Carter rebuild kit?

[matthon]

Just got this, where is the best place to get a rebuild kit?
It is a 4298S.
If I was able to rebuild a Holley, would I have any issues with this?
What are they finished in, paint, just the metal?
Anything I need to know with these carbs?

 

[toolmanmike]

I'll bet NAPA has them available. toolmanmike

 

[matthon]

bump

 

[Schneiderman]

NAPA had it for me, it was like 22 bucks. I'm no expert, I know motorcycles a lot better than cars, I rebuilt my carter last week with no prior knowledge of what I was up against. It was mostly easy, I just had to learn things along the way, even so it took me maybe 4 hours of work from taking the carb off to putting it back on and if I did it again I bet it would only take 2.

Now I just need to learn to tune the darn thing.

 

[matthon]

Ya, I heard they can be difficult to tune.

Did you paint it, or just clean it up in some way?

 

[72bluNblu]

Tuning is pretty easy actually, just like a modern Edelbrock. In fact, edelbrock bought Carter, so you can use Edelbrock jets and needles for tuning. Only thing is that you can't use an edelbrock top gasket, for some reason it has a larger hole around the floats that causes an air leak on the Carter. But the AFB's are pretty much just edelbrock performers, the Carter AVS's are just like the Thunder AVS series.

I just finished tuning a Carter Competition AFB 625 for my 318, its pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

I wouldn't paint it, not likely to stay put given that its a carburator and will be exposed to high heat and fuel. Its aluminum, so you could polish it if you were really ambitious, otherwise I'd just scrub it down with some carb cleaner.

 

[65Val]

In fact, edelbrock bought Carter, so you can use Edelbrock jets and needles for tuning.

Umm, no you cant. The E'Brocks use a 2 step rod and the early AFB's use a 3 step rod. The jets are numbered completely
different, and the jets and rods are different lengths.

I wouldn't paint it, not likely to stay put given that its a carburator and will be exposed to high heat and fuel. Its aluminum,
so you could polish it if you were really ambitious, otherwise I'd just scrub it down with some carb cleaner.

You can glass-bead the outside to make it look like the day it was cast.

Just make sure everything is antiseptically clean before you re-assemble it. Blow all the passages out with compressed air,
or run a thin wire through them. Pay attention to the float levels, as that makes a big difference in the way it runs.

Then bolt it on and LAY SOME RUBBER!!!!!

 

[Schneiderman]

Can you explain how float level affects it? I did everything according to the instructions (including setting the float level), I just don't know how everything actually works.

 

[65Val]

If your floats are too high, the fuel sloshes around, and dumps into the main barrels causing flooding and all-around wierd stuff. The float level actually affects the mixture, to a certain extent. If its too low, the carb will run slightly lean. This is a very fine adjustment, way less than,say, changing jets or rods. Also, if its too low, the accel pump system doesnt work correctly. You wont get a pump shot 'til the throttle is opened some.

There are other factors as well.

 

[Schneiderman]

Thanks for the info