Carb Base Gasket Wet

[garybuick]

Buick did not start again. After all that. :(

I noticed that the carb to manifold is wet. Esp in the front left corner. I tried to tighten it and it was snug already but it moved pretty easy with a half inch wrench. When I tightened it, the gasket compressed and observed clear liquid being displaced and there was some tiny bubbles like a sponge. Whats happening here ?

Thanks

Gary

[gs_jimmy]

Gary,

Looks like rebuild time. Q-jet has problems in the bowl area with leakage. It will lead to a hard start condition. It is usually more than a "throw a kit in it" to fix this. There are several good companies out there that will do a professional grade rebuild & recolor. Had my GS done a few years ago, was around $250 w/shipping. Car had same problems you describe, fixed it right out of the box. The company is in Daytona Beach.

Jim

[jamyers]

You can do the fix yourself, with a carb kit and some good fuel-impervious epoxy.

On the bottom of the float bowl, there are two "wells" below the main jets, where they drilled the passages, then used staked-in lead plugs to seal the holes. Often, they leak. You'll need to take the throttle plate off of the main carb body (2 big screws), and then take a file or something and rough up the surface, and use epoxy to cover and seal the well plugs.

Then, continue with the rebuild kit (or not), and away you go! :TU:

Just be VERY careful not to overtighten the carb-to-manifold bolts, especially the 2 front ones, or you'll warp your airhorn and cause all sorts of troubles. Just a hair beyond snug is all they need. :Smarty:

[jamyers]

Here's a pic of the 2 fuel well bottoms (red arrows) and the 2 screws to get the throttle plate off (green arrows)

[garybuick]

what is the yellow arrow pointing to ?

[jamyers]

It's something that was already on the picture I pirated from another thread... :Brow: pay it no mind... :laugh:

[1979SHX]

....yellow arrow is secondary air flap adjustment.....if you're doing a stock rebuild for average/low performance, probably should just leave it as-is. :cool:

[Smartin]

There are also 2 more spots on the carb that need to be plugged with epoxy. Lemme see if I can get a pic.

[Smartin]

Ok there are 5 spots that need to be sealed...see them with the green arrows:

[Smartin]

Also, in regard to tightening the carb-to-manifold bolts:

This is what happens when they are torqued too tight. Do you see the arc in the air horn? It's supposed to be flat.

[jamyers]

Ok there are 5 spots that need to be sealed...see them with the green arrows:
Adam, thanks for the pic! I forgot about those other three spots until yesterday, when I had mine apart (cleaning out dirt from bad gas - thanks, H.E.B.! :spank: )

:TU: :TU:

[78ParkAvenue]

So if the base gasket is soaked with gasoline, that means new carburetor, assuming that all of the nuts are secure. I think I may have damaged the carb by tightening the 4 nuts too tight, there is no clearance to get a torque wrench in and I think I must have over-done it

[jamyers]

Maybe not a _new_ carb, you may well be able to rebuild and epoxy that one and be ok.

Doublecheck the float level, too. Mine somehow went from where it should be to way high...and I have no idea how. :Do No:

[garybuick]

Just want to say thanks everybody!! for all the input. Buick runs smooth and quiet now.:) Like Buicks should.

Gary

[1979SHX]

You're welcome.....pay us when you can! :beer

[78ParkAvenue]

Did you just seal those holes with epoxy?

[garybuick]

Well, they werent really holes. Just the ends of the fuel well plugs, like in the pics. I guess they leak so I covered them with epoxy. Did I mess it up ?

Gary

[jamyers]

Well, they werent really holes. Just the ends of the fuel well plugs, like in the pics. I guess they leak so I covered them with epoxy. Did I mess it up ?

Gary
Nope, that's exactly what you're supposed to do. If you want to get real anal, you could drill out the plugs and tap the holes, then thread in some plugs, but epoxy works just as well. :TU: