I have finally gotten around to removing the triple SU carbs on my Series 2 (a PO upgrade in the distant past). As I’ve mentioned previously, they were disgustingly dirty, oily, greasy, and gas soaked. Here is a picture of them removed to prove my point.
My first question in what will likely be a continuing thread is how to get the gaskets off the carbs. They are baked and practically welded onto the carbs. I don’t want to damage the mating surface by using a screw driver to pry them off, but they do not appear to want to be removed easily.
Getting all gaskets off can be a pain in the butt. Scrapers, razor blades etc. followed by a light sanding on a surface plate to clean up the surface and make it flat. If you don’t have a surface plate get yourself a piece of heavy glass.
Somebody actually makes a gasket dissolver/remover product…can’t remember any particulars, though. If you are careful, a single-edge razor blade can do the trick…oblique angle, of course.
A good, sharp chisel or scraper (or putty knife with a sharp edge)should do the trick. One good whack, and they should pop right off, with no harm to the gasket surface. The right tool will will have an edge that is ground on only ONE side. Put that side AWAY from the gasket surface on the carb body, and give the handle a sharp hit with a small hammer. With the blade properly oriented, and parallel to the gasket surface, there is about zero chance of damage.
I usually keep a can of MEK around for things that require an aggressive solvent. Make sure you don’t even open it near a painted surface, and use gloves. If that doesn’t work, you can try a scothbrite, with scalding hot water and dishwashing liquid. Finally, carefully use a single edge razor to scrape off the residue.
As Ray was suggesting, I used a putty knife on one of the rounded sides and gave it a slight whack with a handy tool, which happened to be pliers and the gaskets pretty much came off. Some light scraping and they are relatively clean now.
I have access to a Vapor Honing machine and I plan on going there tomorrow to really clean up the body of the carb and the float chamber. I’ve been told to not touch the interior of the carb and won’t be bringing the dashpot or the piston.
You probably know this, but don’t mix up the parts, especially the bells and pistons. I carefully marked mine with a center punch in a non-critical place just so I wouldn’t need to worry about it.
Hence the separate bins and labels for each carb, but your suggestion to mark the dashpot and piston is a solid one and I will do that next trip to the garage!
Funny I have those in my tool box and broke the first blade trying to clean the carb after “whacking” the gaskets off with another tool. I ended up gently using a real razor blade to clean the gasket surface, but I use the plastic blades all the time.
Sorry saw the plastic razor blades first. The Roloc device does look interesting.
Do you know what the donor car was for these? 3.8 carbs used bronze bushings. Those need replacing if the new shaft has any side to side play inside the bushing. The 4.2 uses Teflon bushings that just get replaced during the rebuild. They simply fold up and push in. I think the have some kind of retainer clip.
I just disassembled one of the butterflies and it was Teflon bushings. I’ll post a pic in a minute of the SU rebuild kit components but I’m certain it does not have Teflon bushings in it.
If it has cork seals then you have a 3.8 kit. If it has no side seals they may just be selling them separately now. They used to package these things together in a major rebuild kit.
IIRC it’s that itsy bitsy circular clip in between the aged teflon strips. I have a 3.8 so I’m not certain, but I thought there should be two of them for each shaft?
