Easy Brass float repair

So my 60 Lincoln has a sick carb. Turns out one of the problems was one half of the float had a pinhole leak.

And we know what that means.

Sooo... Dipping the float in hot water didnt produce any bubbles that I could see so I got an idea. Basically, I put the float on the oven at 275F for oh about 10 minutes.

See that little brown spot? That's the pinhole! And it wasn't on a seam like I thought it would be. As the gasoline in it heated up it left residue on the outside of the float. Guy I work with who has a bunch of bikes taught me this.

A tiny dab of Seal-All and she'll be right as rain.

 

A little dab of solder would be much better than Seal-All.

 

The trouble with either repair is that you have made the float a litte heavier than what it should be. That doesn't do the fuel level in the float bowl ant good.

 

uh thats why they are adjustable.

 

being heavier or not suddent matter. the float does not work until its raises high enough to cut off the needle valve. the only time when it will matter is when its so heavy it doesnt float. lol.

 

I'd solder it. I've done a few of them over the years and they worked fine.

Make sure that the area that the solder has to stick to is clean though.

 

Glad this repair worked for you. But I'd be a little skittish about putting a semi-sealed container of gasoline in an oven or on a stovetop. That's why the preferred method is to work outside of the house with a pan of pre-heated water.

 

I think its a good tip and thanks for posting. I always assumed it was trash if it had a pin hole. Hey, hot water on the stove can't be any worse than pistons in the dishwasher or wrinkle painted valve covers in the oven. My wife used to be sooo touchy about her kitchen.

 

I've soldered them, but it's really tricky. It takes very little heat from the soldering iron to heat the air inside the float....blowing the solder right out of the hole you're trying to fix. But, with a buttload of patience, it can be done. Oh, and the tiny bit of solder needed to fill a pinhole will not affect the weight

 

Great tip on finding the hole. I've soldered a few myself, never added enough weight to affect the float function

 

Actually weight is why I used the Seal-All. It's great stuff, up there with Kroil. A little smear of it and it's sealed. The stuff is just not affected by gas. I soldered a float once and it was a PITA. This stuff took 10 seconds to do.

Oh, another thing I found when doing the carb, the float pin was missing! I cobbled up something from my pile of watch parts that worked though.

That and the choke was full of crud and the accelerator pump was cracked... Usual crap.

The monster should run a bit better now!

 

A slightly heavier float isn't probably going to be a big issue, but technically a heavier float would need to be adjusted slightly lower. The problem is trying to figure out how much of a change to make. The correct float level doesn't just keep the carb from flooding out. It also effects the fuel mixture. I've taken a high speed lean surge out of a carb by raising the float level 1/16" or less.

 

Try this link and scroll down to the section on brass floats for some tips on this problem. It explains how to open and reseal the equilization hole found on brass floats. I think this site is run by fellow HAMB member CarbKing. Lost of good info here.

http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm