Re: Gas Adjusting Valve

Posted by Marco Tahtaras on February 14, 1998 at 01:15:59

In Reply to: Gas Adjusting Valve
posted by Brian Burkert on February 13, 1998 at 21:44:32

: Fellows,
: I was getting little brass shavings in my Zenith carb bowl.They'd work their way around in there until they would clog something and shut the car down.The shavings were coming from somewhere in the carburetor itself.As the GAV needle is the only significant moving part in the carb, I looked there.I found that the GAV housing was too tight where the needle protrudes form it.There was scoring on the needle in that area.This must have been the source of the shavings.
: The needle and housing were repro parts.The repro housings have a little steel ring around the base.Did the originals have this steel ring?I read that one should remove this ring when installing a new housing.I bought another new needle and housing, but this time I removed the ring.The valve works much easier now and I haven't had a shutdown yet.Could the solution be so simple?Has anyone out there had a similar experience?Any feedback is appreciated.
: Brian Burkert
: The Model "A" Kid
: Fleetwood, PA
: bburkert@yahoo.com
Brian,
Maybe someone can offer more info on the shavings as I can't help on that. However, all adjusting needle housings have a spring steel ring as you describe. In the past I have restored used originals because all the repros I've seen had an oversized hex (only matters to a nut!). When I did my Roadster I used an unused original (NOS), and found that the adjuster was much tighter than I was accustomed to. I removed the ring and spead it over a tapered punch (tapping it to keep it round) until I had the tension I was comfortable with.
If you have enough tension that the adjuster won't walk, you should be OK. I would keep the ring in case it gets to loose. If the needle has a groove worn (or cut) in, I would replace it. Anyone who as been at this a while will have many spares to share since they are usually bad only if over tightened.
You never know what you will encounter! I had a mosquito slip into the carburator vent hole in Toranto, Canada. It's amazing what those little wings can do to an otherwise well tuned carb!!!
Regards,
Marco

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