Need to be sure: Carb dip w/throttle shafts/butterflies in place?

[eighty6gt]

I read the rebuild article on the main page, bought a bucket of carb dip, and am about to sink the housings/small parts, what have you.

Are there not rubber seals or something on the throttle shafts? What about under those aluminum caps on the ends? Are those removable? The ones on there are beat and look like crud anyway.

TIA.

[robertbarr]

We've been doing it the John Bloemer way for ages, and apparently there's no risk to the throttle shaft bore seals. Not sure why, but if there were, mine would have been eaten by now.

This topic comes up from time to time.

[Steve]

I agree. I have dipped several set of carbs, usually each carb body overnight, with no problems. Once, I forgot the carb and did not get to it for about 48 hours, and noticed no problems with that one, either.

I think the hassle of removing the swadged screws from the butterfly shaft, then trying to get them back in is really not worth it. Just make sure you get ALL the o-rings out before you dunk them.

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[82Shafty]

I submerged my carbs and the butterfly shaft seals are fine.

[eighty6gt]

Well, this is interesting. I removed the cap from one end of the carb I was dipping, and removed the throttle lever & spring from the other. I could then use a pick to take out the shaft seals and a plastic washer, leaving only metal parts in the body of the carb.

I bought kleen flo carb & metal parts cleaner. It says something on the can about submerging the part below the "water seal." Does this mean I can put some water on top of this stuff to help with the offgas? I'm doing the job in my boss's garage, if I can diminish the aromatics some that would help!

[jrp]

eighty6gt, is the oil seal rubber? If so, the chemical dip will attack the seal and cause deterioration. Rubber is rubber, no matter where it is located.

I, too, am getting ready to dip my carbs and was wondering about the throttle valve oil seals as well. There are eight of them total; one on each side of the four throttle valve shafts.

I've seen people comment that they have left these oil seals on and haven't had any problems. But how would you know you have a problem without inspecting the seals after dipping the carbs? Has anyone done this?

Jeff

Well, this is interesting. I removed the cap from one end of the carb I was dipping, and removed the throttle lever & spring from the other. I could then use a pick to take out the shaft seals and a plastic washer, leaving only metal parts in the body of the carb.

I bought kleen flo carb & metal parts cleaner. It says something on the can about submerging the part below the "water seal." Does this mean I can put some water on top of this stuff to help with the offgas? I'm doing the job in my boss's garage, if I can diminish the aromatics some that would help!

[Steve]

But how would you know you have a problem without inspecting the seals after dipping the carbs?

I would think that if it ate away the seals, there would be some serious air leaks that would affect the carburetion. With all the carbs that have been dipped in this manner by members of this forum, I would have expected at least one of them to report a problem. As yet, I have not seen such a report.

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