The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop rebuilding 235 carburetor

How-do Chevy Dudes!!,,,Can anyone tell me how hard it is to rebuild a 235 Chev Carburetor,,I have a 48-52 Chev truck shop manual,But i'm scared of putting those little BB's in wrong,,Is it a very hard job or no,,,This is a Small hole carb,,Just waiting 4 your reply's guy's,,,Thanx Dudes!!!,,,,Dave :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Well, I rebuilt the 1 barrel on my '65 with 230 engine. Had never rebuilt a carb before and I gotta say it was pretty dang easy. Just soak your stuff in gasoline or use a spray carb cleaner, wire brush the housings and what not, clean all the bits and pieces, then follow your instructions that come with the rebuild kit to put it all back together. Even though there were instructions, as I was taking the carb apart I tried to take little mental snapshots of how things looked and went together. Probably also a good idea to look at the instructions and all the new parts to get familiar with them before ripping your carb apart for the rebuild. It'll make the rebuild easier if you've become familiar with the new stuff you're puttin' in.

You may want to clean your carb like this- carb cleaning

Two things to watch out for is correct assembly of the accelerator pump. Look at the picture in the manual to get it right. There is a vacuum passage out the bottom of the carb make sure it is not blocked off. I had to cut the gasket that came with my kit. The PO of my truck screwed up both these steps and I got the truck cheep because it ran so bad.

It's a pretty straight forward deal. You could lay out all of the pieces you take out on a towel, in groups of parts that go together (all of the acc. pump parts for example.) and match them up with the ones from your kit. There were lots of extra springs and balls that came with my kit, for different applications.
I just took it apart, soaked it overnight in card cleaner, rinsed, dried, blew out all of the little tiny passages with my compressor, and reassembled. Make sure the mating surfaces of the air horn and bowl are straight and true, that's kind of important.

Here is what I do:
Get yourself a nice clean large work area.
Get a couple of White towels ( buy them at the trift store).
Have a can or 2 of Carb cleaner even if you soak your carb (better safe then sorry)
Have an old or new soft tooth brush (for cleaning up the outside of carb body)
Make sure you have CARB KIT with DIAGRAM
Take your time.
Follow Disassembly instructions of Kit. Laying out parts in a neat and orderly maner on white towels. (I use terrycloth as it keeps bb's from rolling)
Clean each part as it comes off.
Reassemble using new parts/gaskets.
Take your time.
Reinstall on truck / adjusts and drive.
Good luck and have fun.

The crockpot carb cleaner is a lot less hazardous than gasoline and the other exotic cleaners out there which also cost big $$ plus create cleanup problems. To clean the small ports, avoid using wire or tip cleaners if possible. I use a squeeze bulb blower from a camera store to blow the ports clean. When taking the carb apart, keep track of all parts and don't throw anything away, at least until you are done. Kits out there can be very quirky, and sometimes leave out very important parts. Newer kits should have alchohol resistant gaskets and rubber parts, while old kits may not have these. Sometimes real old NORS kits may have gaskets that have shrunk! I would like to know how to deal with these other than soaking in water, or re-using the old gasket. That is why I always SAVE THE CORE PARTS usually in the package the kit came in.

The "Green, Brake Kleen" works amazingly. It also doesn't have something in it which the red does. So it works better not leaving any residue on the carb. Just my quick easy method.

Rebuilding is easy.

Hey 50Chev!

I have rebuilt two of the Rochester BC carburetors (54 Chevy) and just finished a Carter BBD (66 Chrysler).

Here's what helped me not to screw these all up:
- Patience, patience, patience: Work slowly and deliberately
- don't rush yourself reading the Shop Manual or the "kit" graphics. Take your time, read your manual's instructions till you really know them.
- if you want, document your steps to removing and disassembling the carb using a digital camera (great for reference when you are RE-building and the manual and "kit" graphics stink).
- take written crib notes if you want. All this helps teach you and prep you for the next rebuild.
- as the others already mentioned, dedicate a clean area to do this.
- @@@@@@ My suggestion is to to all your work in an old drawer or dedicated clean box or other containment. THREE times on the Carter I DROPPED teeny-weeny parts and only with God's help did I find them. If I hadn't, I'd be buying a junker to cannabalize which would have been a big bummer and major delay.
- Soak the parts thoroughly. I used GUNK Carburetor cleaner (comes with a little basket for soaking.
- Air dry! Use about 20-30 PSI low low pressure. DO NOT try and air dry the parts while they are all sitting dumbly in the carb soak basket or you'll see them fly out from the air jet and you've good as lost them (I did this even when my conscience was screaming not to and took two days to find a lost part).

Here's a thought if you have the time. Go to the boneyard and get an identical carburetor and re-build it for practice. If it works, put it in the car and rebuild your original as a spare! This way, if you screw up the junker, you will know better. Also, a junker or three on your shelves is/are a good source for those parts you can't buy.

Cheers from NASCAR country....