The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Rochester rant

Probably no useful information in this post, other than I see why you guys all say that Rochester carbs are a POS.

My carb was pretty much full of sludge and leaking - an obvious candidate for a rebuild. After having the tank boiled out and coated, and flushing out all the fuel lines and the filter, I ordered a NAPA carb rebuild kit and overhauled it. The carb had about 1/8" crud in the bottom of the bowl. The big problem with these carbs is that there is no good way of cleaning out the accelerator pump passages underneath the plunger. I had to carefully drill out the lead plug on the outside of the bowl assembly to open up the supply passage. Resealed it with JB-quick.

The engine started and ran beautifully. Took it for a 5 mile drive and it ran great. However, when I backed it into the barn, all of a sudden it went dead rich and barely ran. That's where it's at right now, something's stuck. It isn't the float, so it looks like disassembly is in order.

Are Carter carbs a direct bolt on, including air filter? Would I be smart to just pitch the Rochester and switch?

Thanks for your advice as usual.

How do you know it isn't the float? Depending on who mage your kit, Rochesters gaskets are known to hang up the float if not trimmed carefully. If it isn't leaking you have a very good well above average Rochester that is probably worth fixing. They work great when set up right, again with the common issue being leaks due to warped castings. Carter bolts right on and your old filter will fit like a glove.

The Carter YF is a direct bolt on replacement. Just be certain you get one for a Chevy 6, because they made YF's for Jeep 4's, Studebakers, etc. Try it. You'll wonder why you didn't switch sooner.

Umm...

A lot of carb guys don't have much good to say about the Rochester B, due to the warpage issue... the later castings have stiffener ribs in the top cover, and warp less than the early models. The later B's have larger fillister-head screws securing the cover to the bowl, and thicker bosses where the screws go through the bowl cover.

GM used the B from '49 through '67, it must have been "adequate".

I have had Carter YFs on stovebolts and Willys as well, and some have been fine and others have been nightmares.

Before you throw your B, make sure that the float is set correctly and that the arms/floats aren't dragging on the bowl or the gaskets, and try again.

If it doesn't leak, the B is still my preferred carb for stovebolt drivers...


In fact, I've been running a Rochester BV ("divorced choke") on my '72 C-10 for over 25,000 miles, replacing the OEM Rochester Mono-jet and its "Transmission-Controlled Spark" goofy early emissions carb.

Good luck !


Frank 54

Well, it was no big deal fixing the carb. I took a closer look this morning, and saw something laying in the float bowl. Oops, it was the main jet. I must have not tightened it down tight enough. Replaced it, and the truck runs fine.

My wife gave me a rough time about it until I reminded her of the time she put her bra on upside down. ;>)

did she purr better after that,,,,just kidding,,glad you got it fixed,,,,,Fred

I had the same thing happen to me several years ago.

The jet or the bra?