<VV> Corvair Carburetor Kits and a big thanks to Bob Helt

[Bob Gilbert]

Hi,

 

I've owned Corvairs since 1972 and have probably re-kitted and fiddled with
more Rochester carbs than I can count.

 

I say "fiddled with" because until very recently I never really understood
how the various circuits worked. Mostly, I fiddled with adjustments until
things got better. Sometimes they didn't.

 

A few weeks back I bought Bob Helt's Rochester carb book and I'm now about
half way through it. I had a nagging problem with a carb in my Ultravan and
after reading and finally understanding the section on idle circuits and off
idle circuits I was able to diagnose the problem and best of all my
diagnosis proved correct (really unusual for me!). It turned out to be a
slightly incorrectly installed throttle plate - obvious now that I have
better understanding of the basics but I would have been fiddling for hours
before. Thanks Bob!

 

Second item - the other carb had a fuel dribbling from the venturi and no
amount of float adjustment would stop it. Out of frustration I reverted to
the original inlet valve assembly that I had removed during the kitting
process. Et voila - problem solved - the new inlet seat assembly from the
kit was the problem. I naively assumed "new stuff" would be better than "old
stuff" and in this case that wasn't true.   

 

Happy Labour Day !

 

Regards,

Bob

66 180 convertible

68 Ultravan 404