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fixing broken float towers

  • Thread starter Thread starter crazy5
  • Start date Start date

fixing broken float towers

  • JB Weld

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Drill the broken posts and use a screw w/ head cut off

    Votes: 2 20.0%

  • Alumiweld (or durafix/hts2000/alumalloy/etc)

    Votes: 1 10.0%

  • Find a local shop to TIG weld it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Send it off to have it laser welded under a microscope

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Find undamaged carb bodies to replace them with

    Votes: 4 40.0%

  • Other (please post details in a reply)

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Total voters
    10
C

crazy5

Guest
I've searched and read until my eyes glazed over about the various fixes for this problem. In my case, the previous owner broke a post on carbs #3 and #4. He used some sort of epoxy (guessing JB weld, but who knows). When I tore the carbs down, the epoxy was still there, but no longer adhered (it just fell off). It does look like he roughed up the surfaces and spread the epoxy up the sides of the posts to reinforce the joint.

I bought the bike for $500 off craigslist, and would prefer to save money on this fix to put into other areas of the bike too.

I keep going back and forth on which fix I want to try, so I'm calling on the collective wisdom and support of the board to help me decide.

Thanks in advance!
 
I believe there are some threads on this in the archives but in my experience, there is no real repair that is guaranteed. It would be a better solution to get replacement carb bodies and I'm sure someone here would have something for a reasonible price. Put up a parts wanted post.

If that is not an option, you could try rebuilding the post with 2 part epxoy putty. Plumber's putty is sold in the home stores and have used it successfully on repairs to gas tanks. I know that it is impervious to gas as I tested it a few years ago by putting a lump of it in gas for over 6 months. No deterioration or breakdown. It cures hard as rock and can be shaped with files and drilled.

Good luck with the project.
Spyug
 
I agree new bodies the best or tig weld, the problem with welding you must get all the old JB weld off or the weld could be compromised.
 
No problem getting all of the old epoxy off, as all of it came off on it's own. I'm thinking that a shop minimum for tig welding them would be as much or more than getting new (used) bodies.
 
Drill holes in both body and post. Lathe down a brass rod so as to be an interference fit in the drilled hole. Tap pin into carb body and broken post over pin.

pictures078.jpg


Done...
 
I'm liking the brass post idea, but don't have access to a lathe. I'm thinking a roll pin would accomplish the same thing though. How do you ensure that the holes that you drill are perfectly aligned?
 
I used my eye...

The brass pin will allow a small amount of tweaking to align with the other post.

You have a drill motor and a file don't you? ;)
 
Heres what I have done a few times since I found out JB Weld eventually fails in fuel:

Drill a hole vertically into the carburetor body in line with the broken pin. Tap the hole for a small stud, screw it in. Thread a brass tube internally with the same tap, smash it flat on one end, drill a hole through the smashed end the same diameter as the float pivot pin. Screw the tube onto the stud until the hole is the same height as the hole in the other pin. Crimp the tube so it can't turn on the stud, you are done. It is a permanent repair as it uses no chemicals which can dissolve.

I have also done nothing and ran with one post missing, it worked fine.
 
I voted other just because i like fixing things myself. I would get a small piece of brass tube that fits the posts and just slip it over the two pieces. Then drill a small hole thru the upper and lower ends and put a pin thru to keep it all together. If your cash rich then just replace the body.
 
I bought a broken carb for ?1 at Netley 3 or 4 years ago and snapped off a post to see if the guy flogging Lumiweld (or whatever it was) could 'weld' it back together. He made it look easy.

Surprisingly, the hardest thing was to break the post in the first place - isn't that always the way?
 
Had you been trying to get that carb ready for a ride the next day, it would have broken when you looked at it :rolleyes:

hampshirehog said:
Surprisingly, the hardest thing was to break the post in the first place - isn't that always the way?
Click to expand...
 
I do like to fix things myself, but I also want to make sure that I'm not doing the job over and over again. $60 for two carb bodies is really more than I wanted to spend, since I'm already doing the o-rings and gaskets. I still need to adjust valves, paint the tank, and recover the seat.

Right now I'm leaning towards drilling and using a roll pin or brass pin (I do have a drill and file :D), with a backup of buying replacement bodies if that doesn't work).

Having them welded, buying alumiweld rods, etc would nearly reach the cost of the new carb bodies, so I think I'll avoid them. Since an epoxy fix already failed on these, I'm not inclined to try it again.

The brass tube isn't a bad idea either, but I think pinning the broken post would be a cleaner fix and just as secure. I do have the other halves of the posts, and the hole for the pin is just fine.
 
crazy5 said:
....$60 for two carb bodies is really more than I wanted to spend.....
Click to expand...

It's the fix-or-replace decisions all of us go through, making these vintage machines reliable, balancing the limits of our abilities and wallets.

All depends on the value you place on NOT being broke down at the side of the road, at night, in the rain, 100 miles from nowhere, when a carb floods. (refer to Murphy's Law) Personally, I don't like to set out with my fingers crossed that a makeshift repair of some sort will hold.
 
wisgolfer59 said:
It's the fix-or-replace decisions all of us go through, making these vintage machines reliable, balancing the limits of our abilities and wallets.

All depends on the value you place on NOT being broke down at the side of the road, at night, in the rain, 100 miles from nowhere, when a carb floods. (refer to Murphy's Law) Personally, I don't like to set out with my fingers crossed that a makeshift repair of some sort will hold.
Click to expand...

A post re breaking is not going to leave anyone stranded.
 
crazy5 said:
but I think pinning the broken post would be a cleaner fix and just as secure. I do have the other halves of the posts, and the hole for the pin is just fine.
Click to expand...
Four years later and its still running fine.
make the pin .002~.003 larger than the holes you drill.
 
How to NOT break them in the first place...
(Click on image for the, less than one minute, video.)



Eric
 
I put a small bend in the pin and let the tension push the broken post in place. It's been holding tight for over 5 years.
 
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