Zenith "type" Carburetor

[mankins]

Hey-

Has anyone tried the $149.00 Zenith "type" Carburetor that Atlantic British sells? Or, am I going to have to just try something else? My original Zenith does not seem to be working properly. It does not seem to be drawing fuel properly and when running it has always been a choking, gasping mess that always needs a steady stream of gas pedal and choke. I'm looking at other options as I neither want to nor really know how to properly rebuild a carb.

My fuel system is getting a new life from soup to nuts. My Series III was barely running so some investigations showed some real mess: The gas tank was a mess, swiss cheese on top and huge chunks of rust inside. I thought about trying to fix it but it started to seem like a bit of false economy. So, I ordered a new one from our hosts as well as a new fuel pump (it already had an aftermarket one on it and the diaphragm was showing some cracks).

Any ideas on the carb would be appreciated.

Thanks, Phil.

[siii8873]

with all that junk in the fuel system it could be your problem. It could be restricting the fuel flow thus needing to choke to get a good fuel / air mixture. The Zeniths are fairly easy to rebuild, essentially take out parts and replace with new ones. The write up at the top of this forum is good on setting them up after a rebuild.
Only thing I would add is to lap the mating surfaces on a piece of float glass and fine sand paper.
You may just need to clean the carb, a bunch of rust getting in there would give you operational problems.

[I Leak Oil]

A few years ago I tried a BM zenith clone. Total piece of crap. The float, which looked like it was made of some type of foam, basically swelled and came apart. I assume it was from the ethanol blended gasoline that we have here. It just never ran right even new out of the box.
My advise, don't do it....

[knac1234]

I know there's been a lot of discussion about carbs, but I run a Weber 34ICH. It was rebuilt and installed just before I bought the truck, and it runs great with it. No problems at all, and much support for jets, gaskets, etc... from Pierce Manifold (which I need, as I had to rejet for high altitude). Can access the jets and float, etc... in about 5 minutes with the carb still on the truck. It seems to work very well......with the choke on a cold day starts first time, every time.

Good luck,
Julian

[I Leak Oil]

I second the 34ICH. Aside from my brief lapse in judgement I've had one on my 88" since I bought it in 1994. Been very reliable and is great in off camber situations (for a carb anyway). It does need clean fuel though so make sure your tank is clean and run a filter.