Carter choke linkage

[Guest rnoswal]

I have a Carter carb back on my 64 Riviera but I am missing the parts mentioned. The arrows point to the 2 areas where the levers are needed along with the screws and any other pieces. Also the linkage is needed. The upper is a simple piece but the lower has the teeth that enables the idle to speed up when the choke is engaged, cold. I am sure it had the attachment that allows the a/c solenoid to speed up the idle when the a/c is turned on too.

It is a Carter AFB.

Thanks

Russ

[Jim Cannon]

There is no A/C idle RPM speed-up solenoid on a '64 Carter AFB. You set the idle speed up a bit, compared to a non-A/C car.

These guys have some of the parts you need:

Carter 4 AFB Parts Page

You can also contact some of the carb rebuilders to see what parts they can scavenge for you from cores.

[RivNut]

Russ,

Looking at the exterior linkage on that AFB you have tells me it's from a '66 Buick. There's no provision for actuating the kickdown properly with the carb that's on your engine now.

The '64 carb will have a roller on the linkage that depresses the kickdown switch.

Ed

[Guest rnoswal]

Thanks Jim for the link, excellent! I have a lot to learn about my Riv. I haven't found the cable for the kickdown yet. Let me ask you this. My car is a 64 with a 425. On the transmission selector it starts at park, reverse, neutral, D then L. Could it still be a 3 speed or could it even be the older 2 speed tranny? The A/C solenoid switch is what was on the car when I got it a few months ago. My car has factory air and the controls for it are sliders below the radio.

It takes a while to know the different things on a car and I am learning. I sure appreciate the expert eyes. I did get a service manual for the car but haven't looked at more than just browsing through it but I do have a lift in my shop and will take a closer look at it tomorrow. Right now all I remember is the vacuum modulator on the passenger side which has a metal line that fits nicely to the rear fitting on this carb. I saw a speedo cable and what I am guessing is the electric lockout for not starting the car in gear. Thats it for now. It is not laying on the top of the engine nor is there a bracket hodling that cable.

Thanks for the help and input so far.

Russ

[RivNut]

Russ,

Do you remember in my previous post that I referred to the linkage on the carburetor telling me it was a '66 carb and that it had no provisions for the kick down? The reason you can't find a kickdown rod is because the kick downs on all TH400's (Buick called its version a ST400) are electric. That plunger looking apparatus with the orange rubber seal is your kick down switch. A yellow wire runs to it from the fuse box (same fuse as the wipers) and the other wire is a ground wire. When the switch is depressed, 12V is sent to a solenoid inside the transmission and your passing gear (kick down) is electronically activated. A correct '64 carb has a roller on the linkage to accutate that switch.

The ST400 in the '64 is in fact a three speed transmission but there are only detents on the quadrant for L and D. If you put it in drive, it will go through all three gears by itself. To access all three speeds manually, you put the lever in low, accelerate to the point where you want to shift, shift the lever into drive and wait for the shift. As soon as the transmission shifts into 2nd gear, move the lever back into to the low position. When you're going as fast as you want in 2nd, then shift into D and leave it there. It will then go into third gear.

The neutral safety switch (what I believe you're calling a lockout) is located on the shifter mechansim inside the console. As you move the lever into P or N, a tab on the lever contacts a switch that allows you to start the car. There's nothing in the engine compartment that has anything to do with a lockout.

One thing you can do to really speed up your knowledge of your car is to search the archives for previous posts on the same subject. Do and advanced search and limit the search parameters to the Riviera Owners Association; otherwise you'll be reading about neutral safety switches in the entire forum. Lots of interesting reading if you've got time to kill. When you're not reading the archives, read your shop manual carefully.

Ed

[Guest rnoswal]

Once again, great info! I, Like someone else posted or had in their bio earlier, have good general knowlege about cars but its the particulars and experience about the different models (Riviera) that makes picking your brains fun.

I belong and have belonged to several different forums from the different cars I have owned and worked on. A few because of what I do know but most are for what I don't know. I do use the search for answers and get about 50% answers from that. I know some grow tired of repetition but most are good natured about it and have a little bit more to add to that same question each time. I've done it too but I am long winded..lol.

I will read more carefully here and in my manual and figure more things out as I go but the one-on-one is more fun. I coundn't even find a diagram on the numbering of the cylinders for my engine. I noticed a different firing order on the smaller v8 compared to the 401 and 425.

I guess I have the wrong carburetor then as that part of the linkage isn't right on my carb. I could be creative and grind this one off, find the correct one, grind it off that one and then spot weld it on my carb. Everything else seems ok on it though, except the accelerator pump plunger was a little too big from the kit and modify it some to make it fit. It is too snug to work properly still and seems to be closer to the plunger on the marine carb I see kits for.

Still looking and learning

Thanks

Russ

[RivNut]

Russ,

It took me a while to pull this picture from an old computer but here's a picture of the carb linkage for a '64 Riv with an AFB carburetor. Here are some pictures of how the correct carb linkage looks and how the roller activates the kick down switch. Hope this helps.

There were lots of Buicks made in '64; it might be just as easy to find the correct carb and install it rather than trying to modify linkages, or if you can find the correct "parts carb" just swap the entire linkage setup. You'd then have all the parts for your choke mechanism as well.

Ed

PS - the clean engine is mine after I took pictures of a friend's engine to see what I needed and how it worked.

Edited January 2, 2012 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Guest REX STALLION]

One of the best investments I have made for my Riviera is a service manual . They apparently are on CD as well. Hope this helps.

[Jim Cannon]

Russ-

Read the carb number off of the front, lower left. See what you have.

If not for a '64, get one and sell the one you've got...

If it is for a '64 and someone pulled parts off of it, get parts from a donor carb like Ed says.

Where in the country are you?

[Guest rnoswal]

I have tried to see the numbers clearly since I got it. After soaking it I find the numbers: 3826S. I know it isn't the loger set of numbers I have seen a lot have posted on other Carter carbs but these are it. It does have Carter and AFB in bold letter on it too. As for what it came off, the previous owner of the carb doesn't know but knew it was close to what I was looking for.

RivNut, thanks for posting those pictures. I can see clearly what my carb does not have. Mine is damn close but not with the wheel that presses and activates the kick down switch. I do own a service manual but wish they had made a Haynes or Chiltons manual for the car too.

I live in northwest Louisiana, Bossier City. I have other issues with the car before it is road worthy but at least I got it started. I will continue the work and searching these forums as I go. It's nice to know that I got this much from just a carb question.

Thanks

Russ

[RivNut]

Russ,

Here's the line on your carb from The Carburetor Shop in Eldon, MO

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR height=14><TD width=36 align=right>1965</TD><TD width=28 align=right>8</TD><TD width=42 align=right>300</TD><TD width=21>

</TD><TD width=160>A/T</TD><TD width=68>Carter</TD><TD width=92>AFB</TD><TD width=72 align=right>3826</TD><TD width=52 align=right>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Your carb is from a 1965 Special with the 300 cubic inch V8, that is backed up by a two speed ST300 transmission. That's a really small CFM carb for the size of your engine. I'd guess abut 400 - 500 cfm.

You'd probably be better off looking for a #3665 for your engine. Jon at The Carburetor shop shows that he has a 3665S for sale. I would imagine that this carb is good for rebuilding. Call Jon, tell him your a Riviera owner, and see what he can do for you. Here's the line on the #3665S. This is a 625 cfm carb. (It takes a lot of air to feed 425 cubic inches.)

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR height=14><TD width=36 align=right>1964</TD><TD width=28 align=right>8</TD><TD width=42 align=right>425</TD><TD width=181>

</TD><TD width=68>Carter</TD><TD width=92>AFB</TD><TD width=72 align=right>3665</TD><TD width=52 align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Ed

[Guest rnoswal]

Thanks Ed. I found the listing and will give Jon a call to find out what that one is like. I do remember measuring the butterflies on the carb I got and you are right according to specs it is a mid range sized carb, small.

Russ