TOPIC:

Just a quick Q. How do you yellow chromate at your house?

My point of view is related to my experience as a quality engineer working for a major automotive OEM, including 8 years at an assembly plant. I've seen multiple times where a single piece of hair or fiber from a cloth glove was laying across a fuel system O-ring causing a leak path. Of course a car's fuel system is under pressure but still. I don't like messing with gas.

asphalt900 wrote: Just a quick Q. How do you yellow chromate at your house?

I've got a Caswell's kit and they sell various chromate dips. Blue is for silver parts, yellow, and a black. The yellow/black coloring isn't super durable against abrasion, but the plating itself is pretty good if you prep the metal well.

You are absolutely correct about problems occurring at any level, these are machines, they are infallible. The opinions I express are just that, my experiences. We will leave it at that, OK. Not here to compete, just share. Good luck with Your sales!! Clay

asphalt900 wrote: Easy peezy, here are some from a set of Early KZ1000 carbs and a Z. Just follow the casting bump imprint left on the old gasket as a templet for positioning of o-ring. Bowl surface has to be CLEAN for the superglue to stick. O-ring does not compromise the height of overflow tube and choke hole doesn't really have to be fully covered. The choke has it's "air correction" built into roof of carb body. I cut at a 45deg. on the mating points of o-ring.

Thanks! That's very useful info. Can see that we'll be experimenting with O-ring-ing a rack of VM-28's this winter.

'Nuther question: We've all seen cracked brass overflow pipes. Easy fix if the crack is at the top. Not so easy if the crack extends below the inner surface of the float bowl, allowing fuel to weep between the pipe and bowl. What's been your experience with that situation? Replace the pipe alltogether?

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

The pipe can be driven out if you chose. Yanking on it from inside the bowl will result in it snapping off flush with casting. I suppose you can solder it but kinda hard to work inside the bowl. I find it easier to first pull the exterior overflow nipple then drive it out. The nipple and tube are two different OD's. The nipple is easy to pull, just tap/collar and walk right out.

Because photos are worth their weight. Tap 4-40 used for both. Pull Nipple. Tap overflow tube at least 3-4 mm deep, you'll be hammering /pushing on it later. Tapping the tube allows for it to be soldered and re-used if practical. This also allows it to be "pulled" back into it's original position without mushrooming the kneeled over end in bowl. It is a tapered tube where it goes into bowl. Same goes for the nipple if it is going to be reused. Just thread in a short 4-40 screw that has a flat flange, or washer, and tap home. The whole tapping thing is just to prevent damage and allows proper alignment in/out. A couple photos of the differences of OD of parts. Pretty universal sizes on the VM's

I've replaced overflow tubes a number of times on Keinin carbs and posted photos and details of the process in threads here. It's not difficult, but there are some nuances.

Regarding the fuel tee's from ebay, I finally got my refund. The seller clearly was a broker or something to that effect because they had no clue that you can't stick a Tee with 10.2mm OD at the O-rings into a 11.0mm hole.

Or a seller out of the country using a mailing address here. Busted another one.
Steve

SWest wrote: Or a seller out of the country using a mailing address here. Busted another one.
Steve

You may be right Steve. The parts shipped from a local address but they didn't seem to want the parts back for lack of anything useful to do with them.

Yeah been through it a number of times. When I insisted a US address they sent me a California one. Looked it up and seemed like a warehouse to me. The seller I got the cam from wanted me to send it to Spain. It was advertised as a US seller. That's why I bought it. Cost him his eBay account and now he's in hot water with Pay Pal.
Steve

Since everyone likes photos...here are the completed carbs.