Phil - I would give the Rochester B an 8, WHEN WORKING, but the reliability and documentation kicks it down to a no better than a 6. The ratings I assigned consider cost, performance, reliability, availability of parts, and available documentation. I alluded to this fact in the initial post about the Carter 684s (1949), which is a very good unit, but parts availability is terrible (not the carburetor's fault).
And for those that like the B, we are still giving one away when a customer puts in an order for three rebuilding kits with the same order. To date, even though we have sold three or more kits per order many times, we have been successful in giving away exactly.......................................................none!
The interesting thing, at least to me, is that the Rochester two barrel (1956 and newer, the 2G series) gets an 8.5, as does the square-bore Rochester four barrel (4G from 1955 to 1966), and the newer spread-bore four barrel (Q-Jet) I give a 9. Not a lot of carbs that I give a 9 or better.
And Gord&Fran, you have touched on an issue that is absolutely true. I actually talk about as many customers out of buying a carb or kit from us as sales. When one listens to the customer, one often finds that the customer just needs a little guidance. For many years now, I have stated (tongue in cheek
) that the older updraft carburetors were much more reliable than the newer downdraft carburetors. WHY? Because it was so difficult to get to the updraft, that the enthusiast/mechanic did more testing, and found the real problem before throwing rocks at the carburetor.
Jon.
