Straightening Warped Tillitson carb

Phred

Phred

Senior Member
I want to straighten the warped top of a Tillitson carb. I have done some strategic filing and now have reached the point where filing will no longer help.

Years ago, on the old Fordbarn, there was mention of straightening the carb with hose clamps in the oven. Does anyone use this method successfully on a regular basis?

If so, what procedures, temperatures, and clamping methods will work?

Any other suggestions are also appreciated>

Thanks in advance Fordbarn!
 
I've done it successfully. I used C clamps. Put the screws in that hold the two halves together, tight. I used the wife's oven at 400 degrees for about fifteen minutes. Use oven gloves when removing the item from the oven. Run the unit down to your vice and place it in the vice so that the top contacts one side of the jaws and the bottom contacts the other side of the jaws and just snug it up to cool. Leave the clamps on until the unit is cold. It should come out perfectly.
 
I used 2 long hose clamps holding a piece of flat steel against the warped top. From my memory, I probably used 350 F. for a half hour, and let it cool. I did not re-clamp hot in a vice. Try a higher temperature and longer time if the above combination did not work. I have straightened a number of carburetors this way.

Some of the pot metal carburetors also get warped in the throat. Some can be straightened from oval to round in the oven with a c-clamp to provide pressure.
 
I've flattened many of them by careful whacking with a hammer. With the oven trick you will be getting lots of complaints about smell from the wife.
 
chet said:
I've done it successfully. I used C clamps. Put the screws in that hold the two halves together, tight. I used the wife's oven at 400 degrees for about fifteen minutes. Use oven gloves when removing the item from the oven. Run the unit down to your vice and place it in the vice so that the top contacts one side of the jaws and the bottom contacts the other side of the jaws and just snug it up to cool. Leave the clamps on until the unit is cold. It should come out perfectly.
Click to expand...
I have two old tilly's with a warped top half and would like to be able to fix them. What about any "memory" left in the metal? I would think that the top half would want to spring back to it's original, warped position or is 400 degrees enough to overcome this? Do you do this w/o a gasket? Any additional advise would be great!
Greg
 
I found absolutely no memory in the metal. I believe it is important to let the unit cool down completely before unclamping or removing from a vise.
 
Yup done two of em using the hose clamp in the oven method. Great results. Now for my opinion........why go through all the b/s of heating and rebuilding these things only to put em back on and warp again? I suggest (and have done several) making a phenolic resin spacer (1/4 inch thick) With a gasket on either side. Two advantages here. One, less temperature to re-warp the castings AND less chance of boiling the alcohol blended fuels causing .........up you guessed it. Vapor lock. I have fabricated several of these for club members and they swear by em.:cool:
 
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Take the carburetor all apart, put the two pieces together (without screws), use two hose clamps to draw the parts togather, put in oven at 300 degrees for 1/2 hour, remove and let cool before removing hose clamps. Have done this a number of times over the years and it works well for getting the top flat.
 
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