Yes, Carbking is “King” when it comes to carbs, so I’m curious what his remarks will be regarding your posts. Hotrod Lincoln Jerry is a master at these old engines and I eagerly read his posts. Just was thanking you for taking time to share your findings, observations, and expertise with the rest of us. It’s appreciated.
Chuck
Chuck - I think Jon G. is offering a lot of useful information to those who like the Rochester B. I have posted for years about straightening the castings. Most of the other information Jon is presenting is available in various locations, but most of those locations are not READILY available to everyone. There is some information in the first edition of "Rochester Carburetors" by Doug Roe and Bill Fisher. More information can be found in the Rochester "9X" manuals, and still more was available in the Rochester bulletins. Up to about 1958, Rochester published specifications such as what Jon G. is providing for all carbs, but these bulletins are quite rare.
So if some one is truly in love with the Rochester B, it CAN be made to work (albeit NEVER as well as the Carter) for awhile, and then one gets to redo it, and redo it, and............
If I personally owned a vehicle originally equipped with a Rochester model B THAT WAS A TRAILERED SHOW CAR THAT I SHOWED IN NATIONAL SHOWS, then every 3 to 5 years, I would go through the Rochester B. I did build several of these some 35~40 years ago for the show car crowd, but found that in the same amount of time to PROPERLY do the B, I could restore TEN Rochester Q-Jets. So, as a professional owning a shop, how should I price the rebuild of the Rochester B??? And I could NOT offer the normal 5-year warranty that we offered with carbs we did, when we were still doing carbs.
(Opinion) For any other use than show, there are better (and much more reliable) carburetors available for the 216/235/261 and other Chevrolet six's.
Just thinking about performance, if I were to assign a number from 1 to 100 for carburetors commonly mentioned one these forums that are in factory condition, it would be as follows:
Stromberg B series - 98
Zenith 28/228 series - 97
Carter YF series - 95
Rochester B series - 85
After 5 years of normal driving and maintenance:
Stromberg B series -98
Zenith 28/228 series - 97
Carter YF series (using ethanol) - 85
Carter YF series (using non-ethanol) - 95
Rochester B series - 60
As a point of reference, the two Carter AFB's on my shop truck have been untouched for 18 years. As one ages, one finds one's most valuable asset is time. The need to periodically redo simply does not fit my agenda at this time of my life.
My definition of performance would consider drivability, power, and fuel economy. Reliability is a different consideration, and I refer to that with the Carter YF if using ethanol.
Summing - for a show car, or for someone that just enjoys redoing the mechanicals periodically (there are those that do enjoy this), or someone who enjoys doing research such as Jon G., then use the Rochester. But better units exist for everyone else.
And a HUGE thanks to Jon G. for providing the information to everyone.
Jon.
