Float keeps getting stuck
 

So I've done a full carb rebuild and have finally passes smog testing (by one point and just this morning). The needles and seats are from my parts carb and in good condition. The problem is that every time I accelerate hard and then eventually come to a stop, the car stalls and I find out the front float is stuck, again... My thought is that it's dropping too far and somehow dislodging under hard acceleration when there is a little less fuel in the bowls. The fuel level in the bowls is spot on at idle and it only happens after having accelerated quickly. Thoughts?

EDIT: The float is getting stuck down and flooding the engine, not starving it.

Well... just over a week later and the problem persists. I've since swapped the springs and clips on the needles so that the front float and all matches the rear exactly. Still, the front is sticking and flooding after hard acceleration. The only thing I haven't done is swapped the seat and I'm thinking that's the last thing it could be. Has anyone had a problem like this before? A bit in the dark about this one, I've never had a float stick like this. As a side note, this is the same needle/seat combo that was in my '80 carb before I swapped it into my '82 and it ran great before.

Thanks in advance.

Have you looked at the metal tang on that float? If it have been adjusted it may no longer have the correct curved shape, or could have some damage from pliers. That's enough to get hung up. Or down in this case.

I can check it for sure tomorrow, but if I remember correctly, it's still curved but might have plier damage. I have been adjusting them a lot lately so that could definitely be it. As of now the floats are at the right level so no further adjustment is needed.

I've just had a thought. The SA floats have a much wider tab on them and they are the one one thing I didn't swap from the other carb. Maybe that would be worth a shot before I go swapping seats. They are also shaped slightly different, so I'm not sure if that would cause problems.

The little clip thing on the needles on 81-85 can't be used with SA floats due to the wider tang.

Does that work the other way around too? Right now I have the SA clip things on the 81-85 floats. Although maybe not since the later tangs are narrower it doesn't seem like that would cause an issue. The clips I'm using are slightly shorter than the other ones I have. Is there a way to differentiate between the early and later clips?

Well I think I've fixed the problem. Swapped the SA floats in and it seems good so far with accelerating hard a couple times and not dying. I guess we'll find out over the next week or so.

New problem though. Fuel pump is really loud. As in, the car has a minimal exhaust - high-flow cat and "muffler"- and you can hear the pump while driving around. I think my filter is clogged again and thus it's cavitating (last summer I dropped the tank to check for rust and clean it. Rust free but the coating was and still is coming off. This summer I'll bring it to a local rad shop to get it all cleaned up and sealed). Anyways, I'll try the filter and if that doesn't fix it I'll update.

Thanks

My stock build is so quiet at idle the fuel pump is the loudest thing you hear... and has been for decades.

Hmm.... Well my fuel pump is still making noise. It sounds sort of squeaky or rattling. I changed the filter (I had a clear filter on so I could see what it caught) and it was almost full of what looked like rust flakes. Certainly not confidence inspiring. It was a little better after the change but now it's noisy again, although not quite as loud. What's the chance the pump is bad compared to my filter just clogging up all the time. Is it bad to run the pump for the time being while it's noisy?