4bbl holley on 350 sbc/ leaking from top rail of carb

I pulled the old ones out of the front and rear fuel bowls and they both are marked 100 and the o rings are flattened and flush with the needle unlike the new ones. Im just not sure why the new ones have letters not numbers.

 

I searched google and "www.nastyzn8.com" cam up and this is what it said:


Holley uses a letter to ***ociate with the diameter of the seat. "Some" kits came with different needles. A 4160 carb can have center hung or side hung bowls. The "H" doesn't stand for Holley. It's the letter for the .110 seat that you would find in a double pumper or 780 vac carb. The letter "D" is a .97 seat that you would usually find in a little 1850 series carb like the 600 vac.

The bigger steel tip needles are as follows:

C=.110
F=.120
M=.130

You'll also notice that many of the smaller needles will have round windows and the bigger .110 + will have square.




So I am taking it as I need to be using "D" needle and seat?

 

If the kit you purchased for this carb is correct, 1 of these pair should be a match. Line up side by side.

 

I put the ones marked "D" in with the new gaskets. I am going to get the shop light out and try to get it fired up and tune it. Just to get it at a starting point where should I adjust the needles at? like how many turns out?

 

Since the bowls are on the carb and I had to replace the front and rear needle and seat, where is a good starting point to set them so i can fire up the motor?

 

http://youtu.be/ge-mIk6nEYQ Follow closely to the instructions here.

 

Well I watched it and made a bit of sense to me. I took off the plug on the rear bowl and the fuel was pooring out. Getting late here so I might have to pick back up on wednesday.

 

Well I spent a couple hours and got the bowls so where I can run the motor and they dont poor out. It still runs alittle rough and the idle goes up and down on its own. Feels like its running alittle hot too but the mechanical gauge shows a little over 160.

 

This carb seems to have a mind of its own, it revs up then drops back down then picks back up and stumbles a bit. Any help or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

Vacuum leak!! Check all the hoses on your carb and on your intake.

 

Do you think it might just be the carb? I sprayed starter fluid around intake and carb.

 

If the diaphragm in the vacuum advance is bad, it may be causing your idle problem. Try removing the hose from the vacuum advance and plug the hose with a screw or golf T and see if it idles better.

 

So even the the advance isnt hooked up to the carb the advance still needs to be capped off? Or just the carb?

 

Just the carb. Double check all the lines for being tight to their hook ups.

 

I will recheck everything. Seems like I might just have a **** carb

 

If you can't find a vacuum leak while spraying starter fluid around then listen for it with your ear. Take a 2 foot length of old garden hose and put a funnel on one end. Listen around the base of the carb and at any other vacuum spots on your intake. Might be a hissing, air ****ing or whistle noise.
And there's probably nothing wrong with your carb. Nothing that a little time and patience will cure. Hang in there. We'll get you figured out yet.

 

I have been trying to search for it. I am contemplating on taking the intake off and replacing the gaskets since I have new ones, but the only thing that kind of scares me is dont you have to pull out the distributor?

 

SLOW DOWN!!!
One thing at a time. You've had it running. Stop making more problems for yourself.
Take some pics for us.
One from each side and one from the front and maybe one of the back of your carb area. Not close-ups. From 2 feet away. Maybe we'll spot something.

 

Im sorry, I am just a bit frustrated and trying to solve this issue. I will try to get these pics for you guys as soon as I can. Kind of busy after work, if it gets late I will pull the shop light out for the pics.

 

What is the single valve on the top of the pic? I didnt replace that one. Its still in the bag.

 

That is a float needle and seat.

 

Oh? I replaced the needle and seats on both front and rear bowls. Im guessing that one has to be replaced too?

 

It is most likely for another model of cad of you already replaced them in yours.

 

Well I replaced the needle and seats that were paired in the package. Its 1pr per carb, I just wondered about the single one.

 

The needle/seat replacement needed to straight across matching old to new in size. Now the float is set to where it barely trickles out when you push down or rock the vehicle. Correct? We need to establish each step as correct, before jumping around. Please.

 

Well in the kit I was given gaskets,o rings and some other smaller odds and ends that I didn't use. There were two packages with a pair of needle/seats in each bag, one pair were marked with a "D" and the other with a "H" From what I read is that the "D" needles are meant for the smaller 4bbl holley and the "H" is for the bigger 4bbl holley carbs, So I ended up using the "D" needle/seats. I had adjusted the floats yesterday but the rear needle I got about right but I ran out of threads on it so it seemed like it was maxed out.

 

Nothing has Dextron. Perhaps DEXRON is what you're thinking of. Ron

 

I knew what he meant.

 

Here are the pics as promised:

 

Re tighten your intake in this configuration. Just to cover all the bases.