Yep, that is why I use a flathead or "slotted" impact screwdriver to get the 30 year old screws loosened. Then I can spin them out with a US-spec phillips Crapsman screwdriver. Then to install, I spin them back in with the phillips and finally snug them with a slotted Crapsman screwdriver. It never slips or eats screw heads when you do it this way.

I also don't believe in replacing all the screws with clunky allen head screws like Sterling and Yaw always did. Those are kinda stupid. They claimed it was to make it easier to remove the top for tuning. I'm like "guys, I've had tops on and off of Nikkis hundreds of times, and I've never had a problem using the two screwdriver method on stock screws. Ever" But some folks feel like they need to reinvent the wheel for some reason.

We all go through this phase.

Like them recommending garbage quality Holley dominator air bleeds as fuel jets. Not only is the funnel shape inferior, which leads to corning problems, but they also have huge gaps between sizes making fine tuning impossible. That's why I recommend actual nearly factory spec Hitachi jets which can allow fine tuning as they are sized every two hundredths of a millimeter, and fit our carbs perfectly. Only issue is their sizes don't translate to a stock carb 92 and 160), but then the factory Nikki jets are correct for a stock sized carb anyway, so no need to change them. You only need to tune it if you change venturi size or reduce you secondary mani air bleeds down to 80 like I do for boost. Smaller air bleeds = smaller jets at about 145 or so (which jetsrus doesn't sell anyway as their biggest size is 138 so a set of micro drill bits is pretty much necessary if you really want to dive deep into these carbs).

I guess Sterling and Yaw didn't know about the Hitachi jets. I didn't either until a few months ago. But then Sterling and Yaw liked imperial measurements like how the hol dom bleeds are sized, which I can't stand. The Nikki is a metric carb. It makes sense, to my mind, to use metric jets. Your thoughts?

A link for Hitachi pilot jets and main jets. Get acquainted with the sizes available. Hitachi carburetor jets and parts main jet slow air pilot kit

 

For my stripped Nikkii I bought stainless steel philips head screws at Ace hardware and replaced the factory screws. That was before I had an Impact screwdriver. They look good.

 

lol, the allen screws were the best thing about the sterling! on a street car, the stock stuff is fine, on a race car it might make sense to have something quicker.

i dunno WTF was up with the holley jets though, they don't fit?

 

Well, you got me there on the allens, I guess. I do like to take my time and do things right.

The crap holley bleeds kind of fit, because the threads are close, but they don't work worth anything, unless you like stumbles around corners. I understand this plagued Sterlings and Yaws and that's why they recommended Grose jets to replace the needles and seats, and RX-3 floats; those big heavy clunky chunky floats that displace a lot of fuel and don't seem to work right for boost, which is what I'm all about these days.

They were a band-aid fix to cover for the crappy holley air bleeds' tendency to stumble in corners. I experienced this myself on Jingkun's SVT carb which had the holleys in it. It didn't dawn on me until after it was shipped back to him that THAT was the cause of the problems all those carbs had. Otherwise I would have swapped in some stockers or Hitachis to do some back to back testing to prove my theory. Oh well. There's always next time. Like if I ever get my hands on a Yaw or Sterling, I'll be sure to test the jets.

 

Ohmmmmmm.........