carbking

In 1938 Dodge used STROMBERG carburetors on passenger vehicles, CARTER carburetors on trucks. Jon.

Doug - if the choke is functioning correctly: Pick a time when the ambient temperature is between 65~70 degrees F. Now set the choke butterfly on a cold engine to just TOUCH closed (no tension). Jon.

If you had a mechanic that had one each of the carburetors which had been professionally rebuilt. Then if he/she installed one on the car while your back was turned, and sealed the hood, and then drove the car for 1000 miles. Then you brought it back and he/she installed the other and sealed the hood, and you drove another 1000 miles. You would observe NO difference in the way the car performed. Among enthusiasts, Carter does enjoy a better reputation than either Rochester or Stromberg. Why??? Because back in the 1960's up to about 1985 or so Carter had a "Competition" department. The competition department had telephone technicians that would help an enthusiast that had modified their engines (cams, higher compression, etc.) that required carburetor modifications. Due to the metering rod design, the Carter is much easier to modify than either the Rochester or the Stromberg; and Carter offered aftermarket parts! The Rochester and/or Strombergs can also be modified but the modifications are more difficult. But on a basically stock engine, where no carburetor modifications are necessary........no difference. Jon.

Virtually ALL of the Stromberg records from this period had been destroyed before I obtained what remained. Layden's answer is pretty much spot on, although the year range extended a couple of years after 1911. http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/STROMBERGUPDRAFTCARBURETORS.htm More "parts" information remained from this period than applications. Remember that as carburetor technology improved, service replacement units (newer type carbs) would be offered, and the company kept the applications prints for current production. Jon.

Try this link: http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm#Hardstartcold Jon.

There is some very useful information on these things including a cutaway view in the Dykes Carburetor Supplement (to the Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia). Jon.

Nor have I. Jon.

This issue became an issue prior to ethanol becoming prevalent. Ethanol causes its share of problems, let us not blame it erroneously. Sometime in the mid to late 1970's the EPA changed the composition of the fuel resulting in much higher vapor pressures. If you take a modern downdraft carburetor and remove the bowl cover, and fill the bowl maybe 2/3 full of modern fuel and watch.....you can actually watch the fuel climb the walls (sides) of the bowl and over. Jon.

Unfortunately, normal with todays fuel for virtually ALL carburetors, not just BB1's. It is a political issue (which we do not discuss here), not a carburetor issue. Jon.

Here is a link that will show you what was originally used: http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Kpontiac1.htm Jon.

I honestly do not know. We have several hundred Kingston carburetors which are unidentified, and no time to identify them. I would have to look, but I think we do have one of the Stewarts. Jon.

Now I REALLY like this idea!!! Thanks Bernie! Jon.

Dave - I am glad you your issue is now solved (and also glad you liked our kit ). Sometime if you take a carburetor bowl, clean it, and place it on your workbench in an upright position; then fill it to the normal fuel level with modern fuel and observe what happens. You may be surprised to find the fuel actually "climbs" the wall of the bowl right up to the top. So while "sloshing" certainly occurs, the fuel would get to the gasket surface even if the vehicle is sitting in your garage. You will note that one of the mating surfaces will normally have a "sealing ridge" (see picture): http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Rochestersealingridge.jpg This is a picture of a new old stock casting. Note that the sealing ridge does have some imperfections (these things were mass produced, not individually machined). The purpose of the ridge was/is to "bite" into the gasket and seal as well as possible. But even a new casting will, to use your term, "wick" fuel. The wicking can become somewhat worse as the zinc alloy develops minor surface cracks over time, and MUCH worse when some mis-guided individual attempts to correct a warped surface by filing it flat (thus removing the ridge). In a nutshell: If it is a "driver", the fuel seepage is quite normal. If it is a "showcar", a toothbrush can be a useful cleanup tool right before the show. Jon.

Miss E - A couple of things that may (or may not) help: (1) This link to our website may explain your hard starting when hot problem http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm#Hardstarthot (2) Quote "I noted that from all other information I've found I should have a Stromberg carb and I have a Carter instead. (Hope I've got the names right!". In 1937 Buick used both Marvel and Stromberg carburetors. The Marvel was simply terrible; the Stromberg was better, but still an experimental model (Stromberg couldn't convince Buick NOT to use the Delco auto choke). The Stromberg had other issues as well. Stromberg redesigned the carb in 1938 and again in 1939. By 1939, they got it right. In 1939, Buick finally disassociated themselves from Marvel, and added Carter as the second carburetor supplier to go along with Stromberg. At Buick's request, BOTH STROMBERG AND CARTER OFFERED REPLACEMENT CARBURETORS FOR THE 1937 AND 1938 BUICKS. If you have the factory replacement Carter, there is no better carb you could have on the car. The following is my professional opinion of the carbs which might have been used on your car with a scale of 1 (terrible) to 10 (wonderful). Again, this is my opinion, others may differ. 1937 Marvel - 2 1937 Stromberg - 5 1938 Marvel - 3 1938 Stromberg - 6 1939 Stromberg - 8.5 1939 Carter - 8.5 And just for the record, when I was still teaching school, 6 out of 10 was a "D". Reiterating, the Carter you have may be the best carb you could have. Before tearing into the carburetor, get the water issue solved, and try the technique for hard starting when the engine is hot mentioned in the link. And finally, while not my cup of tea; to my Dad, the 1937 and 1938 Buicks were the most desirable pre-WWII cars available. Congratulations on your purchase. Jon.

Virtually all carburetors have an idle and fast idle setting. Between the two, one can set and hold virtually any RPM up to maybe 2500 on a post-WWII vehicle. Since the idle and fast idle are the last two settings one makes after the tune-up anyway; keeping the original settings is not mandatory. Save the money you would have spent on the gimmick for gasoline. Jon.

Chrysler used both Carter type BBR and Stromberg type AA carbs in 1947. The float pictured appears to be Carter. As to identification: The Carter type BBR beginning in 1939 did not use a tag on most units. Try this: (1) Orient the carburetor such that the fuel inlet is on your right (2) Observe the vertical strengthening vane which bisects the top casting beginnin at the fuel inlet and ending at the air inlet (3) ON THE SIDE OF THE VANE YOU ARE FACING, observe some STAMPED letters an number along the obleque top of the vane (4) K7These stamped letters and numbers are a date code and the identification The identification may be in the form ccn where the cc is two characters and the n is a number (eg. EV1) OR it may take the form cncn (eg E7A1). The date code will be in the form my where m is a letter representing the month (A for January, B for February, etc.) and y is the last digit in the year (eg K7 would be November 1947). As to testing and repair of a brass float, the following is a cut and paste from our website, ignore the sales pitch: BRASS FLOATS Many mechanics have been conditioned to ask for a float each time they rebuild a carburetor, due to the reasonable price of modern, mass-produced floats, and the propensity of nitrophyl (foam) floats to absorb gasoline after time. In dealing with older, NON-CURRENT-PRODUCTION brass floats, neither of the above are true, and a mechanic should attempt to 'save' the float if at all possible. The first step is to clean the float and inspect it for obvious damage. Small dings and dents are quite common, even in unused floats, and occurred when the manufacturer shipped the floats in bulk. Major dents (generally caused by water freezing in the carburetor) are not generally repairable. If one can hear liquid sloshing around inside the float, skip to the next paragraph. If the float looks to be reasonably damage-free, it should be tested. Testing is accomplished by grasping the float arm with a pair of needle-nose pliers, and submerging the float in very hot water. The hot water will pressurize the air inside the float, and a leaky float will blow a stream of bubbles. If the float should need repair, it is important to understand how the float was originally produced. Virtually all brass float pontoons (the floating part) are composed of two pieces (a few are more) of brass soldered together. The pieces differ in the seam area, as one piece has a male seam and the other a female seam. One float piece will also have a small hole for temperature equilization. This hole will be covered by a small drop of solder, and will be as far from the seam as possible. The manufacturer would solder the two pieces together, allow the float to cool completely, AND THEN close the equilization hole. Soldering MUST be done using a soldering 'iron'. Repair should not be attempted using either a torch, or a soldering gun. If you plan on disregarding this advice, read the next paragraph first! The following procedure works for us (no, we will not repair your float unless we restore the entire carburetor): First, if liquid is present inside the float, find the hole, and remove the liquid by placing the hole down inside the hot water. The pressure will force the liquid from the float. If the float has much liquid, it may be necessary to remove the float from the hot water, allow the float to cool, and repeat the hot water dip. Once the liquid has been removed, and the leak has been marked, open the equilization hole by removing the solder. Solder the leak closed using as little solder as possible. A small piece of tape over the equilization hole will allow the hot water test to be preformed. If there are no leaks, remove the tape, and ALLOW THE FLOAT TO COOL COMPLETELY before closing the equilization hole. A final test, and you have 'saved' a valuable float. In the event of a float which cannot be saved, or one that is missing, or incorrect, The Carburetor Shop has an excellent selection of USED floats dating back to the early teens. These floats are inspected, cleaned, and tested by us; and are sold only with the purchase of a carburetor kit. With no offense meant to anyone, THESE FLOATS ARE NOT RETURNABLE FOR ANY REASON.

Just a suggestion: If you feel it absolutely necessary to change to the pertronixs, remember that all electronics require a stable voltage. AN UPGRADE TO AN ALTERNATOR WILL MINIMIZE IDLE ISSUES YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE ENCOUNTER. Jon.

Without knowing the tag number of the exact carburetor to which you are referring: MOST type WCFB carburetors have the ball under a retainer which is located UNDER the accelerator pump. Removing the accelerator pump reveals a steel retainer that resembles a "top hat" with two horizonal half moon grooves. This retainer is pressed into the bottom of the pump well and covers the check ball. These are VERY DIFFICULT to remove without the special Carter tool (currently made from unobtainium). Most don't realize this pressed-in item needs to come out during a rebuild if the ball under the retainer is stuck. As Adam mentioned, the ball is a one-way valve which allows fuel to be drawn into the pump well when the accelerator pump is lifted. The ball closes when the accelerator pump is pressed down preventing the fuel from going back into the bowl, and the discharge valve (under the pump discharge nozzle a.k.a. squirter) opens, allowing the fuel to discharge properly. Jon.

The floats themselves ARE DIFFERENT. The 12 and 16 use the same float but the 8's use a different float. Without disassembling two carburetors, I am not certain about the arms. Jon.

The K & D wasn't the world's greatest carburetor. If they were ever used on anything except a couple of years of Maxwell, I have never found evidence of additional usage. Maxwell used some other obscure carburetors (Zephyr, Johnson, and Eagle) before going to Zenith and Stewart in the early 1920's. The Zenith was an excellent carburetor in its day, but time has caused the zinc alloy venturi to "grow" which has cracked the cast iron housing on virtually all of the ones used by Maxwell. The Stewart was and is an excellent carburetor. If I owned a Maxwell, and wanted to drive it with an "original" carburetor, the Stewart is the one I would use. There are also some excellent aftermarket carburetors available. Jon.

Disposing of hundreds, perhaps thousands of old maps, tour guides, travel brochures, etc. that belonged to my parents. My parents enjoyed travel, and acquired travel information to guide them. This stuff starts in the 1970's and continues through to about 2003 or so. There should be information for 49 of the 50 states, most provinces of Canada, and a little from Mexico. There is nothing from Hawaii. The motorhome wouldn't float, and Dad wouldn't fly. Let me know what state or states in which you are interested, and I will get you a rough listing of what I have and the total. Please include your address, so I can figure shipping. Will wholesale as an entire lot per state. Not going to sell individual items. Due to weight considerations, and the fact this stuff is going to be sold cheap, WILL NOT SHIP OUTSIDE OF THE 48 CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES. If you want an older map or tour guide for your older car, or you want to sell this stuff on Ebay, now is your opportunity. 573-392-7378 (9-4 Mon-Tues central time). Jon.

If the engine is now starting and accelerating well, the idle is probably adjustment. BOTH SPARK ADVANCE and carburetor need to be considered in the idle adjustment. Jon.

Since Jim brought up the revision code (I believe Carter referred to it as an engineering status code), I am posting the following from my website which will explain further: Carter numbering systems. Three different types of numbering systems are found on Carter produced carburetors. (1) On carburetors built for Chrysler Corporation, a series of 3, 4, or 5 letters and numbers; i.e. EV1 or D6H2. (2) On carburetors built for Ford Motor Company, the “Ford” numbering system which is “lnll – l(l)(l)” or letter, number, letter, letter dash letter (possible letter) (possible letter) i.e C5VF-A. This system is codified in that the first letter is the decade (B=1950’s, C=1960’s, etc.); the number is the last digit in the year; the 3rd and 4th letters (before the dash) represent the vehicle model (VF=Lincoln); and the letter or letters after the dash are a modifier which distinguishes the exact application. Thus in the example C5VF-A, the carburetor would have been the first application for Lincoln in the year 1965. (3) The traditional Carter numbering system which consisted of 1, 2, 3, or 4 digits; followed by the letter “S”, possibly followed by another letter. It is extremely doubtful that any of the single, double, or early triple digit tags will appear; as they were produced before 1930 and were constructed of red cardboard. The metal tag appeared about 1930 with tag numbers of about 300s. The 4 digit tag appeared in 1952, and was continued on until the end. The letter S and following letters, when present, have caused much speculation (mostly incorrect). In Carter’s terminology, an individual part such as an idle mixture screw was a single part; whereas two or more individual parts sold together such as a needle, seat, and gasket were sold as an “assembly”. Carter used the suffix letter S to denote assembly. Since all carburetors are composed of multiple parts, the letter S was appended to all carburetors using the traditional numbering system i.e. 938s. If a significant engineering change was made to the carburetor, the letter “A” would be appended to the S (i.e. 938sa). A second change would have the letter A replaced by the letter B (i.,e. 938sb). The highest engineering change of which I am aware is 4 i.e.938sd. Contrary to popular belief, the S DID NOT mean standard transmission, nor the SA automatic transmission. The highest engineering status revision on the AFB carburetors was "C", and only on the 2640s used by FoMoCo. Carter produced 505 different models of the AFB; still one of my all-time favorite carburetors. Wish Carter were still making them today (yes, Virginia, I know there are clones available, but they aren't the real thing!). Jon.

Carter used a few "week" "month" "year" dates in 1961, 1962 and 1963. However, I have seen only A's, B's, and C's, never a D. Certainly not all carbs produced during this time used the 3 character date. While the 3503s was modified into the 3503sa, there is nothing in the Carter original documentation to indicate that the 3665s was so modified. In the "for what its worth" category, the 3503sa used a different throttle body than the 3503s. Jon.

This was one of the carburetors sold by Borg-Warner. There is some evidence that it was originally designed by Rayfield, and other evidence that it was original designed by Johnson. It was sold under at least the titles of Borg-Warner, Johnson, Marvel-Schebler, Rayfield, and Wizard. They were also available from the mail-order companies. There were at least 3 different models: straight-flange, cross-flange, and flange rotated 30 degrees. I have no record of any of the selling companies offering a rebuilding kit; it was basically sold as a throw-away to those customers too frugal to buy a rebuilding kit for their original carburetor. I also have no record of any aftermarket company ever offering parts for these units. Jon.