Thread: brassfloat size
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Old 06-29-2020, 12:54 PM
Dick Boneske's Avatar
Dick Boneske Dick Boneske is offline
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There are only two sized floats for Pontiac Tri-Power carbs. The large carbs use a larger float and the small carbs use a smaller float. I believe Rochester carbs manufactured before 1968 all used brass floats. Since that date, the larger Nitrile (or plastic) floats were used--I don't think any small 2G carbs were manufactured after 1966 or '67.

Today, it's difficult, and expensive, to find quality brass floats, especially the larger ones. I began testing all brass floats for leakage by immersing in boiling water before using them. About one in 10 are leakers.

Since the smaller brass floats are readily available, I've wondered what the downside would be of using them in the larger carbs. The needle/sea assy. and function are identical to the larger carbs. There would be a slight difference in how much psi the carb could handle with a smaller float, but as long as the maximum is about 6 psi, no problem.

Nitrile floats are widely available, and do the job as well as brass floats did. I've heard horror stories of the Nitrile becoming saturated and causing flooding, but I've not seen that happen. Meanwhile, if you use any brass floats, test them before using them.

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