1937 special Carter carb rebuild

[37Special]

Would this be simple enough to do for an amateur or is it better to be sent off to be rebuilt?

[Bloo]

That's a difficult question. My guess is the Carter is a replacement, and probably better than what it replaced. If you post exactly what carb it is and/or pics you might get better responses. It would also sort out whether it is an appropriate carb for a 37 Special. My first reaction is do it yourself, because they aren't terribly complicated and nobody cares as much as the guy who owns the car. The flipside is that many Carter carburetors of the period required a special gauge/tool to set the metering rod height. There are a bunch of different ones, so which Carter you have matters. The tools do show up on ebay, so once you know which one you need you can look. You might also check with @carbking if you get a kit from him.

 

 

[avgwarhawk]

It's not difficult.  Take pictures of everything. I find that a can of carb cleaner is sufficient. Use the plastic spray can extension that comes with the carb cleaner can to get into the tight spots. Two of the biggest pieces of the puzzle that cured any problems with a carb is a new accelerator pump and ensuring the float level is correct.  Your carb kit has instructions for the float level.  Also, some of the parts in the kit are not better than what was originally used.  For instance, the float valves on my Rochester are metal and not rubber tipped as the kit has. I reused them. Dive in. Be methodical with disassembly and reassembly.  

 

The carb in my 60 I only removed the top. Replaced the accelerator pump. Cleaned out the bowls and reassembled.  It works like a champ. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[drhach]

Just curious why you want to rebuild the carburetor.

[carbking]

In 1937, Buick used carburetors from two vendors: Stromberg and Marvel.

 

The Stromberg was a decent carburetor (not as good as the 1938 or especially the 1939), but the automatic choke by Delco that Buick forced Stromberg to use was horrible.

 

The Marvel was just..........................horrible.

 

As Bloo mentioned, the Carter is a replacement; either factory replacement or one someone added at a later date because he/she wished to drive the car!

 

Also, as Bloo mentioned, the early Carter 2-barrel carbs do require a special gauge for setting the metering rods; these gauges are readily available. Later Carters did not require a gauge.

 

More information as to what you have will get you more information on opinions of what to do.

 

Jon.

[Gary W]

 

When I finished my '37 special, Jon recommended I swap out my original Marvel for a Carter 608S.  Best move I ever made.  The starter switch and the choke are now integral to the carburetor instead of the separate units as used originally.  The Carter performs beautifully and I have had no issues at all. Over this past winter, I restored an old 608S so I have a backup.  I used Jon's rebuild kit and a Carter rebuild kit and went through every single piece of the carburetor.  I fully documented the entire procedure and I am planning to post here next week of the step-by-step.  I think it will be very helpful for  anyone who is contemplating a full rebuild or just wants to change the gaskets and freshen up the innards.  It's good to have an understanding of what these units look like inside and it removes a lot of the mystery.  I followed the Carter service procedures and everything worked out nice.  

 

Couple teaser photos!

 

I used Jon's rebuild kit for the 608S

 

 

And I used a lot of these original Carter parts in an NOS Repair Parts Package.

 

 

I cleaned and cleaned everything.

 

 

wire wheeled things that I could

 

 

polished the softer metal parts

 

 

Organized according to the Carter rebuild manual.

 

 

Kept all my parts organized, swapped out old parts for new parts, used all new gaskets

 

 

And finished in about two weeks.  

 

 

So, I'll post my entire step-by-step in the coming week. 

 

Gary

[carbking]

Nice job!

 

Jon

[avgwarhawk]

Well shite, nice work!  Darn thing looks brand new. 

[EmTee]

Hey, @Gary W, did you re-plate the linkages or did they just clean up that nicely?

[nat]

      Along with setting the metering rods and floats to specs, the best thing you can do is to remove all the jets and make sure compressed air flows feely both ways through all passages.

      Take the advice of carbking and other specialist before you take mine.

[37Special]

On 4/27/2023 at 8:06 PM, drhach said:

Just curious why you want to rebuild the carburetor.

I noticed fuel pools on the top of it now and as soon as I noticed that it runs pretty sluggish.  I'm guessing some gasket went out on it and I have no idea when it was last rebuilt.  

[37Special]

Here are some pics I took this morning.  Let me know if I need to get some of different angles.  Thanks for the replies everyone! I really appreciate the help.