Tillotson Carb.

Tatanka

Tatanka

Junior Member
I visited my friend Bob to run through his '31 Deluxe Roadster's fuel system. Sediment bowl was clean and I pulled the carb for a check-up. Gaskets not bad and clean bowl. He's had some fuel leaking out the air filter/air intake when idling, so paid special attention to the float and fuel inlet needle. Needle & seat looked fine and no holes in float, but there was some corrosion on the pegs that the float pin goes through and one of the float tangs was a bit wide, so it probably dragged on the corrosion. Cleaned the corrosion and bent the tang in so all move freely.

And, his carb is a Tillotson, not a Zenith. What is the consensus here about the Tillotson carb?
 
Last edited:
I liked mine until the bowl flange warped. I will probably try the radiator clamp/oven fix when we ever get ready to replace the kitchen range. I am running one of the new zenith / tractor type carbs and it is working well and is balanced.
 
J Franklin said:
I liked mine until the bowl flange warped. I will probably try the radiator clamp/oven fix when we ever get ready to replace the kitchen range. I am running one of the new zenith / tractor type carbs and it is working well and is balanced.
Click to expand...

May I ask where you got it from and what the price was/is?
 
Tatanka,
I suppose my Tillotson is working well, a friend borrowed it to rule out carb problems on his car, and here, 2 years later, he's still running it!!! Bill W.
 
Tillotsons are good carburetors as long as they are working correctly. As mentioned, they tend to warp and good file works fine for fixing that. Like any carburetor, they need to be clean and the Tilly can be a little hard [maybe] to get clean. The off-idle circuit likes to hold on to its crud.
 
Brattons lists the new Tillotson model X at $350.00 . I prefer the Zenith, over the Tillotson , after all Zenith was the original carburetor.
 
The Tilly is way less complicated than the Zenith, so an easier rebuild. . It is also way more resistant to vapor lock, something we Texans need to consider in the summer. Seems the cast iron Zenith likes to hold the heat, and the die-cast Tilly likes to give up the heat. I got mine from ebay for almost cheap and rebuilt it. It did need to have the flange dressed off, which can be done with a big file. True, the flange can warp easily, so I use a self-made rubberized cork gasket (seals easily), no sealer, and barely tighten the bolts. Use some locktite on the bolts and just snug'em a bit...that is all they need to seal. If you tighten the way you do a Zenith you will warp it for sure. I've had mine on for 2 yrs, runs like a dream
 
I have had good results with the Tillotson and poor results with the Zenith. I must have had my head in the sand because just recently I found all the literature on carb jet flow testing. I had been out of the hobby for about 10 years but I love Model As and I came back. I just rebuilt a Zenith with corrected flow jets and it works great. I will save my Tillotsons for back up but the original carbs do work very good if they are set up correctly. Just a side note, at Hershey this year there were very few good unrestored carbs for sale. With the new parts and jet flow data available, they will be rebuilt and sold at premium prices. If you like to do your own carb work, I would recommend you find one for inventory. Ed
 
Zenith carbs have more jets but is easier to work with if problems occur on the road. The Zenith only has one bolt that holds the halves together The Tillotson model X and XF has several screws holding the halves together and will usually require completely removing the carb when problems occur. The tillie has more screws to lose and passages that are more difficult to clean. A cast iron carburetor is way more durable than a pot metal carburetor. If you have a carburetor fire with a Zenith, the venturi is the only thing that melts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top