The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rochester B to YF questions

So, trying to help out a buddy with his 1959 Chevy Apache with the 235 and manual transmission. Carburetor was rebuilt, but it was a fail. After a few conversations with fella from Mike's carburetors we checked the bowl body and it was terribly warped. So we opted to get a rebuilt unit through O'reilly. Terrible idea. They, like a lot of box stores these days, source carburetors through Tomco and they are an extremely problematic supplier. First unit didn't even look anything like the original Rochester B. Bolted up fine though and had correct fuel, vacuum and linkage. Ran like crap and leaked fuel out the gasket between bowl and air horn. Probably stuck or faulty float level. Not my problem. Should have been only in need of adjustment out of the box, not repair. Back it goes.

Second unit comes and looks IDENTICAL to the original unit, except obviously it's been gone through and is clean. Yea says me. Go to put it on. NOPE! It has the smaller base with the mounting holes too close so somebody at Tomco pulled the wrong base out of the core pile. Two strikes.

Third unit comes and it looks like somebody honestly took the core we turned in and put it right back in the box. Might even have been the case, dunno. Three strikes, we're done with this fiasco. Refund. Can't get core back. O'reilly gives us a measly 25 bucks to make up for the fact that now we have no core. Manager says he cannot get the core back and nothing more he can do. I spend a LOT of money with O'reilly as I repair vehicles as a secondary source of income on the side, so I tell him that's ok, RL auto supply is more than happy to take my business if you can't make this situation right. He can't, I'm gone.

Now to the current situation and the actual questions.

So I have an 85 F150 that's had the ECM delete done and I'm currently rebuilding the engine and upgrading to Offy intake, 2150 carb, etc. So I now have a 78-ish Carter YF sitting here that was recently rebuilt in the last year and ran perfect on the truck until the engine broke a ring. Well, all of them actually. Weirdest thing you ever saw. That's irrelevant though. What is relevant is the carburetor. It fits perfectly on his intake. Fuel inlet is a match and the throttle linkage is SIMILARLY oriented, but there are some differences.

First question is, is there any way to make this carburetor work with his throttle linkage? The 59 truck linkage has just the bend on the end of the linkage rod that's supposed to slip through a hole in the throttle linkage on the side of the carb. But on the YF there is a ball pin as the donor truck of course had a modern style throttle cable that snaps on to it. It was designed to actually be PULLED somewhat horizontally by the throttle cable rather than PUSHED up like the linkage on the Rochester B. It ALMOST looks as though a guy could drill out the ball pin and slip the linkage rod through there, then clip it. I think it would almost certainly fit but I am NOT by any means confident in whether the setup would be capable of actuating the throttle lever properly or if it would just end up moving a small amount and then binding up. I don't want to drill out the ball pin just to find out it won't work and now the linkage is fubared.

Is there any kind of kit to deal with this linkage issue? Throttle cable adapter kit or linkage adapter kit of some kind?

The other question is whether or not the vacuum advance will be an issue. This truck has had the mini-HEI distributor swap done, so it actually has an S10 distributor from Langdon, and I'm unsure as to whether the type of vacuum needed on the new distributor was in fact the same type that was needed on the old one, or whether this YF carburetor can even supply the necessary TYPE of vacuum. I know there are differences in manifold versus venturi and this YF, being a 70's model, has several vacuum ports to choose from on it. I don't have an exact number for the carb as the tag is long gone, but is the model seen here:

My carter YF carburetor


Thanks for any insights anybody might have on my questions, or factors I've failed to consider. Thanks.

The problem will be that the Ford calibration YF will be totally wrong for the 235. I believe they run extremely rich, and there's no practical way to correct the problem by rejetting. Jon (Carb King) should be around shortly to give you some more specifics, but you're not the first stovebolter to attempt the Ford/Chevy carb swap and I don't think I've ever heard of it being done successfully. A properly calibrated YF is a far better choice than any Rochester, but the Ford carb isn't the way to go about it.
Jerry

Yeah, I was kind of afraid of calibration issues as well, but thought I might be able to compensate through a combination of mixture and jetting changes. Looks like I'll probably nix the idea and tell him he's better off just getting one of those brand new replacement units through Mike's carburetors, this unit:

http://www.carburetor-parts.com/Rochester-1-Barrel-Replacement-Carburetor_p_4411.html

unless there is a better option somebody knows of. My understanding is that the majority of cores you're likely to find for the B carburetors will most probably have similar warpage issues unless you're pretty lucky, and I have little trust for any of the carburetors on ebay. Seems like none of the local part stores other than O'reilly have any availability so that option is out. Recommendations?

Tell him to buy a big jar of Vaseline if he buys that Rube Goldberg universal-fit carburetor. It's a bigger mistake than using the Ford-calibrated YF! There are usually several Chevy-specification YF's available on Ebay, and carbking can supply an exact-fit repair kit for just about any Carter carb ever made.

Jerry

I'll look into that.

Google search three ways, carb king, carbking and carb-king, turns up relevant results only for thecarburetorshop.com and nationalcarburetors. Do you have a link for carb king or is one of those the same place?

He owns the "carburetor shop", and is a regular participant here. Jon has one of the most complete, correct assortments of Carter repair parts and kits in the country. His website is in his profile information- - - -search the members' list for his contact info.
Jerry

I'll try to contact him and see what he has and can recommend. What's the consensus on the Weber 32/36 Langdon offers on his website?

Keep in mind there are two different bases sizes of Chevy YF. Many of those for sale are the smaller one for the 216. But the 235 version is out there as well.

Leonard, carb king's contact info is in the first post in my report here of working with him (Jon) earlier this year. I can highly recommend Jon, he's been around for a very long time and from what I understand has thousands of carburetors in inventory including many hard (near impossible) to find nos carbs. A phone call is best and a great way to spend a bit of time visiting and learning.

Good Luck, RonR

Carbking would recommend exactly what Carter recommended so many years ago. Engineers REALLY do have a reason for what they do. Try the list in the link. I have posted it numerous times in various threads, but finally posted it on my website. This information was taken from the factory Carter records, of which I am the current caretaker.

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

Jon.

Don't let the rumors of Jon sitting on a beanbag chair filled with hundred dollar bills, counting his walking around folding money after he lights his cigar with a 50 dollar bill, give you the impression that he isn't a great guy.
He is.
He once PMed me out of the blue about an AFB carb issue I was having and had a solution for me in stock. Unfortunately I had already went a different way, but is was cool that he took the time to reach out to me.
He is one of those guys who won't hesitate to tell you, "I don't know." However he seemingly never needs to say that about carbs.
Carl

I just purchased a tomco carb from Orillys for my 58. The carburetor part number is 1-06. It is suppose to be a carter YF replacement for a 235. It looks nothing like the one shown online. It does bolt up and has multiple vacuum ports. The choke linkage cannot be connected without fabricating an arm to lock down the choke cable. The factory tie down for the cable is on the opposite side and works the choke backwards. The accelerator arm on the carburetor is out of line with the accelerator rod and has to be fabricated as well. All in all I placed the order for it at 12:00 noon on Saturday and It was here for pickup by 4:00 pm that evening. It runs alright but I need to adjust my choke cable to close completely when starting after a few days of sitting. Been to busy with work to do some actual stop and go driving . Need to get on the interstate for some top end testing also. Will report back on mileage. The old rochester only gave me between 10 and 12 miles per gallon. I hope this one gets better results at 60 or 65 mph.

So, I can't make heads or tales of the list of carburetors on carbking's website. Just too much information to look at. As I asked before, does anybody have any experience with the Weber 32/36 listed on Langdon's website, or, if carbking or another member can possibly take the time to indicate a preferred carb number that is available through The carburetor shop, so I can potentially order one, that would be much appreciated. This truck is all stock, except for the Langdon mini-HEI distributor, so just whatever is going to work well and be reliable is what I'm looking for. Obviously, the Rochester's are not desirable, so anything aside from those that are basically or entirely bolt on, tune and go, would be great. Honestly, I'm braindead from researching the possibilities and everything just looks like a bunch of numbers running together at this point. Heh.

I generally don't work on vehicles this old, and now I remember why. Yeah, they're great if you have the time, patience and money, but not so great if you're just trying to help a guy out and nothing you get seems to work worth a tin [censored]. I am going to give Jon a call, I'd just like to know what I'm looking for before I do that. Also, factoring in the information from my first post indicating that I no longer have a core thanks to the wonderful idiots at O'reilly, it may be that buying a new unit of some kind is a better financial decision that having to eat a 90.00 core charge. Thanks.

The Weber is a solution to a nonexistent problem, it's very expensive and requires a lot of adapting. Just pick out the year and displacement of the engine you're working on and find the corresponding Carter number in Jon's list. It will bolt on without any fuss or adapting, and it will be far better than either a Rochester or a Weber.
Jerry

From the list Jon posted you need a Carter 3211s.

Thanks to you both. That's what I'll look into from him.

Is there any way to contact Jon other than on a Monday and Tuesday by phone? Just like to see if he even has any inventory on the 3211s and find out what pricing looks like? I realize he probably has to deal with similar situations all the time, hence no PM on his account, for which I don't blame him. Thanks.

If you're going to keep your sanity while working on these old trucks you will have to learn to be patient. Jon has it set up that way on purpose. Please respect his wishes, we don't want to abuse him and lose a valuable resource.🛠

Ditto on Martin's comment. We really need Jon!

I fully understand. No worries.

Leonard - I have no 3211s carbs in stock. And while business is always nice answers on this forum are to share information, not to promote sales. And, there are many valid (at least to me) reasons for not accepting PM's.

And just to give you a possible idea of value, we sold several fully restored (recolored, replated, like new) 3211s carbs when we had them at $695. each.

Jon.

My truck has had a Ford YF on it since the previous owner. I never knew it was calibrated too rich, I have always had good luck with it. Not saying its mixture is right but it runs well and I usually have to run with the choke slightly closed to solve the off-idle stumble. I had also looked at the Daytona one-barrel adjustable carbs but my thought was, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

The replacement Carter YF that I bought from Orillys turned out to be a piece of junk. So I am back to the old Rochester.