Tillotson Carburetor

I’m going to open myself up for some negative comments, but!

Do yourself a favor. Get a new Zenith carburetor. Doing so will check off your list another potential performance problem with your car. You don’t want to keep visiting something over and over. Enjoy.
 
To fix a warped Tillotson carb body, you have 2 choices both work well.
A) put fine sandpaper like 220 on a flat surface or piece of glass and work the body in a figure 8 pattern.
B) using a hose clamp, clamp the 2 bodies together without a gasket and put in an oven at 300 degrees for and 1 or 1.5 hours, turn off oven and let carb cool down with oven door closed.
 
Herb - It’s not the body that is warped. It’s the other part. I’ve tried all the methods, I’ve read about, but it still leaks, even with two gaskets. I’ll try the oven idea. ( Then, I will probably have to take WHN’s advice).
 
A new Zenith is most likely the best. A rebuilt one from a major supplier is a good second and lower cost option...A Model B Carburetor and intake manifold is another good option and will give you a tad more power as it allows more air and fuel into the engine...I have used a B for years and love them. Ernie in Arizona
 
Before you throw that old Tillotson away salvage the brass float from it. It makes an excellent replacement for the cork or neoprene float in your gas tank attached to the fuel gauge mechanism as it will easily fit through the gauge opening in the tank.


Tom Endy
 
It is leaking at the seam between the top and the body. I don’t really know, but I am assuming the top piece is the part that is warped. The top piece has protrusions on it, so you can’t sand it down flat on a glass plate, like you could the body.
 
the fuel level shouldn't reach as high as the join between top and lower body.... it should stay approx 1/2 -5/8 inch below ... maybe check your float valve and its gaskets are OK, check the float and its hinge are OK , and check the level you've got got the float set at before you ditch it. use the search within this website for more tilly info
 
Try two (or more?) gaskets. You'll have to tweak the float setting. Other than this tendency to warp, they're really very good carburetors.
 
I’ve tried the two gaskets, but I haven’t checked the float level. I will check that. Thanks for the advice. I really enjoy playing with my A, and trying to figure thing out for myself.
Y
 
I lived with a Tillotson for 29 years and it gave alittle better mileage that the Zeniths in our club on mileage runs. It also warped. There is nothing like opening the shop and be greeted by the smell of gasoline fumes. I used a flat file and dressed the gasket surface of the top part of the carb more than a time or two. It took time but was generally effective...…...for a while.

A club member claimed to be able to mill the gasket surfaces so they would seal properly but I never saw proof. He also only occasionally drove locally and at city speeds. He never really heated the engine bay like a long tour on a hot day will do.

After finding a very good Zenith 2 at a swap meet and being tired of filing pot metal I changed the carbs and have never regretted it. Buy a very good Tillotson and expect it to warp eventually of buy a Zenith and move on.
 
Fordfan29 - I thought that would be the best final solution.

Johnbuckley, in his response to my post, said the fuel level should not reach the seam between the top piece and the body. Did you try to adjust the fuel level when you were fighting the leaking problem?
 
I checked float level and talked to the local experts for any advice to solve my problem. Every one of the experts had a story about a leaking carb but no good suggestions for a cure. I never tried the oven bake solution. Everything would be acceptable for a while after I did some filing but eventually I'd smell gas again.
 
Remember, they weren't made to last FOREVER??? They were made of "POT" metal, which is just the molten dregs of ALL kinds of metals, stirred into a "SOUP"---It was used to make decorative things, like Hood Ornaments, etc.---Kinda' like making SOUP, from all your LEFTOVERS & LOTS of water.
Bills' Kitchen
 
Thanks everybody. I’m going to put the “Zenith” fix on my 29 Roadstet. I guess I can learn to get along without the smell of gasoline in my garage.
 
Recently Read this post. This information fixed my badly warped Tilly. But I will leave a hose clamp on the warped body until I can get some others to build. It looks silly but its going to hold me over. I sanded, filed, and scraped before trying the oven wish I could start over
 

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Busmoss said:
Recently Read this post. This information fixed my badly warped Tilly. But I will leave a hose clamp on the warped body until I can get some others to build. It looks silly but its going to hold me over. I sanded, filed, and scraped before trying the oven wish I could start over
Click to expand...

hey what ever works, what you got too loose
 
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