Remanufactured Carb recommendations

[muskrat808]

Hi-Looking to replace my rebuilt (and still not working right ) carb on my 1972 140 hp Mercruiser (in a 72 Starcraft Holiday).No real options in area ( Portland OR ) so looking at using either National Carburetors or Flying Fish Carburetors both in Florida . Anyone out there have experience with either one ? Thanks , Mark

 

[Grub54891]

Just rebuild the one you have, unless it's corroded so badly it can't be rebuilt. They are pretty simple carbys. If you were close I'd do it for ya.

 

[jimmbo]

Who did the Rebuild on the original Carb? Some people call replacing the Gaskets rebuilding the Carb. Were all the measurements done and adjusted?
What is the carb not doing correctly?

 

[jtsvette]

I bought one for my 3.0 last summer from Flying Fish. Bolted it on and went boating. Engine fired right up on first start, no issues.

 

[harringtondav]

I'm with the 'rebuild it yourself' crowd above. The only glitch could be the previous rebuilder flubbed the job and lost parts (check balls, welsh plugs), or mixed up parts. Carb kits come with new check balls and welsh plugs. The correct jets can be verified on the web if yours are suspect.

The rebuild kits have good cook book instructions. Just keep the parts in disassembly order. Immersion carb cleaner, aerosol carb cleaner with a straw, and compressed air are essential.

 

[San_Diego_SeaRay]

I have purchased two 750cfm Quadrajets (different boats) from National Carburetor and they've worked great. They don't paint their carbs so now there's exterior surface corrosion but it doesn't seem to effect performance. I boat in saltwater and that probably has a lot to do with the corrosion.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have only come across one carb that ever could not be rebuilt. too much corrosion. spend the $30 for the kit and take 1-3 hours to rebuild it yourself.

 

[Grub54891]

This is a carb bowl I was working on. Was going to rebuild it as the owner said it ran funny. This carb did not leak fuel, till I cleaned out the bowl. It was pitted beyond repair. Holes the size of toothpicks.

 

[Scott Danforth]

This is a carb bowl I was working on. Was going to rebuild it as the owner said it ran funny. This carb did not leak fuel, till I cleaned out the bowl. It was pitted beyond repair. Holes the size of toothpicks.

holy lack of fuel system maintenance batman

 

[Grub54891]

holy lack of fuel system maintenance batman

Yeah, the good part is, it was a government boat, with an onboard mechanic.....

 

[muskrat808]

Thanks everyone for the comments ! My replies to the questions -I'm not rebuilding it myself because I don't trust my own mechanical skills . It was rebuilt by someone my marine mechanic farmed it out to .Original reason for rebuild was hard starting . That was solved but later has developed a very annoying problem of starting fine cold, running fine for 45min- 1 hr or so and then stalling out and being very difficult to restart . I've posted on this forum a couple times about that but no one has come up with a real good answer -hence my wanting to replace the damn thing . Looks like one vote Flying fish and one vote National Carb . Will probably talk to both and get a feel for which one to go with .Leaning torward Flying Fish because looks like they mainly do marine work . Thanks- Muskrat808

 

[Sterling Marine]

Sounds a little like vapor lock. Try buying non ethanol fuel for your boat. Go to pure-gas.org to find stations near you that sell it.

 

[GA_Boater]

E0 doesn't vapor lock? News to me when only non-E was available in my younger years.

 

[jimmbo]

Todays fuels are refined with a Pressurized Fuel System in mind and therefore have low resistance to flashing when warmed while at Atmospheric Pressure as in a Carb. How much that is influenced by the addition of Ethanol, I don't know, but Octane Boosters like Butane and Heptane do flash at lower temps, and that Bad smelling Cologne, marketed as Gasoline, is loaded with those

 

[GA_Boater]

We're going off topic, but ethanol fuels are no different than non-E except the added percentage of ethanol. The base blend is the same.

Lets help the OP find a carb.

 

[Lou C]

Never experienced vapor lock with E10 fuels in my Quadrajet (and the old pre-vortec manifold does have an exhaust crossover passage unlike the vortec manifolds so it probably does run a bit hotter). However, I did have this problem on an old 1970 Ford Torino with a 302 V8 and Ford Motorcraft 2100 2bbl. I wound up insulating the fuel lines which helped.
As far as rebuilds, its tough to recommend places because carb skills are diminishing but I'd suggest a classic car shop or a hot rod shop, they can give you a referral to a good local rebuilder if your core is good. I do my own...even a Quadrajet which is more complex than a 2bbl, is not hard....

 

[fishrdan]

It was rebuilt by someone my marine mechanic farmed it out to .Original reason for rebuild was hard starting . That was solved but later has developed a very annoying problem of starting fine cold, running fine for 45min- 1 hr or so and then stalling out and being very difficult to restart .

If that is repeatable, and runs fine for 45-60 min everytime after the carb rebuild, it doesn't sound like carb issues or needing the carb rebuilt again. Either fuel delivery to the carb or an ignition problem.

 

[muskrat808]

I have the carb problem with either ethanol or non ethanol gas .

 

[Scott Danforth]

agreed, if it runs for 45 minutes to an hour, its not a carb issue

 

[muskrat808]

OK , So if not a carb problem, what then . Plugs and rotor new last year ,dist cap also cleaned . Replace fuel water separator every year and have antisiphon valve at hull vent . Fuel pump filter looks OK but replacing that this year . Clean air cleaner each year . Replaced spark plug wires a few years ago . One weird thing- when getting exhaust manifold replaced couple years ago mechanic said the exhaust flappers were burned up and gone . He said replacements weren't available anymore so we did with out.So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated . Thanks