vacuum gauges for carb sync

[niko]

does any one know if i could use a vacuum gauge as a carb sync tool? harbor freight has these gauges that read vacuum pressure up to 28 in/hg and im wondering if i could just buy 2 of them to sync my carbs, (id have to make an adapter to attach to the carbs)( my gs550 has 2 - 2 barrell carb bodies to feed the 4 cylinders so i should only need 2 guages i think, so i figured for 25 bucks i could get away with a carb sync tool

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93547

[rapidray]

Yes, that will work. Just keep in mind that you may need to put restrictors in the hoses from the gauges to the manifolds to keep the needles from bouncing a lot. Ray.

[mighty13d]

Yes, that will work. Just keep in mind that you may need to put restrictors in the hoses from the gauges to the manifolds to keep the needles from bouncing a lot. Ray.

where can these be purchased because mine bounce like mad when I tried to sync mine up last year lol!

[Steve]

I have not done the 2-barrel carbs on a GS before, but I used to have a KZ1300 that had three of those suckers. In spite of that, I purchased a 6-column set of mercury sticks. Yes, the vacuum in the two cylinders fed by one carb will rise and fall together, but I just had to have that six-column set.

No reason why two gauges won't work, but with gauges like that, you will need adapters (available from Z1) and some restrictors to smooth out the needles. With the normal vacuum pulses, those needles will bounce terribly. By pinching the rubber hose, you can smooth it down to where it only moves a couple of needle widths, which makes them much more readable.

By the time you spend $25-30 for the gauges, about $10 for the adapters, then figure in some time to fabricate something to hold it all together, you might also want to consider getting a set that has four columns for $85 (plus shipping) or even what most on this board consder to be the best, the Morgan Carbtune for $85.18 (includes shipping). The reason for this is that, once your friends find out that you have synchronized your carbs, you will be the expert and they will ask you to do theirs. Of course, this service won't be free, and you can recuperate some of your expenses. However, if you only have a set that will do two cylinders, you can use that as an excuse that you can't do theirs, but that's your call.

.

[rustybronco]

where can these be purchased because mine bounce like mad when I tried to sync mine up last year lol!

I bought mine at meijers. (aquarium valve)

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=496967&postcount=3