[Shrek]

Ran into a guy who has owed me $200 for over a year and today he gave it to me. Five hours later while driving my truck it started spitting and sputtering.

When I got it home I started smelling gas and saw the one barrel carb leaking so I called my neighbor who has worked on the old truck on and off for the last 30 years.

He looked at the carb and noticed a screw missing and a heat and age related crack as it is the original 35 year old Carter that he has rebuilt five or six times and when he cleaned and rebuilt it the last time he warned me that it was aging pretty bad.

After it cooled down I called the parts house to price a replacement and was told they could get me an off brand carb for $180 so off I went to get it.

When I got there and they started ordering my carburetor, they found the off brand supplier had discontinued their model so I had to go with a Carter at $235.

At least I got $200 of the deeper cut covered by the repay I hadn't really thought about since he first told me he was getting shorted on his OT last year and needed some time and the truck will still have the carb its supposed to have.

 

[Terri]

Hey. If you had gotten a carburetor for only $35 you would have been DELIGHTED! Everybody loves a great sale!

 

[Shrek]

I even checked the newest mail order catalog for the antique vehicle parts house in Kansas and about feinted when I saw almost $400 plus shipping for one from them.

 

[Oxankle]

Shrek; did you check with the junk car lots?

They've all got the internet now and I'll bet one of them could have found an old carb for half the money--something easily rebuilt.

I put a new engine in a 66 chevvy pickup one year and could not get it to run smoothly. Neighbor, Mercedes mechanic, took the carb to the shop and deloused it, brought it back and the engine ticked over like a fine watch. At one time there were two old women running a carb re-build shop here in Tulsa. Wonder where that went.

Tuning carburetors was once a fine skill---gone with the buggy whip.

 

[FarmboyBill]

Jay, I harte receiving money, and for the same reason. It never fails, that if I receive money for whatever reason, in no time I will get a bill for something that is way over the amount I received.

Chuck, Your talking about Threshers Carburator on Admiral. I used to go there for years also. The dad died, and they split the company up. One of the workers who was owed a bunch of money, took it out in trade with a bunch of old carb parts, and worked on carbs at his house which was 3 or so blocks N off the street that runs behind the fair grounds. I got his number if you ever need it.

 

[Oxankle]

That's the place, Bill, Thrasher's. Who has anything with a carburetor now? My lawnmower, some small engines.

I hauled off a good spray pump last week because the pot-metal carb had broken away from the block--repair was more than the engine was worth.
Ox

 

[Shrek]

Ox,
Junkyard parts for these inline six gear drives have always been short in supply and I think mostly the older simple engine vehicles in the 1980 to mid 1990 year models actually made it into the cash for clunkers vehicle purge because since then junkyard parts for this one have become more scarce. Plus we lost all parts yards within 35 miles over the last 20 years.

Bill,

The only reason I still keep this one going is that with the no timing chain motor its almost as long running as a OTA tractor engine and serves as a great generator engine.

 

[Allen W]

Some parts are easier to source through Jeggs or Summit Racing or other hot rod parts places then your regular sources.

On one of the car shows my son watches on Saturday or Sunday mornings they built up a 300 inline six. Was neat to see that motor done.

 

[Shrek]

The guy putting the carb on this one rebuilt the motor for me when I hit 300,000 miles on it and did the job in 3 days and two of them were spent waiting on the valve job on the cylinder head to get done.

My friends often laughed at my little inline six motor but if it was good enough for the military for 50 plus years , its good enough for me.

In an F150 it gets 18 to 20 MPG and about a gallon of gas per two hours or so idling to top off the batteries when in use as a generator.