On the 5200 (76 model)series carburetor, How accessable are the floats, Should change just the floats or should I just get the rebuild kit and go that way. This is an add on for my other post. (engine that won't stay running.) Thanks again. al
Hello Smalldisplacement,
I just added the float part numbers because that was part of the list.
Definately check your float for damage.
Not sure about your Financial situation but "Pony Carburators" are touted as being the BEST re-builders.
From Pintony
You said that you haven't done a carburetor rebuild before.
Some tips, gained the hard way.
Don't start until you have everything together in one place.
This means the rebuild kit, instructions, solvent, cleaning supplies, tools, etc. Check that no special tools of any kind are needed BEFORE YOU START. You may need something that you don't have on hand, and you don't want to discover this fact at 10pm on a Sunday night.
Having a good selection of your favorite music, (whatever type that helps you concentrate) ready to go and in place, can help a lot.
(NO videos or TV, too distracting.)
Don't start untill you are in a good frame of mind to do meticulous work. With a carburetor, tiny errors or slips of a screwdriver or wrench can make for BIG problems.
Don't start until you have a good block of time set out and can live without the car and the SPACE that it (and you) will be occupying until the rebuild is complete.
Take your time.
Make a clean, well lit place to work, one where you are comfortable SITTING, preferably with some magnification and a small magnet, tiny forceps or tweezers (to handle the smallest parts) and use something like an old beach towel with a smoother piece of cloth on top of that, on top of your work surface. This will not only help to cushion the pieces, making it harder to accidentally nick or scratch any of the softer aluminum or brass parts, but will also kill the bounce of any parts that do fall, so that tiny parts don't disappear.
(It's almost impossible NOT to drop something when doing a carb disassembly and rebuild these things help you control how far and where it drops. A raised edge pan with clean shop cloths or paper towels in it is a good thing to use as a staging area when you are doing the reasembly.)
It may be a help to keep the parts of each particular subassembly grouped together, and then clean each subassembly separately, rather than dumping all of the smaller parts into one container and cleaning them all at one time and then trying to remember which screw, or w spring, brass jet, or tiny steel ball goes with which part or where.
I use containers such as sandwich bags or wide mouth plastic peanut butter jars with screw lids to keep this type of parts separated. A small piece of paper can be put in each one to indicate what each group is or to note any special instructions, (such as "this was 2 & 3/4 turns in, or the linkage was in the second hole from the far end, etc. ) That way if you get interrupted, there aren't a lot of loose parts sitting in the open, just waiting for someone to bump into and spill.
Sometimes with a carb that has never been apart, it may be necessary to use a hand impact tool and a relatively small hammer to break loose stubborn cover screws. If you end up having to do this, use a well fitting bit and the least force possible.
Write down everything that you have to, in order to do the job.
(You never know when you may get interrupted-life is like that. Best laid plans....)
If you remove any brass jets, use the magnifier and mark down which one goes where as they may have different size ORIFICES, but still be the same size overall. There are usually markings that indicate the size stamped directly into the brass some where.
Mark down the position (number of turns out) that all the adjustment screws are in NOW, BEFORE removing them completely when you disassemble the carb. for cleaning.
To do this, count the # of turns it takes to bottom the screw, and that will be the # of turns OUT that it must be when reassembled.
You only need to change the float if it's actually bad. Many metal floats will last practically forever, if given decent handling when outside of the carb. With a metal (brass) float it will be easy to tell if it's bad, because it will be hollow and if there is any fuel inside of the float, you can hear it when it is shaken, and it will start to seep back out when the outside of the float is dried. Even a damaged brass float can usually be fixed by cleaning the metal and either soldering any leaks shut after draining it. (This has to be done with an absolutely dry float, both inside and outside OBVIOUSLY.)
With a plastic foam type float, many times it's difficut to tell if the float has absorbed some fuel over time and is heavier than it should be, without having either an extremely accurate gram scale on hand (which practically nobody owns) or another float with which to roughly compare it's weight. Sometimes a visual indicator of a heavy float can be seen via the evidence of a gasoline/debris/residue "high tide level" type of buildup, which may leave a very high fuel level mark on the sides of the float bowl and on the float itself.
Be extremely careful when removing gaskets, shims, tiny springs, spacers, and diaphragms. Some of these may NOT be in the rebuild kit. Or may not be the same as what is in the kit. Or there may be 4 very similar looking gaskets and you will need to MATCH the old one to one of these, which is very difficult if the original one is now 143 shreds of gasket material. Try to do as little disassembly damage to the soft parts as possible.
Use the magnifier to inspect the surface of the resilient tip of the old (and new) needle valves, and the sides of the needle that make contact with the insides of the inlet valve. This is where you will most likely see evidence of a wear pattern, or deformation caused by excessive pressure, dragging, or scraping that may be causing the inlet valve to not functiuon optimally. These parts are usually included in any decent rebuild kit, BUT sometimes not all of the supplied parts will be a good fit for your exact application, and you may have an odd carb, with a design change or some special physical interference problem that necessitates reusing some of the old parts mixed with some of the new ones. If you are forced to "mix and match", try to use ONLY the new soft parts or any new hard part that is subject to direct wear if at all possible.
VERY good post!!! Also be sure to have a good air supply for blowing out carb during the cleaning process. Use a nossle with a rubber tip so you can get a good seal when blowing out internal passages. I would spend the little extra and replace the float, unless it's a brass one. Those black plastic one's are hard to tell if they're bad so just replace it. Yours is probably a brass though. Also be sure to compare all gaskets and don't throw ANYTHING away until you have it on the car and running good. I rebuilt one years ago that someone else had put in the wrong gaskets. I put in the ones that matched the old ones, only to have it still run badly. Just be cautious, and you'll be fine. If you have the tag on the carb, just take it with you and your parts store should be able to order a kit from that. GOOD LUCK!!!!
Okay guys, how do you remove the clip on the choke rod that connects it to the choke shaft without breaking it? (On a 5200 carb) I am trying to remove the top end so I can check the float clearance. The clip is a small plastic white t-swedge looking part. Thanks, AL.
BTTT
Never mind, Got it disassembled.
before you even pull the carb down for rebuilding, check the butterfly shaft for wear on the housing/base plate. If the carb housing/baseplate is worn enough to where the butterfly shaft can wiggle inside of it, you'll either have to have bushings pressed into the housing/base plate or get another carb without the wear. This wear will allow the carb to s-uck in air around the shaft and can create poor idle and a lean condition.
I don't know if the 5200 carbs have this problem, but a lot of the ford 2100 and 2150's do.
-Harry
Thanks I'll check it out.
These carbs are so insanely simple it is not funny,there are no probs with shaft wear so don't worry about that.things to check are float,if it is a poly float check it very good for areas that look as though they are burned.this means the coating is wearing off and it is absorbing fuel.If the float is brass shake it if you don't hear fuel in it it's OK.Emulsion tubes,make sure they are very clean,use a wire or small needle to clean all the holes.And lastly air,lots of compressed air.If the carb was in use when you started, it will come apart with out gasget damage.A rebuild kit is not necessary on one of these carbs,there is nothing to wear out except the float if its poly.Been driving these cars for 25 yrs and have yet to have an internal failure of a part in one of these carbs