Hello there. I've got a carb problem after my recent rebuild and I'm wondering if this could explain my symptoms.

First, the symptoms. After the rebuild, the car started and idled fine. On the test drive, the car sputtered a lot over 3,000 Rpm. Also, the car was very slow to rev and would not redline. It seemed to me that the secondaries were not kicking in. Also, there seemed to be fuel leak at the base of the carb.

In the first photo you can see the paper gasket that I didn't put on after the rebuild. I'm assuming this was the source of my fuel leak.

The second photo shows the spring in the bimetal housing. Am I correct in assuming that the cam my screwdriver is pointing at needs to fit into the slot on the spring that my finger is pointing at? I'm pretty sure it wasn't after my rebuild. Could this be causing my secondaries to not work?

 

As for the gasket in the picture... I used it on mine, but I've heard its not necessary when you use the phenolic spacer. I don't have a problem using the gasket on my car so why not?




In the second pic it seems like the man spring looking device you have in your hand has something to do with the choke. I'm not using a choke so that's outa my league. BUT if you're having issues with moving air (like choking up at 3k) then I'd assume this has a lot to do with your problem.

 

The bitmetal spring doubles as a choke "heater" or "timer" to open the door, and as the part of the linkage that pushes the choke flap arm into the linkage. Without it, the door will just flap around and not be pulled open by your choke pull...

 

I don't use the gaskets that come in rebuild kits. I also don't use the bimetal spring because I remove the choke flap from my carbs and swap out the short slow air bleeds for a set of custom drilled ones to about 1.18mm or .0465". The stock ones are about 1.70mm and are only useful if the stock choke system is intact and functional. Otherwise they are grossly oversized and lead to all kinds of bad running while cold.

 

I got it working and it runs, but only on the primaries. The secondaries aren't doing anything and it sputters a lot unless you're on the gas. When accelerating, it'll only accelerate up to about 4,000 rpm before it runs out of oomph. When I upshift it'll pull again until about 5,000 rpm when the engine seems to max itself out. It'll do 70 mph but there is no passing power at all.

At this point I'm seriously considering getting rid of the car...

 

So you want to get rid of the car because the carb doesn't work? A lot of people are into these cars because they like the car itself or the engine, not necessarily for the carb. However the Nikki is an amazing carb that will wow you more than a Holley or weber or any other aftermarket carb out there. But at this point you have to work with what you can. So if the carb is throwing you for a loop, maybe consider selling the car to someone who can do more with it.

 

It's not just the carb. I'm looking at replacing both bumpers, a dowel pin leak, a bad transmission bearing, and some odd noise that sounds like wheel bearings but I just replaced them...

I've put a lot of work into making the interior presentable and the car is primed and ready for paint. I just wish it ran smooth. I'm not expecting it to be as smooth as my RX-8 but this carburetor has me vexed.

 

This is the car I bought several months ago. Tomorrow, I'll post some photos of where I am now with the project.