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Carter W1 - help needed


aussiecowboy

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I have a 1935 Pontiac 6 cylinder with a W1 tagged as a 314S. This car was a barn find and hadn't been run since 1966.

 

I got the car running without dramas including buying a kit and rebuilding the carb. It now starts fairly easily and feels good at low revs but in the mid and higher end of the rev range the car surges and bucks badly, pulling the choke on smooths it out again and it gets down the road quite well. I have pulled the carb down twice more and can't see anything wrong. Float is adjusted to 3/8" as per the factory manual and it doesn't have fuel inside the float as far as I can tell. I'm starting to think the main jet included with my kit is wrong and the metering rod is now way out of adjustment causing it to lean out.

 

When I stripped the carb I was unable to remove the plug at the bottom of the accelerator pump passage, someone has glued it in place but the pump is delivering a good shot of fuel so I wasn't too concerned. It is also worth noting that the idle mixture screw can be turned all the way in without stalling the engine so I assume there is some leakage at the throttle shaft, but I wouldn't think it bad enough to lean the engine out that severely.

 

Fuel pump isn't the issue, I installed an external pump running from a fuel can and it made no difference.

 

Any advice here would be appreciated. I'd be happy to buy another kit if I can find one that is definitely correct and a metering rod gauge would be very handy indeed. I should mention that I'm in Australia.

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The metering jet is the two-stage type, with 3 number 67 constant feeds, and a number 44 main orifice. (Drill sizes).

 

The metering rod is a three-stage. Low vacuum 0.040, mid-range 0.066, and high vacuum 0.074.

 

The metering rod adjustment gauge is T109-26.

 

While it is possible you have the wrong main jet, or metering rod, or the metering rod is out of adjustment; MUCH MORE LIKELY on a W-1 that there is wear in the linkage connecting the throttle with the metering rod. The round hole in the bracket wears to an oval shape, a groove wears in the rod, and this causes the geometry of the metering rod to be out of synchronization with the throttle EVEN WHEN THE METERING ROD IS PERFECTLY ADJUSTED. If this condition is present, the solution is to replace the bracket and throttle connecting rod.

 

Jon.

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Guest Al Brass

I too think the metering rod is likely to be the problem.  Try lifting it a little and see if you can improve it.   

 

Regards

Al

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Thanks for the replies gentlemen, great information and very much appreciated. I have a couple of "core" W1 carbs, I will check the brackets and connecting rods to find the best set and will also try to locate the correct gauge. Are the brackets and connecting rods the same for all W1 variants or do I need to obtain them from another 314?

 

Also, the rebuild kit came with 2 float bowl cover gaskets and I can't work out why?

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Cowboy - Carter made 128 different W-1 carbs.

 

From memory (generally a very bad idea ;) ) there are at least 4 different bowl cover gaskets, at least 3 different brackets, and at least 2 different throttle connector rods.

 

Jon.

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Guest Al Brass

Cowboy,

The connecting rod can be bent to achieve the correct dimension during set-up.  Interchanging them is not a good idea.  The metering rod referred to is not a connecting rod.

 

Regards

Al

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I realise that the metering rod and connecting rod are different beasts. I can see how it would be easy to bend the connecting rod to the correct dimension, but that assumes it doesn't have grooves worn in it's ends. If this is the case then replacement is almost unavoidable, as carbking suggests above.

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