I had a local shop rebuild the Holley one-barrel on my ‘59 223. Now it idles way too fast. The story is, apparently, that there is wear between the throttle shaft and the carburetor body. I suppose it used to be sealed up with goop, but now it’s clean and leeks air. I know that I can send the carb to a specialist who will restore the proper clearance by installing a new shaft and sleeving the bore. My question is whether I can do something locally to fix it without the cost and delay of a specialist.

Rob

 

Are you sure that Holley didn't have bushings on the throttle shaft? I had a 223s and worked on quite a few carbs but I never had the shaft out of one. I do know they used a
plastic (no doubt nylon) bushing on their multibarrel carbs. Are their other shops in your
area that rebuild carbs, perhaps they have an old parts breakdown that would tell you.

 

Kotzy,

Thanks, I'll check in the Shop Manual. Maybe there are bushings missing that the shop doesn't know about. Or, maybe there were bushings that they lost track of when rebuilding the carb. I hope that's the case. It's not a specialty-carb shop, just a regular garage. But the owner is a very good friend and it would be awkward to go elsewhere.

Rob