My truck has not seen much attention in the last 5 years due mainly to finances and time, My kids are getting older now and it feels great to be able to work on the truck more often. The truck runs smooth. The problem now is a severe leak out the carb, I really cant tell where the gas is coming from appears to be out the top of the bowl, there was quite a bit like a fountain so it was rather difficult to tell.
Oh yea, its a 1957 "272" with a Holley 2 barrel. If you guys have any ideas please let me know, I rebuilt the carb 4 years ago and it has been stored in a box all this time.

 

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but is the float stuck down?

 

That is obvious, but something I didn't think about. Is there a easy way to tell without tearing it apart?

 

None that I know of...maybe some of the old hands around here will be along with some tricks. There is the old "tap on the bowl with a wrench to knock it loose" maneuver, but it's not very elegant...

 

I just went out to take a peek and with engine off gas is leaking from the accelerator pump on the bottom of carb, it leaks worse when i work the lever. Still sound like a stuck float or gasket issue? Sorry im not real good with carbs.

 

I'm no carb guru either, I was hoping someone with actual knowledge would jump in and rescue me! I have seen a stuck float basically make fuel come out of EVERYTHING once the fuel pump cranked, so that could still be that issue. You could pretty easily check the accelerator pump diaphragm, if it were bad I suspect it would leak like you're describing as well. I'm not familiar with the details of that Holley, but most have either the screw-in type or the three or four little screws in the cover over it. You could check the diaphragm with minimal teardown in either case. I know some paper diaphragms do not like being left dry. They get brittle and fall apart, even if it's never really been used. Fuel pumps are notorious for that. Work great when you park them, then months or years later when you restart the engine the fuel pump croaks. Don't know if they're the same in accel pumps.

One other thought, and not to insult you, but if you rebuilt the carb and this is the first run, might you have left some "Semi-Important Little Doohickey" (known as a S.I.L.D. in highly technical circles) out during the reassembly?

 

Try tapping the side of the carb, but lightly. It might free the stuck float.
Don

 

Well I pulled the front of the carb apart where the float is located and I found the float was improperly adjusted. My understanding is as the bowl fills with gas the float is suppose to raise and push up the little needle wich in turn stops fuel from entering the bowl untill the float lowers again? Well the float wasnt even contacting the needle, instead it was actually hitting the top of the bowl. After adjusting the float I buttoned it up and and dumped a small amount of gas into the bowl to prime it. Everything seemed good and the diaphragm was no longer leaking. I cranked her over and she ran for about 5 seconds and died. The carb once again was soaked around the bowl area and the diaphragm was leaking out the bottom. The diaphragm is rubber and appears to be in good condition.
I really appreciate your guys input, I guess its possible I left something out on the rebuild, but I usually only throw the extra parts away once I'm sure the thing works

 

On Holley carbs you can adjust the float level without taking the carb apart. Take a look at the float bowl, on the side of it there should be a screw plug, also look on the bowl at where the needle and seat is located, there should be what looks like 2 nuts or a screw with a locking nut.
With the engine running at idle...
What you want to do is to remove the plug in the side of the carb
Loosen the lock nut at the needle and seat and tweak the screw until teh gas level is just below the plug in the side of the bowl.
Tighten it all back up and away you go.

Bobby

 

I may have been a bit hasty. The process I tried to describe is for the later style Holleys that have the larger rectangular bowls that are held onto the carb body with 4 screws, one on each corner.

Bobby

 

I do have the later model Holley and its exactly as you describe. Thanks for the help Bobby I will give your adjustment method a try.

 

Cool,

Good luck with it. Put a rag or something under the carb to catch the gas. Puddles of gas sitting on the intake manifold can be a bit of a fire hazard if youhave a bad plug wire or the engien backfires (I'd rather not go into details on how I know that....lol)

Bobby

 

Love them glass bowls!

 

The gaskets and seals have probably dried out and shrunk from sitting all that time. You're likely going to have to do a fresh rebuild on it. At least it is still be clean from the last time and you've had the experience so it won't be so bad this time around.

 

I think your right on the rebuild, I cant seem to find the leak. BTW I just priced a reman from Holley @ $202.00 so I think I will rebuild it first and go from there.
I remember Janet40 from way back on the Y-block forum talking about a Motocraft carb I believe from the 70's that worked on the Y-block manifolds I will have to do some research and see what I can dig up.