Carb rebuild

[BarryK]

Hi all

one of my winter projects is to send out my intake, exhaust manifolds and valve covers to Jerry Macneish for reskinning so they look good.
At the same time I was going to also send him my stock original Holley carb for rebuilding so it looks just as good cosmetically. The carb seems to be working just fine and it was internally rebuilt last summer with all new gaskets, etc but I just want it done with the other pieces so it looks as good and new afterwards as ther other pieces I send out will come back looking.
For the carb rebuild is Jerry MacNeish my best place to send the carb to for this or am I better sending it out to Holley or somewhere else?
Jerry's price on the carb rebuilding is $295 - would this be high or about average for the service compared to elsewhere?

I'm not sending anything out for about another 6-8 weeks yet but I'm trying to get my list and planning done now.

Thanks!

 

[JL66REDCPE]

Custom Rebuilt Carburetors; 200A Wood Ave; Middlesex, NJ 08846; 732-356-4333; Owner Phillip Cancilla; www.customrebuiltscarbs.com

 

[BarryK]

thanks John!

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,

If it was just rebuilt last summer and it was in the garage from September until just recently why would you want to rebuild it again? After you pull it off to send your manifold off just spray that sucker good with some carbeurator cleaner and it shold look just fine. For that matter, how much of the carb do you see once the air cleaner is on anyway?

 

[BarryK]

Terry, the "rebuild" last summer wasn't much of one - just a basic cleaning and he supposeably changed a few gaskets but this was also one of the mechanics last year that thought plugging my vacuum line was a proper way to adjust the timing issues on the car by permantly installing a small ball bearing in the line.
I had the car to him for a "tune-up" and it left the shop barely running and when I returned it to him to fix what he massively screwed up I than again got the car back and it was even worst than the first time so I have no confidence on anything he touched including his so-called carb rebuild.
Besides, the carb seems fine on some days and on other days it runs like crap. sometimes will idle fine, other times it won't, sometimes it runs smooth other times it doesn't. Sometimes it revs great other times as soon as i hit the gas it starts backfiring and on top of all that the choke has decided to only work intermittently now.
That's why I think it needs to get rebuilt again - this time PROPERLY.

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,


Pardon my confusion but at the top of this thread you wrote: "The carb seems to be working just fine and it was internally rebuilt last summer with all new gaskets, etc but I just want it done with the other pieces so it looks as good and new afterwards as ther other pieces I send out will come back looking."

By the time you responded to my suggestion the condition of your carb sure did change! This doesn't sound like you are describing the same carb:

"Besides, the carb seems fine on some days and on other days it runs like crap. sometimes will idle fine, other times it won't, sometimes it runs smooth other times it doesn't. Sometimes it revs great other times as soon as i hit the gas it starts backfiring and on top of all that the choke has decided to only work intermittently now.
That's why I think it needs to get rebuilt again - this time PROPERLY."

Did you buy another Vette? :confused

 

[BarryK]

Terry
True, sorry for the confusion. Yes, Most of the time it is working fine overall and I can kinda live with it but it's not really right and it does give me fits at other times (the day of the parade was one of the times it was giving me fits).
In my first post my question was the best place to restore it and I was referring to a cosmetic restoration but knowing that to do that it has to be completely disassembled and it completely rebuilt anyway so I didn't think it was overly important to get into all the flaky details of this thing at times as it didn't seem completely relevent for my original question as I was more concerned about a good place that can do it that included a cosmetic restoration.
Most days it's fine but other days I do want to rip the d*mn thing out and toss it in the trash!
I guess my one time of trying to edit myself and trying to keep my posts from becoming a novel in length ended up backfiring on me...........

 

[coves4me]

Barry, don't get too mad at the carb even if it is a Holley. The key to making a Holley run and run well is to clean it thoroughly, make all of the required adjustments, and assemble it properly. They are really not hard to rebuild. There are many publications being produced that address everything you ever wanted to know about the carbs. Most are Peterson publications or SA Design reprints. I have rebuilt hundreds of Holleys over the years, and I always make sure that they are spotless before rebuilding, especially the air bleeds and metering block passages. I always soak the major pieces of the carburetor in a 5-gallon bucket of Berryman's carb cleaner and then spray the parts with brake cleaner followed by compressed air through all of the orifices.

Unless you are looking for show quality, I would attempt rebuilding the carb yourself and learn why sometimes it runs well and othertimes it won't. Most of these types of problems can be attributed to gas quality and varnish build-up in the critical passages of the carburetor.

I prefer the design and operation of the Carter AFB and Edelbrock carbs as they are much simpler in operation and have fewer castings. Set 'em and forget'em!!! However, for drag racing, it's hard to beat a Holley for adjustability.

Good luck with your winter projects. We have winter in Texas, also. It just doesn't get below 70 degrees most of the time. Brrrrrrrr.......time to turn the air conditioning off!!

Good Luck.

 

[BarryK]

hi coves

yes, i started thinking this morning about possibly buying a book and attempting it myself. I did clean and rebuild the carbs on my motorcyles myself in the past.

Originally i wanted to send it out for a show quality restoration so it looked really good but not sure I want to now that I remembered that the carb is one of the few non-original parts i have under the hood so why spend $300 to restore an incorrectly dated item and one that I've been reminded that is mostly unseen anyway unless remove the air cleaner assembly that I don't do unless i'm working on the car. Seems a waste of money that I can put elsewhere.

i'll either send it out for a basic rebuild (not a show restoration) or maybe attempt it myself as a learning experience. Afterall, I do have most of the winter to get it correct........

 

[coves4me]

Barry, you should attempt to rebuild it yourself. It would be a good learning experience. However, before doing this read up on some actual rebuilds in some of the books out there that deal with Holley rebuilds. Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com will have plenty to read.

The best tool you can have is a digital camera so that pics can be taken as you disassemble the carb. This leaves your mind free and clear for other more important things like anniversaries, birthdays, taking out the trash etc. Also, invest in some cans of aerosol brake cleaner and Berryman's carb cleaner. The brake cleaner is recommended as it does not leave a film or any residue when it dries.

Also, take your time. I don't know how many times my father banged that phrase into my head, but after several hundred replays of that, it finally took. (I'm a slow learner). I also like to have some ziplock lunch bags handy to store parts in that are small and need to be re-used.

As for parts, I like the Mr. Gasket float bowl screw seal rings rather than the Holley provided paper ones. They seal well and are easy to remove in the future. Also, I use petroleum jelly on all round rubber o-ring gaskets that are to be used. And lastly, don't overtighten any screws during the rebuild!!! The carb is made of pot metal (read, cheap) and the screw holes will strip out if too much torque is applied to screws. You want everything snug and tight, but not too tight.

If your carb is a 4160-style (no secondary metering block) the clutch head screws that are used on the secondary metering plate can be removed with a small head screwdriver. BUT......be careful with the thin punched plate that will be compressed on the back side of the metering plate. It will bend and cause you problems if you try to pry it loose. The best thing to do is soak it for a week in carb cleaner and use a thin kife or blade to g-e-n-t-l-y pry it away. Remember that phrase my dad kept saying to me? This is one of those times it should be remembered.

Anyway, good luck!! If you have a hard time locating books or reference material, let me know as I can copy some pages and send them to you.

 

[BarryK]

geez, now you are making me nervous to attempt this. maybe I should buy a cheapo replacement of the same model off ebuy and try that one first to learn on before trying on the one off my car!

 

[Subfixer]

Barry, add it to the list for my visit. I'll walk you through it.

For rebuild kits, I have found none better than the Holley kits. Other than the fuel bowl screw paper gaskets, the rest are top quality and correct.

 

[Geek's 65]

Barry,

Listen to your buds. Try it. What's the worst that can happen? You can just send it out and the only experience you get is writting the check. You can try it, have a problem and wind up sending it out to be rebuilt. But you have the experience. It's not that hard and now you have a wingman when you do it so it's even better. You think it felt good to time the beast? Wait till you feed her.
Geek

 

[BarryK]

Paul

you sure you really want me to ADD to the list for when you are here??

 

[BarryK]

Geek

that's true. it would be nice to know i did it myself (or at least with some help from Paul if I need it).
and if I really screw up at least I could still gather all the parts up and send it out for rebuilding to have one of the Pro's save my butt.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Barry,

The most respected Holley guy in NCRS and other Chevy restoration circles is Bob Kunz. If you want the carb to look and run just like it did the day it was first put on your car new then he is your man. It will be NCRS perfect and he runs the carb and adjusts it on a test engine before returning it to you. I learned of him from JohnZ who has used him several times in the past. My Holley for my truck project will be going to him for a street rebuild before I attempt to start the new engine to run in the cam. I want to be absolutely sure that everything is going to run right when I first fire that beast.

He's in St. Louis (314) 845-2566

Tom

 

[BarryK]

Thanks Tom!
I'll keep that info in case I need it. I'm really considering trying the rebuild myself but if i decide not to or screw it up and need someone to bail me out after I have it into 50 pieces

 

[coves4me]

Barry, sorry, I wasn't tryin' to scare you. I just didn't want you to scare yourself by not tryin'. Take it apart and use the digital camera as assemblies are separated. You'll be amazed at how simple everything is.

I am sure that most of us on CAC and the Corvetteforum learned the hard way by making mistakes. God knows I've made my share!! So don't worry about tackling this job. It's a piece of cake compared to a Rochester Quadrajet 4-BBL.

Good Luck....I know you will do well!!

 

[BarryK]

Coves

me and making mistakes are no strangers...........

 

[paul67]

Barry,
The gentleman in Colorado did mine but I'm all for encouraging you to give it a try. We pulled the rad on my former 1979 (it gave up after 26 years) yesterday and it is a formidable looking job that I had never done before. But labour here runs $85-95/hour, even if you can find someone willing to consider a job on a Corvette.

Turns out it was a tedious but pretty straightforward job. The automatic transmission steel/rubber cooler lines with clamps are very difficult to get at as there is so little room to move your hands and tools. But we took our time and all was well after five hours. I would imagine the flat rate on that job is about five hours so we saved several hundred dollars. And we had fun. The mistakes were made on the old rad coming out so no real harm was done. The new GM unit went in with no fin damage. Blood loss was minimal.

So have at that Holley!