Carburetor Kits Quality GOOD BAD UGLY

Stormin' Norman

Stormin' Norman

Well-known member
Departed Member
I was rebuilding my Holley 1946 using a $40 (CDN) kit by Hygrade, from one of the best national parts stores (Piston Ring). It had an Instruction Sheet, no ruler/guage, the box had a special insert saying to "Use Specification B For my application - like there there was more than one 1978 Ford in any of the specs. AND the choke cover gasket wasn't cut to the full 'swoop curve' of the choke shaft travel.

I've made die-cutting dies. Even if it was a generic gasket, the instructions should have pointed out that it might need to be nipped a bit.

This kit might be OK for a quick fix in a roadside emergency, but you'd think in this day and age of fuel economy and emissions issues that the manufacturers would want to be more precise. Especially for a $40 kit ($32 USD).

Who makes good kits?
 
And what bugs me is if all you need is a gasket, you have to buy the kit. :x
We need a good source up here for little bits and pieces.
 
I remember REPCO here, telling me the same deal - wanted a base gasket, only could buy the kit for $115. :shock:

Made one myself. :lol:
 
Must be luck or just lucky to live in the usa when it comes to buying parts to older popular american cars. I have never had problems with stuff like carb kits. For my 1100 I was able to get the kit for around $20, I saw listings for individual parts but never botherd to see if they were in stock because 2 or 3 individual parts were almost as much as the kit. It would be nice if they didnt give you so many extra parts, its hard to tell if you left something out. I know what you mean about stuff almost fitting and some triming may be needed. A few years back on 4th of July weekend I discoverd I needed a new accelerator pump for my boat (chev w/rochester) went to the local small town store with the carb number in hand and had to argue with them to give me the book since they dont have parts for boats... found the part numbers and the pump was special order for $11 but they did have the complete kit that included the pump for $18... the guy was very confused when I just took the kit instead of waiting 4-6 (after the 4 day holiday weekend) working days for the pump to come in.
 
Things these day are a rip-off. That's why I allway's save & combine my old carb kits...they're allway's packed with leftovers 8) . ~OO6.
 
STEVEN, what brands do you use.

Mine came with one extra gasket for a 1946C, whereas mine is a 1946. I didn't even get the little brass weight that goes over the small chrome ball!

All of our Carb kits are made in the US, or the country of origin for the type of vehicle. I see some guys elsewhere on the FSP site paying $17.00. Well, if we're going to get hit with $40 ($CDN), for a common 1-bbl carb (used in AMC, Chryco, GM and Ford), then there should be something well-made, complete with a guage, and at least a note that some parts may need to be notched out.

If I hadn't noticed the choke limitation, I'd be wondering why the car never accelerates or I'd be replacing the shaft.
 
The only reason for me to buy carb kits is to get accelerator pumps, and specific small parts like umbrella valves or the like.

Using the gaskets provided in the kit as a template for at least another dozen ones cut from regular fel-pro gasket paper is mandatory, considering the price of up to 40 Euros when bought locally - thats about 50 USD.

gaskets_small.jpg


new hygrade kits have always worked well for me, but can't compete against NOS motorcraft or carter zip kits.
 
Simon, why didn't I think of that? NOS (new old stock?).

I just checked and found the Motorcraft website. I'll stuff that in my Ford Parts Links.

I did call my Favourite Ford dealer but he said they were on the old microfiche cards and the lamp burned out on their viewer.

All the MotorCraft site wants is the VIN number and that's that.

http://www.motorcraft.com/index.jsp

When all else fails, try again!
 
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