WANTED: 1940 or 1941 Carter Carburetor

[Tom Beaver]

I am looking for a rebuildable Carter WD-O model 460s or 506s carburetor.  I am trying to modify one to compensate for lean mixture problems caused by our heavily methanol laced gasoline.

Tom Beaver

[Steve Passmore]

Did you get lucky Tom?

[Tom Beaver]

Steve ....  I didn't find one here but I did just acquire a 460S from ebay, although it has some parts missing.  I have a rebuilt 460S on the car now but started having problems with the engine running rough above about 1500 RPM, either driving it or just sitting in neutral.  The problem appears to be carburetion and after some checking the most probable cause is a leaned out mixture due to methanol in the gas.  So I wanted another carburetor to experiment with enriching the mixture, but in case I mess it up I would still have the original.

It turns out that trying to enrich the mixture on these carburetors is not so easy anymore because parts are not readily available.  With the problem starting at around 1500 engine RPMs implies that the carburetor has just made the transition to the main fuel circuit.  The options for enriching the mixture there is either larger main jets or different metering rods.  Boring out the main jets is a problem because the gap between available drill bit sizes is to great.  The stock main jets are 0.086" (#44 drill) the next size drill, a #43 would make a too large a change in the mixture.  A 2.2 mm bit won't make quite enough of a change and a 2.25 mm bit is again too much.  Changing out the metering rods is a problem as they appear to be as rare as hens teeth.  The alternate metering rods I find listed for a 460S all make the mixture leaner, even if you could find one.  The most likely option I've found is the metering rods from a 478S or 512S which were used on 41 to 51 Buicks if I can ever find any those to try.  Anyway I'm still working on the problem.

Tom Beaver 

[Steve Passmore]

I presume Tom you are talking about the La Salle engine? as all the Cadillacs used Stromburgs. have you tried a different carburetor? as I don't see this problem cropping up with your fellow countrymen and they all have the pleasure of this fuel don't they?  I think I have one of these Carbs but I'm not sure on the numbers, it was NOS when I acquired it some years ago and I did use it on a car for a short time.  I would try another complete carb first I think.

[Tom Beaver]

Thanks Steve,  I have another carburetor now so I will rebuild it and try it on the car to see if I have the same problem.

Tom Beaver

[Tom Knoebel]

Tom,
I have found these folks to be reliable. Have sent them 2 WDO for my LaSalles and the oldest is 6 years running no ethanol problems. They do complete resto's or sell complete kits with pumps. They are knowledgeable and easy to talk to.
Tom Knoebel

http://daytonaparts.com/findyourcarb.html

[Tom Beaver]

Tom,

Thanks for the link.  I will check with them and see if they have any of the parts I'm missing for my "new" carburetor.

Tom Beaver

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

Just to let you know Tom, I have a 1940-60S which has the Stromberg Carb on it.  All the jets are dead stock and even though ethanol free gas is available at some places here in western Washington I just use the cheapest available which I presume has some ethanol in it at least at sometimes of the year.  It runs perfectly just like it did when it was new but it was not always so.  It took 1000 miles to debug it.  It had various problems but one major one was lack of power on hard pulls.  It took a couple of times of carburetor disassembly to solve it but there was a tiny piece of dirt in just the wrong spot.  I forget all the circuits in the carb now but it had to do with the economizer jet.  The Carter carbs have the metering rods that you need the tool to set properly.  Bottom line is when things are right they still run right with the gas we have.  It may be slightly leaner with the methanol in the gas but at this time the manufactures were not setting cars up on the lean side I don't think.

[Tom Beaver]

Brad,

Thank you for the reply.  I was talking with Jon at the Carburetor Shop who suggested that ethanol could lean the mixture enough to cause my problem but I think I have now found the main source of the problem.  I took the carburetor apart and started checking settings and it appears that the float was set to low, which would certainly lean the mixture.  However, I will rebuild this new carburetor I acquired and see how the car runs with it.

Tom Beaver

[Jeff Maltby 4194]

Ebay nos 506s carb.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1941-LASALLE-CADILLAC-506S-CARBURETOR/360672695831?_trksid=p2047675.m1985&_trkparms=aid%3D444000%26algo%3DSOI.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D13%26meid%3D8295441176843157866%26pid%3D100012%26prg%3D1014%26rk%3D5%26sd%3D111086729860%26