The last time I rebuilt a carburetor, I did not have to wear reading glasses. But with age, comes patience. I took the time to set up a clean work surface, brought over a bright light and actually read the instructions (well, mostly) before I began.
I admit that I had some reservations about the project, given that the car was running not long ago and the potential to screw it up further. Once I opened the carb up, thought, my reservations vanished–the fuel reservoirs were full of a fine silt and quite a few of the parts were coated with varnish. This was a job that clearly needed doing.
My only scare came when I turned over the throttle body and a small part I hadn’t noticed fell out. From where, I had no clue. Rather than guessing, I took a look at an exploded view on-line. (It was the pump discharge weight. Oh.)
In the end, it’s not a difficult job, though it can be intricate and it bears some concentration.
With the carburetor reinstalled, three applications of starter fluid brought the beast to life. In fact, I stopped and started it a few times, just for the novelty of it.
There was some bind in the throttle linkage, but a couple of adjustments brought it back into shape (and fixed a perplexing issue where the throttle linkage met the gas pedal).
I’ll admit, I had some butterflies slipping it into reverse and rolling it down the drive. Would the brakes work? Would the throttle stick open? In the end, the breaks worked great, and I crept my way around the block on a test drive–which was awesome.
Next up, I think brake lights would be nice.
Wahooo! Can;t wait for a ride!