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Coming together! Might be able to finish it up tomorrow.




An accelerator pump that works is going to be a big improvement! The old one was ripped.

Another deficiency that I found was the screw that holds the arm on the end of the shaft for the 4 bbls was loose. I think either the 4 bbls weren't opening all the way, or sometimes may not have been opening at all. This would make sense as sometimes I would take my car out for a drive and it would feel like a horse that has been in the barn too long, it just wanted to run!

Supposedly the Daytona float valves are going to be better as well.

We'll see if these Daytona float valves are as amazing as they say they are! I'm hoping for 25 mpg!

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Probably you are already aware, but the pair of butterfly valves only work in tandem when the choke is all the way open. Before that point, only the one set will open, except at full throttle an "unloader" cam will open the second set partway so that you can air out a flooded engine by flooring it while cranking.

So I like to check operation by confirming the unloader works with the choke closed, then I push open the choke and confirm the tandem operation. Of course, the exact values for the gaps that things have in various states are shown in the instruction sheet and service manual.

But if the second set was not connected at all, then you basically had a 2 barrel carb with this unloading functionality disabled in addition.

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The screw was quite loose, to the point I'm lucky I didn't lose it. Just to satisfy my curiosity I should have played around with it a bit when the screw was loose to see if the secondary butterflies were actually working or not, but I just tightened up the screw because things gotta be fixed!



Once I did tighten up the screw I checked and everything is operating as it should. The linkages and shafts are all in nice condition, very little wear.

Are these little spots for oil?

Is the little cavity in the cover maybe supposed to have a felt for oil?

53 Cavalier

My experience with Carter carburetors is if there is a drilled, or drilled and tapped, hole that intersects a shaft, then that hole is the preferred location to apply shaft lubrication/oil. For an equivalent shaft the WDO dust cover has oiling instructions cast into the cover. The holes in the WDO do not have felt inserts, so I would not expect to see them in a WCFB. I other worlds lubricating the carburetor throttle shaft is on the 500 mile maintenance schedule.

Bye the way, and just as a reminder, the float level for Daytona float valve equipped carburetors is adjusted by adding/subtracting gaskets between the valve body and the carburetor casting. The tang on the float should touch the center of the Daytona valve.

dp

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Thanks for the feedback! I did give each of those spots a couple of drops of oil and will try to remember to do it again!

The new Daytona valves had a little note with the instructions for the gaskets, 3 each for a Carter carb. Floats were pretty close, but needed a little adjusting and leveling.

Carburetor rebuild is done!

I used Gunk parts cleaner to soak the carb and then some Gunk carb cleaner to blow through all the passages to make sure they were clean and clear. I didn't soda blast the carb, but I did polish up a few bits, like it's brass tag, to give it a bit of bling.




I filled the carb before trying to start it and she fired right up. The only issue I had was the seal for the filter screen cap was not the correct size and it leaked. I swapped it for the old one and all good.

I let it warm up, set the idle jets, and the idle, then took it for a test drive. It ran great. As I suspected the accelerator pump made a world of difference, completely eliminated the hesitation that it used to have when starting out. The 4 bbls are working correctly as well and it's is noticeably better. I suspect my fuel consumption may increase, along with the possibility of getting a speeding ticket!

Most of the settings were close, but all needed a little tweaking. The choke unloader was not set correctly, it was only opening about half as much as it should.

Hadn't done a carb before, and was a bit nervous about this project. But between the YouTube from Mike's carburetor, the service manual, the instructions that came with the carb, and you guys it all went well.




This picture shows the holes that Ross mentioned that are to allow a bit of heat to the carb to prevent icing. These were not in use, as you can see the gasket had been flipped over so they were covered. My new gaskets are not cut to accommodate this feature, and as Ross mentioned, you don't want extra heat.

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If I understand correctly, was this the first carburetor that you disassembled and then reassembled properly? I congratulate you without envy. During my apprenticeship I was allowed to work on the three-carburettor system of an East German sports car. After I separated the carburetors from the engine, I closed the intake ducts properly with cleaning rags. Minutes later, I mindlessly spun the engine's flywheel and all the rags were sucked into the engine. At that moment the strict taskmaster came around the corner...


image source: "Motorist - Pocket Book"; GDR 1959

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Just took the Cavalier on it's first road trip since the rebuilt carburetor and fuel pump not too long ago as well.

We did just a little over 200 miles and the car is running great! The carb rebuild took care of a bit of pinging that I used to get when pulling a hill. I think the issue that was causing my ping was the secondary butterfly valves were either not opening, or not opening all the way because of loose screw that holds the arm on the end of the shaft. I think it was just too lean without all 4 bbls operating.

Accelerator pump fixed the hesitation that it had, which is a great improvement as well.

But best of all is the mileage. On today's trip, driving 55-60 mph, the Cavalier got 17.86 US mpg, which is the best yet by a few mpg.

I've been running Shell regular (87) and using Sta-bil 360 Ethanol Fuel Treatment. I've read in a few places that, unless your vehicle requires premium fuel, regular can be better because it's fresher because it is sold in a much higher volume than premium fuels are. Hadn't thought about that angle and my car is running well on regular so I think I'll keep on with regular.