where to find shims for needles

[Guest]

Anyone know where I can find shims for the needles? I heard something about radio shack before but can't remember.

[Dave8338]

Yep, Radio Shack is the place and they'll be back in the electronics build/project section.

[Nessism]

It's easy to match the ID of the washers but the OD will typically be too large. If you stack a bunch of these washers on a screw and snug them down with a nut on the back side, then chuck up the assembly in a drill motor so you can reduce the OD using a file.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Radio Shack shims # 64-3022 I believe they are 3 mm ??

[edmondsm]

Bought them yesterday

They do indeed need to be smaller in diameter, they will not fit down in the bore at all. Good idea about using a file and chucking them into the drill.

[koolaid_kid]

JoeNardy showed me an assortment pack of washers from Radio Shack. He used some of the smaller ones to shim his needles. Unfortunately, I did not get a part number, but I believe these is them: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103391

[FlyingSteve]

I have to double check the size, but I think the "shims" AKA washers that I used are size M3's... That is a 3MM washer. If you have a caliper you can check the thickness of them, but they are generally in the .48mm to .54mm range. Stainless steel ones are dirt cheap, like a box of 50 for 3 or 4 dollars. If you are interested send me a PM and I'll double check that size and let you know, but I'm pretty certain they are M3's.

[67camaro]

thanks for the info

[rapidray]

I have several hundred of them. Want some? And they are the CORRECT ones, no mods needed. Ray.

[TheCafeKid]

Shaving them down is noo good. You'll see that as you do it, they'll become imperfect, as your hand simply cannot control the grind as precise as it needs to be. You'll end up with ones that have a bit of concave to them due to the ground lip expanding. You also need to take care that whatever you use FITS. If they don't fit cleanly down into the slide bore for the needle you can have one or more hang up and then you'll end up with one cylinder or more burning all goofy. Find the ones that Ray has, or get some from him. Don't try to knock them down to fit. Ask me how I know.

[Nessism]

Shaving them down is noo good. You'll see that as you do it, they'll become imperfect, as your hand simply cannot control the grind as precise as it needs to be. You'll end up with ones that have a bit of concave to them due to the ground lip expanding. You also need to take care that whatever you use FITS. If they don't fit cleanly down into the slide bore for the needle you can have one or more hang up and then you'll end up with one cylinder or more burning all goofy. Find the ones that Ray has, or get some from him. Don't try to knock them down to fit. Ask me how I know.

Josh,

I've shaved down washers like this several times and they turned out perfectly. You need to stack eight washers together, two per carb, and there won't be any lip on the edge when you are done. If you want to be real careful you can dress each reduced washer on a piece of 320 grit sandpaper to make sure there isn't a lip. The whole job takes less time than driving to the store, but hey, to each there own.

[Octain]

I wouldnt see where reducing the outer wouldnt be a real problem as long as the outside diameter of the washer fits into the hole. Why would it need to be "perfect"?
Thickness and inside diameter is all that matters.
Course ya'd wanna de-bur(sp) the edges.

[FlyingSteve]

Or you can go to a local fastener store and get M3 washers for next to nothing and they fit perfectly on the needle and in the slide.

[Nessism]

Forgot to mention that I've recently taken to reduce the thickness of the plastic washers by sanding. Take off about .75 mm and reinstall. Pretty simple as long as you measure the washer and make them all the same.

[FlyingSteve]

Forgot to mention that I've recently taken to reduce the thickness of the plastic washers by sanding. Take off about .75 mm and reinstall. Pretty simple as long as you measure the washer and make them all the same.

I created 4mm of adjustment by taking that center plastic guide that gets the snap ring on it, and I put it in an end mill and removed 2mm from the middle part that goes into the needle hole. This let the needle slide up 2mm more. That little plastic washer that is on the top of the needle is 2mm, so if you remove that and shave 2mm off that plastic guide, then you get 4mm! Or in other words 4 "notches"