CARB Dropped and Busted Fuel Inlet - Suggestions?

[Road Dawg1]

Dummy dropped my carb last night and busted the plastic piece where the fuel line connects to the left side of the carb. It is black plastic and shows on the fiche as part of the body. Ron Ayers confirms it is not sold as a separate part and a body is $360. Any creative SAFE solutions to fix this, or is my carb deader than Elvis?

Is it worthwhile to go ebaying for a complete carb? Seems like throwing away a large assembly for one small piece.

Thanks

[alex.s]

maybe you could ebay a full carb and take the piece and sell it again on ebay sans connecting piece for someone to use as parts?

[DaBlue1]

It's a somewhat common problem, but there is a fix.

Read this, it may help you- Quick CV Carb Fix

http://www.johnsmotorcycleparts.com/fuel_elbow.htm

[Road Dawg1]

First body I saw on fleabay is $40 and complete carbs start at $150. Inlet valve alone is $10 plus S&H. Deal!

May even order the Hardly part, just to mess with Hardly guys.

[bruce71198]

The above fix is for harley carbs. It is a new elbow that is all brass, no more plastic. I have repaired several of these recently. If you are handy you can pull the old brass fitting out of your carb and see if the harley piece will fit. You can get them from the local HD dealer for about $12

[CZroe]

Incomplete carbs and carbs with bad diaphrams are practically free trash due to there being a glut in the market (torn diaphrams are more expensive to replace than simply buying complete used carbs). Look for a good deal on one of those and transplant your good parts.

[bruce71198]

Harley part number 27371-76A for the replacement elbow. If you dont want to go through the trouble PM me I have a carb body.

[Vintage Smoke]

I have done a bunch of these and you do not need to make a puller. You simply need to break off any remaining plastic, grab the brass that's left with a vice grip, and while rotating it back and forth pull it out. It will take about 30 seconds to wiggle it out. If it is especially tight you can put a flat head screwdriver under vice grip and gently pry up on the fitting/vice grip while you rotate it back and forth.

Here's the catch:
In order to grab the brass with enough force to rotate it and wiggle it out without the pliers slipping, you will most likely collapse(crush) it. This will lead to it breaking off inside the carb body creating a worse problem. This is why most articles tell you how to thread the brass and make a puller.

Here's the fix:
Slip a drill bit, bolt, or piece of metal rod inside the brass. I usually use a drill bit and use the end that clamps into the drill chuck, not the cutting end. Make it a close fit, but a little loose is OK. Now, when you clamp down the vice grip it will start to deform the brass slightly, but only until it contacts the drill bit. Then it will clamp tightly against it and you can make the vice grip as tight as you want without crushing it.

I have done this probably 20 or 30 times over the years working on Harley carbs and it takes less time to get the old fitting out than it took for me to type this!!

[CZroe]

How do you press the new fitting in?

[Vintage Smoke]

Sorry..I missed your last question. Using a "C" clamp or vice with soft jaws will work just fine if you are using the all metal replacement fitting.

If you are using the stock fitting (plastic over brass) you need to be more careful or you will crack the plastic again. On them I usually use a piece of SOFT wood (pine usually) against the fitting and tap it in with a small hammer. Go slow and take your time and it will be easy. On the plastic fitting you can use the "C" clamp with a piece of soft wood to cushion it as well but you need to go slow and it MUST be perfectly straight going in as well as the clamp being perfectly square to the fitting.

No matter what you will need to use a bit of judgement and "feel" to make sure you are not hurting anything. Also...absolutely make sure it is going in straight and is clocked at the position you want it to end up in before you start pressing or tapping it in.