[Dick Boneske]

I just shipped a set of '66 Tripower carbs back to Louisiana. The Tripower had been recently restored by someone else, but the front carb float developed a leak and a fire started with the overflowed gas. The owner put out the fire quickly, so only cosmetic damage was done to the three carbs. The choke pulloff was toasted. After media blast and dichromate and replacement of the choke pulloff and all three floats, they're back to the owner. Look at the before and after pictures.

There is a quality problem with aftermarket brass floats--and the 50+ year-old brass floats often develop leaks. I check all brass floats by immersing in very hot water to check for bubbles--the water has to be below 212 degrees so the bubbles from boiling don't obscure the smaller bubbles if there is a leak in the float. If they leak, the bubbling is very obvious.

Rochester changed over to resin floats in the 2G carbs somewhere about 1968--not sure exactly when.