I looked in the faq and the closest thing i found was the nikki strip down tutorial... but i was just curious if anyone had a nikki rebuild tutorial with like step by step instructions and pictures and such, Just asking because i got my rebuild kit last night and figured the more literature the better!! also, my kit didnt come with floats.... would it be a bad idea to just clean mine and reuse them?? Thanks to you all! K.C.

 

I did my 1st ever rebuild per the FSM and it worked out fine. Make sure you keep everything organized.

 

The Carb manual that can be DL'ed from Sgt Fox's page is the best reference I've seen. Step by step with all required illustrations drawn as exploded diagrams.

 

Disassemble the carb and soak the jets and other parts overnight. I find Gunk Cold parts cleaner in a 1 gallon can at Advance. If you can find it, Berrymans carb cleaner is good too. Blow out all the passages and jets with compressed air before reassembly. Don't loose the tiny weights and *****. There is one set under the accelerator pump nozzle and another in the accelerator pump intake check valve. Once you have removed all the jets, turn the carb body over carefully on a cloth and the weights and ***** will fall out. If you have a digital camera, take pictures so you know where everything was. GP Sorrenson makes a good rebuild kit.

Here's some links that will help.
79-85 carb manual

84 Carb Pictures

85 Factory Service Manual

 

ok, i have been drinkin lol, and decided to ask a few a few more questions... first off, the kit doesnt come with floats... so the question is, to reuse the old floats after cleaning them or not too? next question is that my starter went out and its gooing to be delivered to autozone, im thinking since i cant get it till tuesday, and im off friday saturday and sunday, i should rebuild the carb and when i get the starter i can get it all working together.... i mean if the starter is working correctly ill know... just give me some advice please. thanks. K.C.

 

New floats are only needed if yours are cracked and fuel is leaking into them. This almost never happens.

 

cool news. Thanks man. Ill take a look at them when i take the carb apart. Thnks.

 

Ok, ima hold off on rebuilding the carb. Im going to pick the parts car up tomorrow morning. Im going to pull the carb off of it and rebuild it, then put it on mine... thataway i have something to compare to when hooking up all the vaccuum lines and stuff. Thought it was a better idea than forgetting everything... :-) plus ill have a better idea of how to pull my carb off on the car im planning on driving, i really dont want to mess it up!

 

A digital camera should be on anyone's carb or engine rebuild tool list... Worth it's weight in gold, if you shoot the hell out of everything as it comes apart.

I've got literally hundreds if not thousands of work-in-progress photos on the PC... and they don't cost a dime since I don't have to print 'em out.

Besides, it lets you play "alien autopsy" while you work, heheh.

 

The Haynes manual has the best detail on carb rebuilds.

 

Also the GP Sorenson Nikki rebuild kit (part number 96-550, $28 at Autozone, a very good quality kit) has a detailed exploded view of all the rebuild parts, a nice summary for those who like pictures better than reading the manuals.

Also having a spare carb on hand as a reference has become an absolute requirement for my carb rebuilds, sometimes answers questions even the photos can't.