Rebuilding the Carb Myself

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John12377

John12377

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When I got the Slant 6 engine running there was gas pouring out of the carburetor so I figured it was time to have it rebuilt. After a phone call to the carb guy my neighbor recommended and a quote of $175 to do it I decided to give rebuilding it myself a shot. $48.99 later I had my Holley rebuilt kit in hand and then the work began. Getting that old Holley 8007 clean was the hardest part. Once it was clean putting it back together was actually pretty simple. It only took a few hours to get it back together and installed. Of course I missed about 3 O rings but the gas gushing out of the carb makes it pretty easy to locate where they needed to be. So she's running again but still smoking like crazy out of the valve cover cap so now it's time to get that issue solved.

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That looks great, bro. The hardest part about cleaning holleys is saving the dichromate finish. I soaked a body in the old Berrymans cancer sauce and it totally stripped the gold off the carb. I hope you didnt take the throttle plates off, thats about the easiest way to spoil a good rebuild.
 
I bet I know where you missed an O-ring...the vacuum passage to the dash pot?

And that came off a slant? Interesting.....
 
RustyRatRod said:
Looks great. What did you use to clean it?
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I put the small parts in chem dip for a couple days and soaked the larger parts in kerosene. The kerosene didn't do much so I ran it through the dishwasher. That helped a little. Then I found a guy selling a brand new parts washer from Harbor Freight for 30 bucks. That thing is awesome. I let the parts soak for a few hours in the HB heavy duty degreaser and then gave it a rinse.
 
Nice job. I did a 3310 I bought new in 1992 over the winter following Rusty's guide. The hardest part for me was getting the damn gaskets off. I broke one knife just separating the front metering block from the body.
 
dano said:
Nice job. I did a 3310 I bought new in 1992 over the winter following Rusty's guide. The hardest part for me was getting the damn gaskets off. I broke one knife just separating the front metering block from the body.
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Mine too, I'd never done this before and I thought mine was all one piece they were on so hard. I had to hit it with a tuber mallet just to partially break the seal. Of course I don't think mine had ever been rebuilt and it has sat idle for 20 yrs.
 
John12377 said:
I put the small parts in chem dip for a couple days and soaked the larger parts in kerosene. The kerosene didn't do much so I ran it through the dishwasher. That helped a little. Then I found a guy selling a brand new parts washer from Harbor Freight for 30 bucks. That thing is awesome. I let the parts soak for a few hours in the HB heavy duty degreaser and then gave it a rinse.
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You care to share which cleaner you got?
 
John12377 said:
That's the stuff. They say it's non toxic too.
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Thanks man! Much appreciated. I am always lookin for some good carburetor cleaner. Berryman SUCKS anymore, Gunk SUCKS anymore thanks to the EPA. I tried Simple Green, but it reacts with aluminum and etches it, so that's out. I will have to try this stuff.
 
pishta said:
That looks great, bro. The hardest part about cleaning holleys is saving the dichromate finish. I soaked a body in the old Berrymans cancer sauce and it totally stripped the gold off the carb. I hope you didnt take the throttle plates off, thats about the easiest way to spoil a good rebuild.
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I was going to take the plates off but after I removed the screws in each one I couldn't get them to budge so fearing I would do more harm than good I put the screws back in and left them alone
 

chem dip has saved me many toys. i have purchased motorcycles and atv's cheap, and taken the soft parts out then dipped overnight and cleaned with carb cleaner and good as new.
its great stuff!
 
If it is puffing out the valve cover cap, that indicates excessive blow-by the rings. That is a traditional poor-boy test for diesel engines. Hopefully, the rings are just stuck and will free up. I think some pour a little ATF in the spark plug holes and let it sit. In a gas engine, I don't think you feel much puffing unless rings are broken or such. A little smoke is normal, but not if it overwhelms the PCV. Verify your PCV is sucking OK at idle.
 
BillGrissom said:
If it is puffing out the valve cover cap, that indicates excessive blow-by the rings. That is a traditional poor-boy test for diesel engines. Hopefully, the rings are just stuck and will free up. I think some pour a little ATF in the spark plug holes and let it sit. In a gas engine, I don't think you feel much puffing unless rings are broken or such. A little smoke is normal, but not if it overwhelms the PCV. Verify your PCV is sucking OK at idle.
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Well I tried to buy a new PCV Valve but what O'Reilly said my car called for looked nothing like the one I have. Also, the gentleman at the counter said as long as the valve rattles it is ok. Is that true?
 
No, it is not necessarily fine if it rattles. The "gentleman" at the parts counter doesn't know what he's talking about. And in addition to works/doesn't work, the valve also has to have the correct flow characteristics and the right spring, etc. See here for just one example of what the wrong valve can do.

As for the appearance of the valve, there are several different physical styles of valve that will fit and work correctly -- what kind of valve cover are you using (year of stock cover, or which aftermarket one)?
 
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