Replacing a Marvel carburetor

[Guest oakland]

I posted this on the Oakland/Pontiac forum, but got no response so far, so I will try here. I have a 29 Oakland with a Marvel carburetor. The car seems to run Ok, until it warms up, then I have to keep pulling out the choke to get it to keep running. I had a new fuel pump built by The Antique Auto Celler and installed it. I think the problem is in the Marvel carburetor, which I understand isn't the best in the world. Is there a replacement carburetor I could use. I was told that a Carter BB1 would bolt right on and work fine. Does anyone know if this is true, and if so where can I find one. If not, I would appreciate any input. Thank you.

[carbking]

There are a number of different replacement carburetors available, including the BB1 SERIES of Carter carbs. There are some 60 different versions of the BB1, and only a few will fit, and only 2 will work well without modification. Zenith and Stromberg also made replacement carburetors. It is always important to get the proper replacement.

Jon.

[Guest oakland]

Can you tell me what 2 versions of the Carter BB1 will work without modification? Also if you know, where can I locate a replacement either a Carter, Zenith or Stromberg? Thank you.

[Mark Shaw]

Try this site:

http://www.zenithfuelsystems.com/updraft_267ec.htm

[Mark Shaw]

I still run original Marvel carbs in all but my 13 Buick which had a Schebler carb. I now run a BB1 so I can reliably tour in this car.

In my other Buicks, I use full choke to start & usually need to keep the choke out 1/3 to 1/2 until the engine warms up. This is seems to be the norm for Buicks with a working heat riser.

The most common cause of Marvel carb problems seems to be the need to replace the 80 year old cork float to maintain the correct fuel level so the main jet works properly. You can use Super Glue & wine corks to make a big enough replacement cork to fit in the float bowl. Make it as big as possible to last longer. Coating the cork is not necessary, & will gum up everything when the ethanol additives in modern gas dissolve the coating.

Also, the main jet can develop small cracks that can easily be soldered to solve the problem. Just run a small drill bit through the jet after soldering to make sure the solder does not restrict flow.

The alternative is to flip the intake manifold and use a Rochester carb from a "stovebolt six" GM engine. There are several models of this carb...with and without automatic choke. My son is considering doing this on his 29 Buick. If you keep all the original parts, this modification can easily be reversed for show cars.