The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop the Rochester "B" still has the drip

Any on have any experience with the YF carb as a replacement for the Rochester "B" on a 216???
I'm on my fifth "B" and they are all warped and leak at the seam of the air horn and bowl. Two I have heat treated on a fixture to flatten them out after 50+ years of Zinc "creep" and one I actually machined the surfaces in the Bridgeport mill, they were flat to within .0005" until you tighten up the four screws. I don't mean WRENCH down the screws, Just tighten them a moderate amount and you can see the outer edges just curl up. So if I'm ever gonna get to pull her out of the garage this summer it looks like I'm gonna have to throw in the towel and pull the original style carb off and replace it with something that is half way reliable.
Jon, aka: Carbking, has suggested a W-1 as a replacement, and someone else mentioned a YF2100. I'm not familiar with either one so I can't make a comparison and I haven't been able to find any manuals of either one. I have a manual for the "B", they are readily available, however they only cover the early models and nothing is mentioned about the later "B" models. There were quite a few modifications to it but if it was documented it must be hidden away in somebody’s dusty files.
Anyway, I'm open to any and all sort of information.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I bought an NOS Stromberg carb for my 216 at a swap meet. The applications listed on the box covered my truck ('52 3600)so I bought it...it was cheap.
I basically used it to help resurrect my engine after a long sleep rather than rebuild the model B. It ran very well, though I didn't log too many road miles with it before I dismantled the whole truck. This was over 10 yrs ago.
I haven't heard much talk of Strombergs on this forum, so I'm not sure what their reputation is.

Denny:

Carter did not start printing "model" manuals until approximately 1953. The last W-1 was 1950, and Carter only printed model manuals on current product.

The W-1 is covered in detail in:

1946-1948 Chevrolet service manual
pre-1950 Chilton or Motors manuals
Carter Master parts and service manuals

Steve:

The Stromberg is an excellent carburetor. Generic information may be found in:

late 1940's Dodge shop manual
pre-1950's Chilton and/or Motors manuals
Stromberg Master parts and service manual

Jon.

Denny, I put a YF3211 on my 235 & it worked good. When I changed the motor to a 292 I transferred that same carb. over to it. Still working great there.
Thanks to Jon I learned that the jets are the same in YF's as AFB's so in my case I already had a big variety, but if you don't, no problem, they're still readily available.
The 3211 had a clamp ring type top, good for my 235, when I went to the 292 it had a stud type air filter can so I found a YF with that type top & just switched that part.
So, you can mix parts on them & get one set up just like you want it & with jets avail., they're easy to tune for your motor.
Doug

"Topic: the Rochester "B" still has the drip"

..I seem to remember reporting to the field hospital with a similar condition..

You were the guy I was thinking of when I posted the heading Dave!

Now see Doug, that’s what I’m looking for. I don’t have any idea what a YF3211 looks like or what the mounting hole centers are or which side the linkage is on or where the inlet is.

Jon, I know it's a business with ya but I like to feed my brain and tinker with my own stuff. Keeps the Alzheimer’s in remission. I hope ya can understand why I didn't take ya up on all those "B" cores, I haven't found a good one yet and I didn’t want to get stuck with a bunch more unless I can figure out a way to keep them from leaking. Since you say that you won’t service them either I’m assuming that you haven’t figured out a way either. The heat treating does relax the casting and flatten it out somewhat, however It also distorts some of the other features. Such as the venturi is very slightly out of round and the choke butterfly is a little stiff. The power piston well is distorted also after heat treating, just enough that you have to hone it a few tenths to get the piston to slide freely against the compression spring.
I’ve made up cad drawings of some of the brass parts in the “B” carbs. They can all be made up on a small engine lathe. So far I’ve made up power pistons, idle adjustment needles, I’ve got the drawings made up for the jets but haven’t made any yet. I picked up a box of SS dowels for the floats and now have boxes of all the Fillister head screws that are always rounded out from using the wrong screw drivers. I’ve made up a double ended form that fits inside the two float halves after you unsolder them. With this I can straighten out any dents that may be in the floats, also I can spin soft brass disks over them to make new float halves if I need to.
Now all I have to do is find the secret to keeping the two halves sealed.
Are there any problems with the W-1 carbs? If it was a good carb then why did GM switch to the Rochester “B” in ’50 and use it on all the inliners for a decade?

So it looks like I’m stuck without carburetion for July also. Are all these AD’s I see in the pictures with their hoods popped up and a cute little Rochester “B” sitting proudly on the intake manifold just trailer queens?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, from the content of your posts, I know you approach such things in a detailed engineering sort of way, so this comment should be taken only as an anecdote. I do not claim any special knowledge but after suffering the "drip" in my '51 3100 (216) for some time with more than one Rochester B, I came across a Carter YF 787SA carburator at the ATHS show in Colorado Springs. After reading many posts, especially Carbkings, I decided to take the plunge. This carb was in the box, NOS. I figured it would have to be rebuilt but the seller insisted that all I had to do was put a few drops of Marvel Mystery Oil to soften up the leather accelerator plunger (why is it that every one uses Marvel Mystery Oil for odd things... I was told to use it as a substitute for Bendix cylinder oil for the Hydrovac on my Diamond T). Anyway, I followed his directions, bolted it on (it is a direct swap with no modifications of lines or cables). The truck fired right up, has never run better and doesn't leak a drop. My wife always complained that that whenever I drove that truck I always smelled like gasoline, but no more!! It has been only 3 weeks, but I am a convert.

Denny - why did GM switch from Carter to Rochester??? - GM owned Rochester!

I am unaware of any serious problems with the 1941~1948 Carter W-1's. The early ones, beginning in 1932, had some issues; but Carter continually worked on the issues. By 1941 they had a great carburetor.

The only reason I do not include the 1949 (arguably the best of the W-1's) is that most parts of the 1949 are unique (read expensive) including the accelerator pump. The 1941~1948 are both readily available, and parts are also readily available.

As to the distortion on the B's: when we were still doing these, we had no problems other than the castings were again leaking within 3~5 years. I just can't recommend something that needs major work every 3~5 years. We did find the distortion you suggested if we tried to hurry the process. Once we figured this out, we started taking out a maximum of 0.003 inch per heating. It sometimes took a week to get the castings true. Too much work for the results!!!

Jon.

Thanks Doc, I’ll put that in my note book and keep my eyes open at the swap meets. Glad to have a few more options and the first hand report. I’ve been looking for carburetor books that cover Carter carbs but haven’t had any luck. Jon says the “Carter Master Parts and Service Manuals” are what I need but he forgot to say where you can find them. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for carb manuals at the swap meets but there taint much out there anymore. Guys are snapping them up and hoarding them, and then they die and the in-laws pitch them out with all the old Playboys when they ransack the property. Much better do send them or at least a copy, to Keith Hardy and let him preserve the material in his archives.
I’ve been downloading all the Rochester manuals for my reference library over at Keith Hardy’s site, The Old Card Manuals Project, www.tocmp.com and there is a wealth of information available on RP. The only problem is it doesn’t cover warpage of the Zinc castings after 50+ years!!!!

Of course Jon, that dawned on me last night while downloading all those bulletins. I kept seeing the GM– RP logos popping up.
Distortion; “To much work for the results”, as is true of the machining that I tried. I think machining would work, for a little while but you really need to leave the raised lip in the center of the web and the only way I can think or doing that is with a CNC program. To much work for the results!!!
I feel pretty sure that what is happening is that as the gasket gets soaked and shows a little weeping people have a tendency to tighten down the four screws a little more then a little more until the castings are again warped. This added to the “Zinc creep” problem leads to a carb that is leaking continually. At this point Charlie feels that all he has to do is put a Rebuild kit in it and that will solve his problems.
I’ve measured two of the early airhorns after they were heat treated and also the one I machined. The cross section is so weak on these that after assembly even the moderate amount of torque needed on the screws distorts the gasket surface. It’s not as bad on the later ones with the thicker cross-section but warpage is still a problem.
I haven’t heard your opinion on the later YF’s that have been suggested, do you have one? What engines were these originally used on, I’d be willing to bet they were a larger displacement than the 216.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny - for years I have been recommending the use of Carter YF carburetors, provided the PROPER YF was used. I am no longer doing this for all applications, as the YF uses a neopreme diaphragm style accelerator pump; and neopreme does NOT like deathanol.

So my recommendation NOW is: if you live in a area where you are not "blessed" with deathanol, the YF is still an excellent choice. If you must use deathanol and use the YF, then start the vehicle daily or close to daily, so the fuel does not have time to evaporate from the bowl. Once the neopreme has been exposed to deathanol, and is allowed to dry, it tends to harden; and then will crack when flexed.

Except as in the previous paragraph, we are now recommending the Carter W-1 for all 216 applications, and multi-carb applications on the 235 and 261. The W-1 has a leather pump, which is impervious to deathanol.

For a single 235 application, we are suggesting (except as in the paragraph on the YF), the more expensive Zenith and Stromberg carburetors. The older Zenith carbs have a metal pump, and the Strombergs have a leather pump, both of which are impervious to deathanol.

The Carter WA-1 series is also an excellent series, and were used on engines as large as the 235; but still have the S.A.E. size 2 flange, thus requiring an adapter if used on a 235 intake.

Various YF carburetors were used on engines from 134 CID fours to 300 CID sixes.

Every carbureted car and truck I now own, with the exception of a 2.3 factory turbo car that has a Holley, has been converted to a Carter. I have the cylinder head, manifold, and Carter 4 barrel for the 2.3 turbo, but need a couple of cases of new old stock 48 hour days in order to install it.

Jon.

Denny - two other comments:

(1) The manuals of which you speak are readily available, they are just not inexpensive.

(2) Virtually all of this information is copyrighted. This means the company publishing the information (ie Rochester) has ownership of the information for 75 years. Unless there is a disclaimer on a website that the owner of the website has legal authority to display the information; then both display of the information and downloading of the information MAY be unlawful. Read about the college kids that downloaded songs and were then sent invoices from the music companies. I am not saying this will happen in the old car hobby, but it certainly could.

Jon.

Jon,
The Carter YF that I bought came with the paperwork and was made in August of 1950. Do you think it has a neoprene pump diaphragm or might it possibly be leather? I can't avoid gas with ethanol in the PHX metro area and with our afternoon highs this time of year (supposed to be 116 degrees today)it is hard to avoid evaporation from the bowl.

Kent

Kent - ALL Carter YF's use the neopreme diaphragm style pump. Part number is 203-43s, but I doubt you will be able to buy the pump diaphragm without buying the repair kit.

Jon.

Jon,
Thanks for the info; you have given me an excuse to drive my truck every day!!

Kent

Kent, Keep on truckin', that's what they were made for, but on your next lap around, stop by your local NAPA & ask for P/N 2-4218, that is the acc. pump diaphram. Their carb kit # 2-5096 is w/o the diaphram, must be bought seperate. Found that out on my initial rebuild. Mine is my daily driver, but setting up for a week or so during repairs have had no trouble yet on Yuma gas.
Doug

Doug - I was unaware the diaphragm was still available separately. Thank you for posting this information.

Jon.

Doug,
Thanks also.
Kent

Guys, it's been a couple yrs., hopefully the # is still good.
I learn at least ten things here for every one I can contribute, just trying to keep up that great average!
Drove my 235 over to Phoenix 7/4/89 to see the circus, coming home in afternoon the temps ran 118 most of the way across, hottest day of that summer it turned out. Just cruised around Yuma & visited the Legion Post today, hope you all had as good a day.
Doug

Well than that is just a shame Jon. The out dated information on this old technology should be freely available. After half a century I feel they have made enough profit from it and I have no qualms about copying it or sharing it with anyone. If someone wants to sue me then let them, after all it’s greed that drived them to do that and I don’t think suing a small archival site like tocmp or me or most of the public would be worth the effort. There is a lot of chest beating and saber rattling that goes on but when it comes right down to spending the money for a law suit very few follow through unless there is a pot of gold at the end.
Thanks for the info on the YF’s and your thoughts on the W-1. You mentioned the later ones as being very expensive to rebuild. Is there any difference in performance between the earlier and later W-1’s??? And can you share with us some model numbers to look out for?? And can you supply kits for them?
I don’t think I’ve seen a gas station in the last five years that sold straight gasoline, they are all 10% blends around here.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, answers to your questions:

(1) The major improvement from the 1948 to 1949 W-1 is the additional of a linkage rod that connects the choke and throttle. The effect being that when the choke is engaged, the throttle is slightly opened (call it an inexpensive "fast idle" circuit).

(2)
1949 - 684s (this is the one with the expensive parts)
1948~1946 - 574s
1941~1942 - 483s

(3) You know the answer to this one.

As far as your comments concerning the legal aspects, I tend to agree with your thoughts, but so did the college kits that downloaded all of the songs, and received MAJOR bills from the music industry. As to my own website, I either wrote all of the information, or have written authority to share information I did not write. You, or anyone else, are welcome to use, or copy any information from our website (however, I would appreciate a comment as to the origin if you copy it for others). I started work on the application database in 1967.

Jon.

Thanks for the chronology of the Carter W-1.
What information are you talking about Jon, I went to your site and didn't find anything other than sales information there. Did I miss something?
I did find an application listing and I was amazed to see that the "B" was used all the way up till 1967, how'd they do that?
I did get a wealth of info on tocmp.com and spent all day yesterday and part of today downloading all the Rochester Bulletins and Carter manuals to CD's. I had to quit but I'll try again this week end to finish up the Carter stuff. Some of the parts listings really help with the identity when the tag is missing.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

The B was also used on 230's and 250's until Rochester released the Monojet.

On my Rochester B it has the classic warp and was in such bad shape I was about to toss it but at then decided there was nothing to lose , so when I rebuilt it I made my own gasket out of gas grade cork material from the local auto parts store , I used the gasket in the rebuild kit for a pattern . the cork has enough compression to make up for the warped air horn so now there are no leaks . you have to calculate the thickness of the cork when setting the float level but it worked for me .
Brice

That’s interesting Brice, I thought about the possibility of cork over fiber, the later of which I’ve tried with no success. On one carburetor, I machined the gasket surface of the bowl flat in my mill, I took off about .025” before it cleaned up. On the air horn, I heat treated, i.e., soaked it at 400° for a couple of hours while it was clamped to a 1” thick flat tooling plate. This does flatten the gasket surface out but caused a little drag in the choke shaft and I had to hone a few tenths out of the power piston well apparently because of the casting relaxing or stresses being relieved. I’ve tried heat treating both the bowl and the air horn on other carbs and had the same trouble with leakage.

For the thick fiber gasket, I did the same as you did on the cork. I traced a .042” (nominal 1/16”) thick fiber gasket from the original gasket and spent an hour meticulously cutting it with an Exacto knife, pinching the holes with gasket punches.

I still had leakage into the Venturi (lo pressure areas) and some weeping around the out side. This type of gasket material gets almost no compression from the four feeble #10-32 screws that hold it together. The later “B” carbs use #12 screws (still only four) and have a thicker edge on the airhorn than the early ones, probably an attempt to stiffen up the gasket surface because of so many dealer comebacks. If you tighten it too much it will warp the airhorn again at the hole bosses.

As you observed, the cork should compress a little more than the fiber. However, the first problem that pops into mind is how narrow the thin webs could be cut in cork. That’s the problem with cork being used in such a thin cross section since it is made up of such course material. Even VC and pan gaskets are quite fragile. I have some Victor cork gasket material in 1/32” and 1/16” that is made up of fine pieces and is suspended in a black binder so it appears much darker than cork usually is. Is this the type of material that your referring to??

I’ve never seen cork that was labeled “gas grade”. The cork that I’ve found at the local FLAPS, Farm & Fleet and hardware stores all seem to say that they are meant for application with oil, i.e., VC, oil pans or timing covers. Do you recall if the material had a manufacturer’s label on it, or was the auto parts store one of the larger chains??

After months and months of searching and questions I’m still wondering how all the vendors can list “rebuilt Rochester “B” carbs” in their catalogs. Maybe their rebuilders have found some magic formula to seal them up cuz if you just clean them and put a kit in them all most all of them are going to leak. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of the cores that are sent to them are rejected because of warped castings and of course at the customers expense, meaning that your paying shipping out and back for each rejection.

If your idle mixture adjustment does not stall the engine when it is seated them fuel being sucked into the Venturi through the gasket is what is keeping the engine running. It will most likely seem to run pretty good like this but your low fuel mileage will tell the tale.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Hi Denny
The stuff I purchased was a fel-pro gaskets (federal-mogul corp) 4 piece material assortment pak part # 3060, and used the 1/16 thick cork-rubber sheet it claims is for sealing oil, coolant, gasoline . the leaks stopped and the carb seems to be working quite well (for a Rochester B ) maybe I just got lucky :p I do remember the small ridge in the casting that helps seal the gasket was intact also . I am able to stall the motor when the idle adjustment screw is all the way in , so I think it’s sealing ok . I really can’t tell if the gas mileage is affected as the speedometer is dead . on the other hand I think that replacing the Rochester carb is a good choice and Carbkings opinion that their best use is a door stop is correct.
Brice

I have no problems with with my carter w-1 but I wouldn't suggest it. There rare and hard to find kits for. A rebuilt one runs 200+ and the kits if you ever need to rebuild them run 75+. You can find though rebuild info on them though. Even though carter doesn't have a manual look in a chevy manual there you will find it. The year I have is 42,47 chevy shop manual and it gives me all I need to know.

Another note is both of my stovebolts a 41 and 49 have carter w-1. My 49 carb went south needs to be rebuilt but unfortunately college had other ideas. So I swap it for my 41. Neither carb had been used for over 15 years the 41 nearly 35 years. So they are reliable just hard to find at least in my area.

Thanks for the numbers Brice, I'll take a look around and see if I can find that material. I’m willing to try anything, there is a solution if we look hard enough.

I will be the first one to admit that the Rochester "B" carb is a pain in the ars when it comes to keeping it from leaking. Putting that aside, from what I can see that’s it’s only flaw, although it is, a really BIG one. However it is well documented in this thread in lists, all over in manuals, archives, etc., that this carburetor was used for around 15 years by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of GM vehicles. If this carb had been a problem in its day the dealers complaints and the GSD would have certainly prompted GM to make some major changes or replacements. Not to say that there aren’t any out there, but I have yet to see any service bulletins from GM that refer to the warpage of the castings. They generally all address the adjustments and replacement of the consumables, i.e., accelerator pumps, needle and seat, gaskets, etc.

From my observations so far this year, the problem is not with the circuit design or performance of the carburetor but with the aging process of the Zinc casting over many decades. When you find one that is not warped or one that has been successfully cleaned, rebuilt and adjusted and one that does not suffer from a leaking problem, they are a simple, reliable metering device. They are easy to understand, easy to rebuild and easy to service. If you have a properly gasketed or sealed Rochester “B” its going to perform just fine through out the power range and give you good mileage just as any of the Carter carbs would. I have seen many AD’s this summer that are running the stock carburetors, some have the typical complaints of leakage to varying degrees and some guys very happy with them and no complaints at all. The later must have gotten good castings!

I have five “B”s here and am always on the lookout for more cores or parts to experiment with. After disassembling all of them, I’ve found numerous discrepancy in the way the PO’s had rebuilt/butchered/jerry rigged/altered/improperly reassembled them, in an attempt to get them to run right. Each of them really only has one major problem that could not be fixed by using the proper parts and rebuilding technique, and that is Aging/Zinc Creep/Warpage.

If fresh castings were being made new today you would have a fine little carburetor, at least for 10 or 20 years until the castings began to age and warp. Some day as fuel metering devices become more and more scarce someone might just invest in a set of molds to do just that, re-cast a bowl and air horn. But when that time comes I would hope they would give us six or eight #10-32 hold down screw around the perimeter instead of four and maybe a few round the Venturi.

I’m getting some encouragement from several other sources as to the possibility of successfully rebuilding the “B”, so I’m not giving up yet! New ideas are popping up every few days.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I had one on old black truck & it worked well after a simple soak & kit-truck got 16mpg & purred like a kitten, although it was obvious it had never been rebuilt before. I had another B on a 66 GMC that simply dumped fuel down the intake, the top was warped so bad fuel could be seen dripping off the venturi, & the idle mixutre screw was simply for looks. I guess time & many ham-handed rebuilds kills many B's. Have you tried eBay, sometimes NOS B carbs pop up? Yes, they would likely need a new pump but it would be new & possibly not warped.

Bikeman - I believe you will find that the use of the gasket material you have chosen will simply accelerate the rate of warpage. At least this is what we found when we tried that type of gasketing years ago.

Denny - the secret with the castings, is to only remove 0.003 warpage per heating. We restored quite a few of these that would last several years until the warpage was back. However, trying to remove .025 or so at one time resulted in other casting deformation, and the warpage came back much sooner.

And I would agree with you that the circuitry is not that bad (it is no better than the Carter W-1, and inferior to the Carter WA-1 and YF, but better than the Holley). But unless one is building an absolute numbers matching show car the end result (at least to me) does not justify the means. For the same money one spends to properly redo the B, one can have a "bullet-proof" Stromberg or Zenith; AND take the wife out to an expensive restaurant SEVERAL times.

Jon.

I am sure you are right on the fact the warpage will get worse, Carbking , but this carb was pretty much dead when I started so I felt I had nothing to lose . sooner or later I know I will have to upgrade , but it will be interesting to see how long it goes before then.
Brice

Another of the problems I've found with messing with Rochesters is how the float works. The float is divided like a fork with two floats on a long lever. If the floats don't have the same amount of buoyancy between the two of them you get torsion on the pivot point and the float tends to hang up, causing the fuel level in the bowl to be erratic. The original float in my B had a slight dent in one and a leak in the other, and even though it floated OK in a pan of water it was junk because it didn't float level. A replacement of the float and it has been working perfectly for 4 years, even though I let it go dry for weeks at a time.

Been there done that Brian, no luck on evil-bay.
I'd really be supprised to find a NOS Rochester "B" for a 216.

And Jon, that's the whole point of all this agonizing over the Rochester "B". I am as big of a nit-picker as the VCCA judges are and am trying to keep this truck as accurate as possible right down to the last bolt.
I would have to agree with you on using that thicker cork gasket material. First thing that came to mind was that you will concentrate the load at the screw bosses and if there is insufficient support there, it's probably going to result in your pull the casting down at this point quite easily. You have addressed the fact before that the major flaw in the "B" is that it only has four screws holding it together. if they had not skimped on this the carb would probably have survived many, many more decades. Interesting bit of information about how you sneak up on stress relieving the castings Jon. I wish you had mentioned that before I had relaxed several castings.

That’s one thing that hadn’t occurred to me Tony, the floats could apply an uneven load on the pivot. This may be what is adding to the leakage problem into the Venturi. I’ve been puzzled by the fact the there was enough negative pressure to pull fuel from the bowl into the throat even when sitting level at idle.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

That's pretty cool to see somebody really trying to get a used Roch B to run great again.
The time and patience alone that this requires is something to behold.

I owned 5 Roch Bs so far.
Only one was NOS and ran PERFECT - no exaggeration.
All others leaked to the point of being a fire hazard.

I had two Carter YFs, which are better than the Roch Bs but the Carter W-1s are really ideal for a street 235. Also my favorite organic looking carb of them all.
Zero troubles from day one on my daily driver. You can see how clean they are in my 235 link.
And those were ancient cores, that I rebuilt with Carbking's own handmade leather accelerator plungers as part of his great kits.

My latest find is the Stromberg !!
Wow - I replaced the dripping Roch B on my 216 and the engine roared to live with more power, immediate response and wonderful gas mileage.
This carb was NOS and I experimented and just mounted it as is ! - This 60 year old carb actually ran immediately straight out of it's original box! I still can't believe this every day I fire it up.
What a great carb in every respect- I love the clever fast idle feature on this carb.

I am using two Strombergs for my 261 which is in rebuilt right now.
These carbs are marvelous and even better than the W-1s.

I really will never use anything but Stromberg or Carter ever again.
These are just so good and problem free, it gives me so much joy and satisfaction, with every pulse coming out of the exhaust.

Denny - somewhere on this forum there is a thread discussing taking only 0.003 per heating, try the search function.

And there are still a few N.O.S. Rochester B's available, for both the 216 and the 235; but due to the "numbers matching" crowd, they are not inexpensive; and they are STILL Rochester B's.

Jon.

There ya go Chris, that’s the problem I’m facing right now. Wish I could run across one of those NOS “B’s. It certainly would have to be as flat as the proverbial pancake before I would buy it though, and I'm not exactly sure if it would be free of "Zinc creep" since age is a big factor in this process and not necessarily the fackt that it has been used.
What model are the Stromsburg’s that your running?

Jon, I take that to mean, “they are STILL Rochester B’s!” Meaning they should be on the scrap heap with the rest of them, right???? Well no sense in going back and looking for any past threads now. We have it down in black and white right here. As I usually do, I did my home work and I searched the archives for a couple of days when I first jumped into this project and never really found very much meaningful discussion on it.

I’m gonna mess with the floats some if I get a chance this week end. I am always very meticulous about setting the float levels and I was on this one especially since I did some machine work on the bowl and new that would change things a tad.

Judging by the response to this thread there certainly is a lot of interest in this subject. You would think that out of all of the Advance Design participants here, who are blessed with owning a RP carburetor that someone would have come up with some sort of ingenious solution. And indeed they might have, but are just gonna take it with them when they go. But for the rest of ya all that have shared this journey with me, a big thanks for your participation and contributions.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I have been struggling with the same drip/flooding problem. I have three carbs and have what I think is the best of my Rochester Bs on the truck right now. I have tried adjusting the float level down to the point that there is no flooding. However this leaned it out too much and it didn't run right. What it proved to me is that given enough force, the needle and seat will work. The needle and seat are new from a rebuild kit.

Anyhow I got reading my GM Carb servicing manual for 1952 and discovered that they had made two different needle and seat combinations. The ones for the 216 had a .76" orifice and the ones for the 235 had a .90" orifice. I reasoned that maybe the floats in the 235 model were larger and could supply more force to the needle. So I found a proper 216 needle and seat in one of my other carbs and I installed that. The float is set to spec and it doesn't flood at all. It also rune like a sewing machine.

I am thinking that it requires less force to shut off the .76 feed that the .90 feed. I am looking at this from a hydraulic pressure point of view.

Another side issue is that some of the older carbs had a ball in the bottom of the pump well and some didn't. None of the kits I had mentioned that ball at all.

For a 235 1955-57 engine stock daily driver..what would be the correct Zenith, Stromberg, and or Carter. I'm looking on ebay and elsewhere and model numbers would be of great help to all of us looking for those non- B carbs....Thanks and T/C Steve

This thread exemplifies everything the Stovebolt forums are about. My hat's off to all of you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experiences.

Thanks,

Don

Well, Fred, I’m certainly not a carburetion expert by any means, but I have been putting in quite a bit of time on the old Rochester “B” this summer. I have B’s from 1950(I think this was the first year) up to newer ones from the 60’s. As far as the needles & seats go every one of the ones that I have opened up have had a .090” nominal sized orifice. It would be my guess that every one of these have probably been rebuilt somewhere along the line, so what the original seats were drilled to is up for grabs.
Now as far as the floats go I feel pretty strongly that they all had the same size float size. Every one that I have disassembled and the new one I just bought from NAPA are the same. The only differences have been that some have a plated steel connecting/pivot arm and some are brass, of course all of the floats themselves are brass. Here’s a picture of a few from different carbs, off 216’s and 235’s;
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2245361820098611668tlMRdr
Isn't that BC a dandy, I just opened it up for the first time to match up the float to older ones. I have no idea what the white deposits are inside, I can't believe a couple ounces of fuel would leave that much residue. I picked it up at an antique shop for a few bucks.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,
that one used to run on dairy milk!

My 1952 model B manual details the two sizes of seats and then says that only the .90 will be stocked for rebuild parts. GM made model Bs for replacements of motors back into the 30s, even though the original was not a Rochester. In kind of a reverse situation, they thought the Rochester was the best!