How long can a carb sit without being used before you have to change the gaskets and such? I have a BBD that was rebushed and rebuilt (by SAVAS tuning) and I only put about 1000 miles on it before I switched to a 4 bbl, which was in May 07 (8 months ago). The BBD has been in a plastic bag since.

Is there a certain way to store carbs when not in use?

I was going to get a slant 67 Dart that I was going to put it on last summer, but the deal fell through. Now I have to decide to sell the BBD, or just hang onto it until I get another slant, but I have no plans at the moment.

I would think that 8 months shouldn't be a problem, unless you left it in the rain

When I plan to store a carb, I empty all the fuel out of it and then squirt a lot of Marvel Mystery Oil (or 2-cycle engine oil) into the float bowls. Then I work the accelerator pump a few times to get the oil into the pump plunger and passages. If I know it will remain sitting upright while stored, I leave the oil in there, otherwise I slosh it around and dump it out. Then I put the carb in a ziploc bag (big freezer bags will even hold a 4-bbl). I've stored them for many years that way without any deterioration. I also do that to the carb on any vehicle that I plan to leave in storage for more than a couple of months. Makes for a start-up smoky enough to make a WWII radial airplane engine proud, but protects tha carb and gives the top-end of the engine a little extra lubrication when you fire it up after a long sit.

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I had problems with a factory Holley 4bbl and aftermarket gaskets; after 6mo of sitting there and the fuel slowly evaporating, the gaskets shrank and then leaked a lot when I fired the car up again. I think it was a characteristic of the gasket material; I've not had that problem with other carbs and kits. Unfortunately, I don't have a record of the brand of kit that had the shrinking gaskets.

I once took a rebuilt BBD out of a box where it probably sat at least 20+ years and used it w/o any trouble at all. I would just make sure the throttle doesn't bind and the float is free before I put it on the car.

Thanks for the responses. It may get a test soon. I just bumped into a friend of mine today who has a 71 Duster, and he was mentioning that he is having some carb problems. I suggested he install the 2 bbl setup instead of rebuilding his 1 bbl.