony

[D35 Torpedo]

I paid about 50 Canadian 

[keithb7]

I like The Carb Doctor. I’ve bought a couple carb kits there. No issues. 
 

My advice is, if you are going to attempt to rebuild a carb, you should acquire an ultrasonic cleaner. They work amazing. 

[rallyace]

Carb Doctor  https://carbkitsource.com/kits/ck0002.html

[Saskwatch]

1 hour ago, keithb7 said:

I like The Carb Doctor. I’ve bought a couple carb kits there. No issues. 
 

My advice is, if you are going to attempt to rebuild a carb, you should acquire an ultrasonic cleaner. They work amazing. 

  What solution do you prefer to use in your ultra sonic cleaner , please ?

[Booger]

Simply green? an organic clearer. some one back check me

[Dodgeb4ya]

Oil Eater works great.

[harmony]

I can't justify paying for an ultra sonic cleaner, big enough to hold a carb body, that will sit collecting dust most of it's life.  So I soak my parts.  I've tried Simple Green and Pine Sol.  They do an ok job.  But I found that they both leave a film on the parts that's really hard to get out of all the tiny corners after words using carb or brake cleaner.  They both take a lot of scrubbing after soaking.  Granted an Ultra Sonic cleaner might produce new looking parts after cleaning. 

 

The best solution I've found is 4 parts water to one part muriatic acid.  I check it about every 30 minutes or so.  Within about one minute it's bubbling and forming a scum of dirt and srud on the top.  So after 30 minutes I pull the parts out, and pour the solution through a fine screen to get rid of most of the crud, then I wash everything with water and then soak the parts again.

 

Wear goggles and gloves and when mixing, and always add the muriatic acid to the water, slowly.  Not the other way around.  I had a broken carb body part, so I left it in the solution overnight, and it looked fine the next morning.  But I'd still recommend checking the parts every 30 minutes or so.  Why through caution to the wind with hard to find old carb parts.

[desoto1939]

I prefer the old carter carburetor original rebuild kits becasue they contain allof the small brass internal parts. Yes these do not wear out that often but replacing all of the parts is what i prefer to do. I have been collecting kits for 35 years and also onthe carter kits it list of of the carter numbers for the parts. Also I have found that the majority of the kits for your brand carb contain some of the same internal parts. So get an original kit and then photocopy the label and then the next time you go to a swap meet look at kits around the same year as your car you might get a kit with the same numbers very cheaply and then start to build your own second kit as a spare.  I have done this many times and have gotten some very cheap in cost to me replacement parts.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[James_Douglas]

I have been using kits from Jon at The Carburetor Shop for decades. His kits cost more, but are complete and for the car part number you have.

He also is one of the few people that has "hard parts" should you need them like throttle valve shafts, emulsion tubes, and the like.

 

His two drawbacks are he is not inexpensive and he will not sell hard parts unless you also buy a rebuild kit.

 

That said he quality is second to none I have found and he is a wealth of information.  I have run his BB kits in my 1947 Desoto daily for 22 years. Although the 1947 is offline as a daily driver as the entire car needs some work and the wife wants A/C. So I am working on the 1964 Chrysler 300K (92K original miles) to get it ready for summer.

 

Now one this to keep in mind. You can search back 20 years to see my old posts. OFTEN no matter how well you rebuild a BB the lead in the old gas had the effect of "sandblasting" the internal passages and would eat the emulsion tubes.  If the tubes get pin holes in them the thing will just not idle right no matter what you do. I went through 3 carbs and even after full rebuilds including new throttle shafts and butterflies, but not the tubes, they still did not idle great. Good, but not very good to great.

 

I ran across a NOS carb. I put one of Jon's kits in it for the seals and the plungers and the thing has idled and ran great except for the problem of ethanol on the vacuum piston. See my old posts on that.

 

One can change the emulsion tubes, but it takes a special tool I do not have. Plus one needs the tubes. I think Jon has them.

 

Sometime one get lucky on the BB rebuild and sometimes not.

 

James

 

PS. The BTU power loss due to ethanol cam be made up with a very light increase in the metering jet. You want one with about a 10% increase in flow rate if you can find one.

[DJ194950]

4 hours ago, harmony said:

I can't justify paying for an ultra sonic cleaner, big enough to hold a carb body, that will sit collecting dust most of it's life. 

Use it to clean the wife's  jewelry and collectable silverware/ etc.  ?

 

Good for many favors? Your choice?  Makes the purchase worthwhile . You would also find more uses if you had it.  Different cleaning solutions for the various uses.

 

DJ

[Bingster]

Some great info. Thanks!

[Sniper]

Ultra sonic cleaners work good on many things that go boom as well.  Lot's of uses for an ultrasonic cleaner.  But I got mine as a Christmas gift from my daughter.

[keithb7]

I bought my ultrasonic cleaner based on the plan if I rebuild a carb once it’ll pay for itself. It worked awesome. I did my ‘38 Chrysler carb. Excellent results. Then my lawn mower carb. Its as good as new now too. Then a hydraulic block. Some head bolts. Thermostat housing. On and on. It will get used many times. It’s earned its keep. Now it just keeps saving me money and time. 
 

I have been adding 1 cup of Spray-Nine. Then fill the rest with water. Works great. Mine is the 15L size. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by keithb7