Nineteen Pounds....

[Brill-o]

Hello-

I thought I'd share this:

What you see here that's (loosely) know as the carb, is all of 19 (!) lbs. of cast iron, that hangs off a 2ft. intake pipe- about 2/3rds back under the drivers side of the coach. I glad I didn't drop it on my foot!

It's cleaned up now (after this pic-) and ready to be disassembled.

I was thinking that with the lightweight metal skin, wood flooring and no seats, this bus might be a lightweight-

I'm definitely rethinking that now!

More soon..

Cheers..

[ceieio]

What a monster!  Is that an updraft?  Can you get a kit for it or will you be collecting rebuild parts on your own?

Make sure you post the "after" picture when you get done!

Craig - MC7 Oregon

[Brill-o]

Hi Craig-

Yes, I believe it is an updraft. It's made by Zenith.

I was just discussing the rebuild fact will Brillbus last eve'.
Unfortunately, the carb on his bus is different.

But so far, everything I've opened or partially taken apart seems to have been "protected" by grease or built-up road grime so it's held up well. 

Only the "tach box" has corrosion inside, and this I believe is from a cracked housing which allowed outside moisture inside damaging the electricals.
It made by "Sun", so I may be able to get it rebuilt/replaced-

The fuel tank has old gas in it, but when the fuel pump is turned on (yes, that worked from the start!) it comes out clean and debris/rust/sludge free—albeit stale and foul smelling. 

In the thinking of what you asked:
I have decided to remove the float bowl for inspection before I start tearing her down.
The carb throat has a light sooty coating inside- normal for any carb that's been run. I'm hoping the inside is just as good.

Parts for this may be the biggest hurdle.
Brillbus can rescue me with quite a bit of it, but from the calls I've made, (even without telling of what I'm working on), I've been scoffed, scorned, and generally hung-up on.

So the real challenge is not the coach-
But the people I have to contact for parts.

Thank you for your interest! 

More pics soon-


Cheers..

[DrivingMissLazy]

Sounds very similar to the Zenith updrafts used on Model A's. I know repair kits are available for that carb.
Richard

[Dallas]

Hey Brill-o!

I was meandering the By-ways of eBay and found a couple of interesting items that may help with your seach for the Zenith.

eBay Item #180007915681

or

eBay search: Zenith Carb

or

eBay Search: Zenith Carburetor

or call this guy and ask if he's got any parts for yours, or a replacement: 1-262-392-2989

[Brill-o]

Thanks for the links, mates- 
I'll file them in my Brill folder.

I had it apart in about 20 min.

Of course, the last bolt was a problem-
I ended up using an 8mm socket as the bolt head had "shrunk" from the rust.

It's a good thing I removed the bowl-

Although it's very clean (!) inside, one of the floats came loose from the soldered joint.

This, I fixed- but a 1½ in. rod was lying on the bottom of the bowl.
I have an idea where it goes. There are two holes where it may go-

Everything inside the carb looks excellent- including the needle & seat, the pump, and the valleys and channels.

The bowl gasket is now ruined from the removal.
I kind of doubt I could just get a bowl gasket without purchasing the whole kit—
I'm going to try Permatex "blue" gasket maker, as I had luck with this before, and there's nothing to critical where the tears are, so if used sparingly I should be ok-

As the Fab-four sang  :
"It's getting better all the time"


Cheers..

[Brill-o]

A quick update:

The "rod" I found in the bottom of the float bowl turned out to be a support for the bottom of the floats. This I have now re-soldered and repaired.

The carb will be finished and back on early this eve'. (pics soon..)

The tach-box can be updated to a newer solid-state unit sold by Williams Instrument Service—479-369-2551     
A great bunch of guys and very helpful-

The plugs and wires I'm picking up shortly-

Again the Fab-Four covers it:

"It won't be long, yeah-yeah--" 


Cheers..

[ceieio]

Sounds like you have got it on the run.  In the past, I have had an updraft to rebuild and I collected parrts from all over to do it.  Some came from International Harvester tractors!

I wondered back then if I could make a 90 degree "manifold extention" and stick a side draft (webber, stromberg, zenith...) on it.  Room was a little tight as it was a 53 GMC COE Farm Truck.  We finally found enough bits to rebuild it and it purred like a kitten.  I still liked the side draft conversion idea!

[kyle4501]

When it comes to my old tractors & old trucks, I've had better luck at the small independant parts shops, the best help from the nasty looking ones with piles of cores in front. It will surprise you what some of them still have on the shelf.

I usually start by asking if anyone there likes a challenge to find really old parts to rescue one more from the dumper. If they act like it's a bother, I don't expect too much. But sometimes, you will find someone willing to do what ever it takes to get your part.

Good luck with your awesome coach!
kyle4501

[NJT5047]

An idea for the carb is look in your area for an antique tractor show...hit and miss engines often have antique tractors.  They used all sorts of updrafts, sidedrafts...anything but a downdraft on old tractors. 
They'll also have all sorts of parts for them for sale at larger events.   
Likely that Carter, Tillotson, Walbro, all built carbs that would interchange with the Zenith.   
Post some pix of the carb.
Another thing, don't get the RTV inside the bowl...it'll ooze inside, the little RTV balls will fall off (this is very bad) and cause all sorts of intermittant drivability problems. 
Good luck, JR

[Big Tom]

If you are going to run something older like that, consider joining Amercan Truck Historical Society (www.aths.org).  Their bi-monthly rag has vendor ads for all sorts of old stuff, and you can do a wanted ad in their classified.  Besides they feature some cool older trucks.  BTW, if you need a password on their web site try "Kenworth".

[Brill-o]

Hello-

Thank you for the additional links- 

I save them all in a special file.

The carb has been re-done, and reinstalled. (See pic.)

Everything looked good and needed just a bit of re-soldering of one float and the floats' support rod. No dirt, gum or varnish inside-

I've moved on to the broken accelerator linkage bracket and frozen cable.

The engine, trans and other scruffy bits have been cleaned, but will need another bath. 60 years of road grime is hard to get off-

The plug-wire spool I'd ordered will be here tomorrow.
The (somewhat unique) fuel line at the carb is being made up and will also be available for pick up tomorrow.

First start-up is planned for early Sat. morn'.

So when you wake up on that day-
Take a deep breath for me and cross all your digits...

Another report soon..

Cheers..

[ceieio]

Good luck on the smoke test!  Do you know how long it has been since she was running?  I always like it when a machine gets "back to life".

Craig - MC7 Oregon