Fuel mixture screw bent - still works?

[superawesome]

Hi all,

in the past weeks I did my first carb rebuild. 1978 GS1000 with stock carbs (VM26SS). Learned a lot, did not break too much
I used BassCliff's tutorial and am currently waiting for some parts (fresh rubber boots for the inlets) before I can install the carbs on the bike. Carbs are reassembled, have fresh gaskets and O-rings (cycleorings.com). Also got the viton rings for the carb boots. All set.

One thing that worries me: while trying to "gently" bottom the fuel screw before disassembling on carb #1 I was a bit too rude and bent the screw slightly. Not broke the tip, only bent. See picture.

WP_20180310_22_13_24_Pro-1024x1024.jpg

Should I just order a new one or can I still use it? I'd guess the "throughput" should still be the same, since only the shape of the tip changed slightly. What do the experts think? Anybody been there?

Thanks for advice

[Big T]

The hole in the carb is also a soft material, you sure you didn't enlarge it?

You could possibly straighten that tip, it's brass, after all

Z! Enterprises sells a replacement

https://www.z1enterprises.com/fuel-screw-mikuni-vm-carb.html

[superawesome]

Just checked, the holes look the same on all four carbs, looking from the cylinder side. I might just order one from z1 just in case I need it (could not find them in Europe yet).

[Steve]

Although the throughput <might> remain the same, because the tip is bent, it will touch the side of the tapered seat sooner, giving you a false sense of "fully seated".

.

[OldVet66]

You could probably Straighten that tip with some gentle taps on a hard flat surface with a hard plastic screwdriver handle. Lightly seated you should be able to barely see the tips of the Pilot fuel screws below the holes in the throat of the carburetors. If any stick up through the holes they (the holes) have been stretched out from below from excessive tightening. It's not necessarily disaster but it makes for some creative gestimation when adjusting the Pilot circuits.

[aclaytonb]

Had a similar issue. PO screwed em in too tight and bent the tip / enlarged the hole. I actually bought the parts off of ebay from Slovakia. Forget the company but they were the best parts I could find at the time.

The hole enlargement that occurred from my picking the bit out of the jet hole did require a additional half-turn on the screw to get the mixture right. Seems okay. Cant find a reasonably priced vm22ss #3 carb body to save my life though. Just limping it along.

[superawesome]

I managed to bend it reasonably straight, but I also ordered a pair from Z1.
I did not get to the fine tuning of the carbs yet, as I have float bowl issues (see here).

[aclaytonb]

Thats pretty straight compared to what came out of my 550. I'd have probably reused it as long as the tip was intact.