1959 carb replacement

[rbbmoose]

The shop that did the restoration on my 1959 series 62 had difficulties getting it to run smoothly with the (original?) carb so they put a weber on it - it still has never started well when cold and now I can barely get it to start at all - It has gas and spark and if I use starting fluid it fires right away, just won't idle at all.  I'm not very adept with this type of problem- tried changing the fuel filter but no help.  The car was running pretty well around 7 months ago when I started and ran it to temperature before winter storage.

Since the carburetor is already not original and I'm more interested in drivability and reliablity, is there a modern carb (Holley?) that would fit? Or should I try to go with an original/rebuilt one.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Tom Hitchcock]

Just from what you relate it seems the hard start is nothing more complicated than a mis-set choke. If your car originally had a Carter AFB (Aluminum Four Barrel), the job of checking and/or setting the choke isn't too difficult. If it's never been serviced, you might want to have that feature overhauled and cleaned before resetting.  If the idle isn't right, you should correct this with the help an RPM meter working in conjunction with the large fast idle screw and the two smaller fuel/air mixture screws.
Personally, I'd recommend sending the Carter for a complete overhaul. That way, you would feel much more comfortable knowing that the carb's innards are up to specs...and thus, setting the choke, fast idle and mixture settings should be a lot easier.  But, again, you'd really need an RPM meter to get it right.  Too many or too few RPMs can easily muck things up. Lastly, having a '59 Shop Manual would sure help.

Tom Hitchcock
2212

[35-709]

A Weber?  Unless you are knowledgeable about carburetors and like to tinker with them, have the carburetor that was designed for and installed on the engine by Cadillac rebuilt and re-installed.  Done properly it should give you years of good service.   Don't put a Holley on it (among other things that is NOT a "modern" carburetor), or anything else unless, like I said, you like to tinker with it and/or pay your mechanic to do the same which you are already doing with the carburetor your shop put on it.   Not that it makes any difference but, a Weber?  Are you sure??  Like to see that!

Having a car sit all winter with gas in the carburetor (any carburetor) is asking for trouble, especially with today's fuels.  I have always used with excellent results a product called STA-BIL (any auto parts store, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.) put into the tank before storage.  Follow the directions on the bottle and run the car a mile or two to be sure gasoline from the tank with the STA-BIL in it has reached the carburetor.  Good luck.    
Geoff N.

[Dino]

I would highly recommend these people for your original carb. rebuild..
http://www.daytonaparts.com/

[william_b_noble]

if this was a single carb car, the original carter AFB is easy to work on, the only wear point i know of is the throttle shaft, and the standard repair is to bush it and replace the shaft - this is fairly inexpensive - as with other readers, 'webber' really doesn't sound right for that engine.

If you have the tri-power with the 3 rochesters, things are a little more challenging - the center carb is very common and kits are everywhere, the outboard carbs are not and you end up making most of the parts (but it sure adds power to the engine).  you didn't specify, but since you used the singular, I assume you have an AFB.  Just get the original rebuilt by a competent rebuilder, and make sure the choke riser that goes through the manifold is intact -

[David Greenburg]

The original carb may have been a Rochester 4GC as well as the AFB.

[rbbmoose]

Thanks everyone - I'm going to try to find the original carburetor and get that rebuilt. 

The car really does have Weber now...not sure what the reasoning for putting that on was or if the original carb was on it prior to that.  -I did get it running this weekend - took the air horn off and cleaned up the needle valves and after that it fired right up. - I would guess just stuck/ gummed up from sitting over the winter.  It runs and idles pretty well now.

I do use usually Sta-bil - when storing the car - but may have neglected that last year. - I also may have ended up with some Ethanol blended gas last summer and I understand there is different Sta-bil for treating that.

At any rate thanks for all of your responses.

-R.  Bentley.

[35-709]

FWIW ----

I would like to revive this topic to correct myself and to add some additional information about the carburetor apparently on R. Bentley's '59.
 
I did not know at the time of my earlier posting in this thread back in July that Weber casts the bodies for the Edelbrock carbs, at least for the 1400 series which would be a Carter AFB clone, and casts the Weber logo in them.  Do not know how long Edelbrock has been outsourcing to Weber but this is the reason, I would say, that the carburetor on Mr. Bentley's '59 says Weber on it.  Normally when someone says Weber carburetor to me I have an entirely different picture in my mind than a good ole AFB.  

I would also say that if the car ran poorly with its original carb on it and still did so with the new "Weber" carburetor (which, again, is basically the same that was on it originally), then the problem may lie elsewhere.  
Geoff N.

[dadscad]

Another FWIW.......

A lot of folks have installed the Edlebrock on 63/64 cars and have found them to be jetted somewhat lean out of the box. For someone knowledgeable about carburation it is not a terrible issue to correct but for someone that is not comfortable doing this it is a poor situation.  Some in the 63/64 group have given edlebrock customer support high marks for helping them sort out the jetting. You might try contacting them if you feel up to the task and see if they can help you richen the mix to get your 59 up and running again. An Edlebrock dealer can order jet/needle kits that have an assortment of parts if you want to try on your own.

Some Edlebrock internal parts will fit the Carter also. I ordered new Edlebrock jet needles, correct size for my 63's Carter, to replace the worn original needles. If you are adventurous, you can play with the Carter jetting too.

David