So i decide to help the gal down the street who sees me working on my stuff all time. She has a 60 comet - cool little car 170 straight six. " My carburetor leaks a lot of gas" she says. I tell her if she pulls it off and gets a kit i'll rebuild it for her. She does. I do. I put it on for her she fires it up purrs like a kitten no need to pump the pedal. Then it leaks a lot of gas. It's as it the bowl is overflowing and the plunger on the top of the bowl as well as the overflow hole are letting it all out. I set the float to 9/32 nds like the nice little instruction manual says. Why am I getting so much gas? Stock 170 motor mechanical fuel pump. carburetor is a 1904 or 1908 or 1960 model. Any help or ideas is appreciated
Is the stock filter unit still in use ? With mine bypassing the filter allowed even the worn stock pump to overrun the carb.
The old check it first DIRT etc on the needle/seat !! Many times connecting/dis-connecting fuel lines will dislodge a tiny piece of dirt/whatever and that's all it takes. Loose that glass filter they are worthless ,put in a good inline filer. I prefer 2 one before the pump and one after.
Sometimes if you unhook the fuel to the pump and run the carb dry. Then reattach the hose the rush of gas will wash anything that may be keeping the needle from seating. It sure sounds like something is keeping it from seating.
I'm not going to say that is your problem but you might want to check it out. My original canister filter leaked, I needed to drive the car and I swapped in an inline aftermarket one quick but I started getting a similar problem. I then swapped that with a more restrictive paper element filter and the problem went away. Mine might have been the result of or related to other issues with the carb itself but as is it's been fine since .
I'm for sure getting too much fuel so either the needle isn't seating and therefore requesting more fuel or there's just too much fuel coming and its overpowering the needle. Any ides on the most restrictive filter without making her buy a regulator - which might be a good idea too - and I'll take the bowl back off and check for needle movement and junk in the seat
My buddy's 48 F1 with the flat six had that problem and he had the carb rebuilt like 3 times, told him I would take a peek at it. Put the kit in, did the "shake test" for the brass float, didnt hear anything at all, put it back together, same thing, gas running out the top of the carb. Pulled the top off, shake the float again, still nothing, readjusted it lower, still gas out the top. He put a fuel pressure regulator in it, would still do it no matter how low it was set. We finally ended up replacing the float and it quit, first time I'd not been able to hear anything sloshing but still be a bad float.
I think I may just swap the float out too then. She has a couple extra parts carburetors I can take one from...
Very easy to TEST a brass float. Submerge it in hot water. If there is a leak, it will blow a stream of bubbles. Jon.
What happens with the float is that it leaked in the past and now has fuel deposits in it making it "heavy" and they will not make noise when shaken. Ran into the same problem 40 years ago with the glass Holley's. A friend let me use his scale to compare new and old float weights...
Good luck Will. I had the same problem with my 94s finally found a place that sold NOS floats, fixed them right up.
Ok kids... need a bit o help again. I took the bowl back off replaced the float with a new one available from some parts carburetors she had, re-adjusted the float level to bottom the needle out in the seat a bit earlier to help with the overflow problem, bolted it back on , purred like a kitten for 15 - 20 seconds then puked out the overflow hole above the bowl. Any other suggestions ???
What makes you think an old float from a dusty parts carb is any better than the one you removed? Go get a NEW float, an OE filter for between the pump and carb and a small pressure regulator.
Fair enough point about the "new" float ... i uswd it because it weighed less. But the overflow problem happened with the oe. Filter and now after 50 years I need to add a regulator? Really?
Had a very similar experience with a Holley 1-barrel that kept flooding. Rebuilt carb twice, had it ultrasonic cleaned, replaced fuel lines, filter, pump....the whole nine. I was using one of those in-line glass filters with the little tube style screen in it. I eventually replaced it with a larger, in-line filter with a paper element and the problem went away. Again, I'm not sure if this is your problem or not, but it sounded very familiar to my experience.
Also, a few guys on a different forum were having a similar problem. It was crappy needles and seats right out of the rebuild box. Put the old ones back in and problem solved.
sure you could need a regulator now! Who's to say the pump has the same output pressure as the OE, or that there wasn't a bypass eliminated with the OE filter, or.... you know what I mean? Factor in crappy needle and seats in cheapo kits, blah, blah, blah...
I agree with the needle and seat problem. Many aftermarket kits have the wrong seats in them. You will find the seat to be too short in some cases. I always go back to the old seat and use the new needle. Of course this is the problem you were having before you got the vehicle. You may need to take it in to your parts store (NOT autozone - find a parts store that supplies mechanics and shops with parts) There is an International truck site with a lot of good Holley troubleshooting info on it. ( ihonlynorth.com ) There is a guy on there (Robert Kenney) who specializes on old Holley carbs. He has several detailed articles on these carbs. The float could be dragging on the side of the carb or the needle and seat are getting pinched when assembling the carb causing the carb to flood.
i had a simular problem with a '55 pickup, the kit contained a gasket for the metering plate that had one hole that was different. turned out i had the one holley carb that used the "special" gasket. i rebuilt a different carb and it solved the problem.
1960 Comet should only come with a 144 cu in motor. Unless someone put in a 170 later on. I'm not sure if carb parts are same for 144 and 170. If not you might double check what motor she has in it.
The kits usually have enough parts to cover a range of carbs . As to the "will a 144 carb run a 170" - Yep ; that's how I set up my Falcon and it runs all over the place . You might see if you can find just the needle and seat . Take a look at this different one - http://www.daytonaparts.com/daytona-carburetor-float-valve.html .
Sounds like the gasket between the float bowl and the needle and seat and float holder may be damaged or missing or the screw loose.