you can buy rochester carbs and parts all over the place, just look on Ebay, any of the parts for sale forums, Craigslist has netted me an entire engine, and transmission with all the accesories (starter, and generator)for $100, just casually talking about the truck at work I have had 2 people give me carburetors. I have 3 rochesters in my garage. From my point of view it is like repairing a pencil, just get another one, then you will have spare parts. But you have to be careful some people seem to think just because it is old it is worth a lot of money, when in reality, its just old, they are not rare by any means. So you will have to look around a bit, but you can usually find one for $20 or so. And if all you are after is the top with a sound inlet connection, the rest of the carb doesn't matter. However I definintely understand the pleasure and pride that can come from repairing stuff, but whatever you do to the carb from this point will render it "modified" and not original any longer. There comes a time in any piece of equipments life when it is no longer useful, and becomes junk. I mean if you were on the moon or something, you would have no option.
