Viton tipped needle & seats for carbs.

Opened some rebuild kits I got from a fellow HAMBer who got them from Sac. Vintage Ford. I noticed the needles are Viton tipped.

Is this the route to go or should I pick up the traditional "hard" style needle.

I beleive the idea behind Viton seats is they are meant to prevent sticking and conform to the actual seat. Just don't to avoid problems before they happen.

 

havent had much luck with those. i prefer to use orig needles and seats if i can

 

Thanks. I sent you a PM.

 

Different strokes. I prefer viton. Seals better and will accept a little misalignment.

 

Grose Jets are the way to go.......never a stuck needle.......they are available to fit Strombergs....... http://www.stromberg-carburetors.com/grose_jets.htm


CB

 

Whoah, those look slick.

 

I rebuilt a 94 (have not run it) with rubber tipped needle. Don't know if real Viton or used Chinese innertube, normal or manufacturing defect...but it stuck.
Noticed as I assembled needle did not drop when float did...cleaned. fitted, stuck. I hooked up hose to inlet and had to blow so hard my head hurt to get the thing to open...and this is a vertical one, mind you. What I had was definitely not runnable.
Original needles are generally not grooved or anything, just discolored a bit at contact ring. I just clean and "rebuild" by holding ths carb part loosely in my hand and tapping needle a few times in different postions to be sure it seats, blow through it to see if sealing. I know some people actually regrind ancient unobtainable needles!

 

In a perfect world, neopreme fuel valve seat better than steel.

A few years ago, in a cost-saving move (remember that many now have to sell everything as cheaply as possible, regardless of the quality), the manufacturers of fuel valves decided the "staking" operation was not necessary. The staking operation removed any burrs from the broaching procedure, and placed a better sealing chamfer on the orifice of the seat. The unstaked seats can actually cut the neopreme tip, causing it to leak.

A hobbyist may simulate the staking process on a new fuel valve by assembling the following items: wooden block, steel ball approximately 1.5 times diameter of orifice, drift punch, and hammer.

Place the end of the seat opposite the orifice on the wooden block, insert the steel ball on top of the orifice (where the valve normally would fit), set the drift punch on the steel ball, and whack the drift punch with the hammer.

As to the grosejets, when we occasionally acquire them from other inventories which we purchase, they are immediately consigned to the "scrap, recycle brass pile". Others may have a differing opinion.

Other valve materials have been thermoplastic, and monel steel. While some suggest that the monel steel is better for use in deathanol, I can show RUSTED monel steel needles which were used in deathanol. Rusted valves do not seal well. Again, others may have a differing opinion.

Jon.

 

Uh-oh, I was gonna +1 on the grose jets until I read carbking's post.

I used to use them in Tillotson race carbs and liked them, but never used them in daily street use.

 

Unstaked seat (on the seat supplied!) would certainly have accounted for the trouble I saw! I put my set out at the curb for professional treatment; the guys with the big smelly truck have not finished with it yet, apparently. Seems like what I now do to "rebuild" the old steel ones is pretty much staking.
On the Grose Jets, from what I have read on the Model A boards, there are/were atleast 3 generations of the devices offered up in the restorer catalogs. The first two were I think offered for all the commoner early Ford carbs:
First gen...real Grose Jets. Apparently had great reputation for clean shut-off and smooth operation.
Second gen...made offshore, offered in the same catalogs. Model A's leaving a continuous trail of gas behind them, backfires lead to three-alarm response!
Third gen...Bill Stipe starts making good ones again, A and T.
I have never owned any of these. Second-hand information.

 

Been running the English "S" jets for three years. No flooding, more of a "metered" way of suppling fuel - I think. And, they seem to tolerate 3 lbs pressure with no problem. I also like the fact that they don't swell up like gummybears, with some of this gas that's around.

 

Viton is the "new flat black" in our modern world of Ethanol blended fuels.

Ethanol disolves traditional rubber seals, and ethanol absorbs water and has other properties [suspends oxygen atoms] that lead to rust and corossion issues inside an otherwise sealed fuel system.

 

I bought some of these from Uncle Max last summer, to put in the 81's that are on my Model A; they seem to work fine, no problems.