Re: NAPA carb kits.

Posted by su8overdrive On 2012/8/20 16:53:20

I bow, as always, to the above worthies, and thank Dr. Cole for the gasoline test above. Have been hearing about how gas isn't as good as it used to be since i got to Kaleefornyuh in '76. Have since driven several Packards with all kinds of gas in all kinds of weather and never,

not once,

suffered vapor lock, hard starting, disintegration and all these other ongoing tales of woe. BTW, no one in my circle with auld inline engines, be they Delahayes, Jag-ue-weres, Chevy/GMC sixes, Hudsons or Packards has ever in all these decades, suffered vapor lock, which i've only heard affecting Ford, Cadillac and other bent eights due to the placement of intake components.

Can't help noting that it seems more a case of too many people driving like modern cars old, worn out but cosmetically cute barouches and wanting to blame the evil gas, motor oil, brake fluid companies.

But back to carb kits. The main problem seems to be that people want to sell you only "jiffy kits" in recent years, which lack the needle and seat, et al. Haven't bought a kit in a decade, but i recommend Don Knopp, Don's Antique Auto Parts, Niles Canyon, where Charlie Chaplin shot many of his movies, part of Fremont in the greater South Bay Area now. 1 (510) 792-4390

Don is a fount of encyclopedic knowledge of every part on every old car from the 1920s through '50s, has an industrial-sized warehouse with shelving to the towering ceiling bulging with NOS and used parts. For example, i asked once if he had a starter for a Packard 356, and there were four of them on one shelf.
Ask Don if he has a complete carb kit for your car. If anyone still does, he will.

Wahoo.