My '80 has been sitting for a couple of years and I need to get it running again. Looks like the carb is full of gas gunk and it won't run without starting fluid. I pulled the Nikki off of it thinking i could find a local shop to rebuild it, but no one wants to touch it. I've looked at rebuilding it myself but i've never done a carburetor before and it looks pretty daunting. Does anyone know any place that i could send it where they'd do the rebuild and ship it back?

Thanks!

 

Its not hard but never use the new needles or seats and don't mess with the floats.

Have you tried spraying it real good with carb cleaner including into the bores and into each of the fuel inlet lines and then letting it sit. Then put it back on and try running it. You never know it may get better. Also running Seafoam thru it can sometimes ungunk things.

Make sure you have fresh gas and a new filer as well. It may not be just the carb thats at issue here.

If you decide to rebuild it, get a large white sheet and disassemble on that so you don't lose weights and ***** when they come out.

If you send it out make sure to get some good recent recommendations from folks on here so you don't end up with a boat anchor when you get it back.

 

I'm really tempted to order the rebuild kit and give it a try, i'm just worried I'm going to miss a check ball or spring somewhere and end up with a bigger headache than i have now. Despite the carb being such a pain to remove from the intake, i'm considering your suggestion of just cleaning it thoroughly with seafoam and carb cleaner; I think the only issue is that the bowls aren't filling up. Is it possible to basically bench-test one of these? I'm wondering if i can hook up fuel feed and return lines and work the throttle until the jets spray cleanly. When i started the car about a year ago it would run as long as i gave it a little throttle but it wouldn't idle. Now it won't run at all without pouring fuel directly into the venturis.

On that note, maybe someone can answer this question. The fuel return line that goes back to the tank, should that be free flowing? I hooked a vacuum pump up to the fuel feed line and eventually got consistent fuel to come through it and now the fuel pump works like it should, but when i hook the vacuum pump up to the return side it will hold a 15in vaccum. Is it supposed to do that?

 

The return line has a restrictor in it near the end that attaches to the carb. It may be clogged. Try pulling the hose and looking to see what it looks like in there and if it is blocked. I don't remember exactly the restrictor looks like but it kind of looks like a fuel jet.

 

It's the hose that goes back to the tank that i put a vacuum on, then i put about 15lbs of pressure on it with an air nozzle but it didn't see to be moving any air. I would think that if i disconnect the return line from the carb and put pressure on it, i should hear air blowing inside the fuel tank?

 

Yep

 

So the plot thickens. Instead of rebuilding the carb, i took your advice and flushed it really well with carb cleaner and seafoam. I pulled both sight glasses and drained the gunk fuel and cleaned thoroughly with carb cleaner. I filled my brake bleed container up with fuel and seafoam and put about 10 pounds of fuel pressure on the inlet of the carb and after a while the bowls filled up and the jets started to run clean fuel. I put the carb back on and the car started without too much fuss(definitely better than before) but it wouldn't stay running. I tested the fuel pump at the firewall and it was very weak, not putting out nearly enough fuel. I pulled it from the car and tested it on the bench and it flows about a quart a minute like it's supposed to. So I hooked my vacuum pump up the the newly replaced fuel filter and i'm only getting a trickle out of it.

So at this point it's a fuel delivery issue between the filter and the tank. Anyone have any recommendations on how to clear that?

 

Might be time to drop the tank.

 

There is a guy on eBay & he is offering a 'Re-build' service on YOUR carburetor... I think he charges like $300 or something...

could be the ticket for Ya??