I have '62 with a WCFB carb that has a "rebuilt" label on that was running crappy. I got a kit and took it to a guy that's pretty good with carbs and had him rebuild it. When we went to adjust it on the car the idle circuit had no effect. Looking inside the carb you could see gas dripping in the front barrels from both main metering jets.

We pulled the top off, check the float height (it so OK) and checked for dirt on the needle and seats but found nothing. Put it back together and had the same thing.

The guy who rebuilt the carb said it was in pretty bad shape when you took it apart and figures the seats must be shot. Anyone got any ideas? Is there any way to replace the seats?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

These old carbs are 'touchy' but run like the dickens when you finally get them straight - I've rebuilt 5 now, all of various vintages. I'm running the hard-to-find 270HP dual quad setup on my '61. Here is an excellent web site for these carbs:

http://members.capital.net/com/studiog/CarterWCFB/.

First off, float height, position and drop on these carbs are hyper-critical. Follow the procedures to the letter...inverting the air horn, making sure the air horn gasket is NOT installed and measuring at the right position on the floats. There are DIFFERENT measuring spots depending on the carb model!! (Primary and secondary floats are different on most models - don't mix them up.)

THEN, make sure the floats are centered in the chambers...they can stick to the bowl's sidewalls if this isn't done. Make sure you don't have a leaking float - rare but it HAS happened. Some folks will tell you to set the floats some amount off from factory settings to compensate for today's gas. I don't ... I set them right on the factory spec.

Next, check your fuel pump pressure - if its over 4.5 I'd put a regulator in the circuit...too much pressure can blow the needle valves off their seats and cause the 'dribble'.

Finally, make ABSOLUTELY sure you have the right parts in the rebuild kit. My first carbs had the WRONG needle valves and these caused the plugs to foul within 20 miles of driving. Exhibited the same symptoms you are seeing and took me 3 months to find the problem....I actually think the prev owner sold me the car under appraisal because of this problem.

Mixture settings are strange on these cars. If you start with the screws out the usual 1 turn on a rebuild you are already past the optimal tuning point on some carbs. So, if you crank the screws clockwise there is no effect. In these cases, I've had to turn them counter-clockwise a bunch until the engine stumbles then run them in again until I find the 'sweet spot'...

If you get totally PO'ed at the carb and want to farm it out for a quality rebuild contact: bobkunz@att.net. He is "the man" for WCFBs !!

 

fdreano,

Thanks for the advice, I'll pull it apart again and try your suggestions. If that fails I'll send it off to the expert.

Thanks for the help,

 

John, I had Bob Kuntz do a 270HP set for me several years ago for a Nomad. He does good work and I think he puts each rebuild on a running engine to test. Hope everything else is well.

Earl

 

But don't forget - a rebuild won't solve anything if its too much pressure coming from your fuel pump

 

[QUOTE=VetteJohn;1567197597 When we went to adjust it on the car the idle circuit had no effect. Looking inside the carb you could see gas dripping in the front barrels from both main metering jets[/QUOTE]

One thing I would try is to remove the idle mixture screws and spray some carb cleaner followed by compressed air in the idle passages to be sure nothing in plugged. If you can visually see good air flow through there and your needle and seats are OK, something else is going on. Bob Kunz is a great choice to send the carb to. He specializes in these old WCFB's and also has the parts to fix them. I have rebuilt many of these carbs over the years and plenty of times seen the wrong or missing parts in them. The later WCFB's also use a different gasket between the main body and the base. The kits usually come with both. Either will fit, but only one is correct to line up all the passages correctly. Just a thought. I agree with Frank's comments, these carbs run great and are usually troublefree if they start as good cores and are done right. Pilot Dan

 

use air pressure and a soap solution to make sure the needle seat gaskets are not leaking. i have had these gaskets with too large a inside diameter and they were not sealing to the carb body and fuel was bypassing the needle/seat controlled by the float and too much gasoline was getting into the float bowl

 

Had Daytona Parts company restore and rebuild my 2x4's for my 57 and 58,also had them just redo my 65 AFB.They all run Great...

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice. It never fails that there is a gold mine of infomation on the forum and lots of great people willing to share their knowledge.

I'll take the carb apart again this week, see what I can do and report back.

Again, thanks.

 

John- When I first rebuilt the WCFB's on my 57, I had a very frustating time trying to get them to idle. I finally got some very fine piano wire,and cleaned out the idle circuits of some very miniscule parts of crud. I then re-cleaned with carb cleaner, and they now idle very smoothly, even down to 500 rpm. Be patient, for once they are dialed in properly, they are bulletproof!

 

R.D.Katter restored the WCFB on my '62. One of the best things I did in restoring the car. The carb. came home looking totally new and when placed on top of the rebuilt, but stock motor, it ran like a watch. The only thing I did was set the idle speed. Checked the plugs and they look perfect. Engine runs crisp and clean. It was worth it.

 

They also do good quality rebuilds, (http://www.daytonaparts.com/) but their turn around time was unacceptable (to me anyway). When I called them last year about this same date they told me, because of incoming Carlisle work it would take 9-12 weeks for a complete dual quad restoration.

 

When you say " gas dripping in the front barrels from both main metering jets" I assume you mean the boost venturies.

The only reason fuel could come from there is the float level is too high, fuel pressure too high as stated, needle and seat either dirty or not holding the pressure and the throttle open too much at idle allowing too much air flow through them which draws fuel out of the float bowl.
When I adjust the floats on these carbs I use a drill bit or gauge rod of the correct size.
Check timing, vac advance and ignition first.