I've got the kit and the carb off the truck.
I've never done any repairs this involved.
Any suggestions or advice before I begin?

Take your time.


If you've got a digital camera, take pictures as you go along so you know how everything goes together when reassembling........

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Before you begin, definitely find a factory or good aftermarket book with step-by-step illustrated instructions for your particular carburetor make and model—Carter BBS or BBD, Holley 1920, 1945 or 6145, etc. Or search the web; you can find a lot of pictorial how-to information that way. The one-page exploded view that comes with the carb kit is not enough information if you've never done this before. There are a lot of small parts that can go together a lot of different ways (but only one correct way), there are tests and checks that need to be made that are not visually apparent, there are precise adjustments that have to be gotten right.

(Chilton, Haynes, etc. do not count as "good aftermarket books")

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

If you have fuel sitting in the bowl that must be drained, don't just dump it out in the dirt; drain it into some kind of container so that you can catch any small pieces that fall out.

OK, I got the thing apart. It's fairly clean as I haven't driven many miles since it was installed. I'm using the instructions labeled 50-734, Carter Modle - BBD 1 1/4" Solid Fuel.
A few things that concern me; the right side jet main driver slot looks like it was chewed up by a screw driver; the step up piston's 'wings' are asymetrical, this may be by design, but it looks odd, the spring is also loose; the vacuum piston housing on the underside of the cover assembly is a little marred by a scewdriver; I cannot locate the idle enrichment valve.
What would be a good way to ensure the venturi are clear? I don't want to get anything stuck in those tiny holes. Would it be necessary or anal to clean the flaots?

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

You don't have to polish the floats, just remove major corrosion (if any). Just so the pivot works good, and make sure the tab contacting the fuel need valve is smooth

A can of carb cleaner (with the tiny hose). Make sure you have safety glasses on as the stuff may come out anywhere and get you in the eye (been there, done that)

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

A can of carb cleaner (with the tiny hose). Make sure you have safety glasses on as the stuff may come out anywhere and get you in the eye (been there, done that)[/quote]

Ahhh, the old dance of blinding pain, thought it was only me who did things like that!
I have a nice aluminium baking tray I disassemble carbs in, kept clean for the purpose. But if you have something similar, it helps. If small parts fly out or fall out, they are contained.
Also good if I get disturbed during the rebuild and have to put it to one side, or if the significant other is not home. The tray can be balanced in lap, whilst watching TV and rebuilding carb at same time. Who said men can't multi task?

Regards, Andrew.

It wasn't the daunting task I thought it would be. It being reman'ed with only a few hundred miles, it was mostly clean and the rebuild kit parts were in good order. There did seem to be one piece missing in the bowl that I haven't followed up on. I forget what it's called, but it's a half cylinder with wings. At least that's what it looks like in the picture. Also the enrichment valve, I could not locate on the carb. I had my boss look at it as he has more experience with such things. He agreed that it didn't need the rebuild and that the throttle shaft didn't have any noticeable play. The only imrovement I think I made was blowing through the jets to make sure they were clear. I think I felt a little blockage in one that was summarily cleared.
I'm going to throw it back on the truck and see if there is any difference with that little change. The spec settings for calibration seem to dead on from what I can tell, so there may not necessarily need to be any adjustment.

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

Everything back together and adjusted properly, I hope.
I think if there was a problem with the carb, it has either been minimalized or eliminated.
But I can now hear a vacuum leak. I got out a can of carb cleaner and shot it around. A leak appears to be in and around the manifold gasket near the #5 cylinder. Before I go and pull the whole thing, is there anything else in that area of the engine that might also be leaking?
Additional info: I cannot idle the engine below 1000 RPM. I beleive that the last time I could properly set the timing, I had it around 14*. The mixture screws are turned out one full turn. I did not do any adjustment to them post reinstallation. And I hooked the smog pump back up. I think that's about it.

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

A vacuum leak large enough to hear at the #5 runner-to-head junction is going to be the gasket, yes. Are you working with an aluminum or an iron intake manifold?

When you say "Can't make it idle below 1000" does that mean that if you adjust it below 1000 rpm it'll die out? Or does it mean you physically can't get the speed below 1000 rpm at all?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

It looks to be aluminum to me, 83 truck. I may get it powder coated if it's not too expensive as there are many small pits that I'm concern may eventually cause the same problems.

As for the idle problem, it will die if idled too low.

Now when I did manage to set the timing before I took apart the carb, I got it down to 700ish RPM, but the mixture screws were out about 4 turns. And it wasn't a nice even idle, but enough to be positive about the timing.

OK, it definitely does sound as if you're dealing with at least one fairly significant vacuum leak.

That '83 aluminum intake (with the weld bead all along the top edge of the manifold) is of a type that tends to cause more problems than the iron or sandcast aluminum type. They can warp (may be your problem at runner 5), they can crack internally, usually in the floor area, allowing exhaust into the intake tract at all times. The weld beads can be porous, making a vacuum leak out of the intake manifold itself.

Quality powder coating including proper prepwork can be expensive and time consuming. If you do in fact have the welded aluminum intake, the quickest and least costly fix would be to grab a non-aluminum intake manifold. Any '76-up 2bbl slant-6 can be used; you can find one by going to www.car-part.com and searching 1977 Dodge Aspen intake manifold , on the next page select 6-225 2BC . If you call on any of the results, specifically ask for them to check if it's iron or aluminum.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hah, none in North Carolina listed. I may try a yard I've gotten stuff from in the past.

More questions:
I went to spray down the manifold bolts with some deep creep. The upper fasteners are obviously nuts, but my manual says something about the lower being screws? Are the upper studs with nuts and the lower bolts? Or am I on crack again?

I also vaguely remember hearing something about getting the intake/exhaust manifolds as a set so they match up. Is this necessary? I remember reading it somewhere, but of course I see a lot of mixing mentioned on here.

Might I need to have any mill work done to ensure the gasketed surface is uniformly flat?

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The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan