You're right, the floats don't just suddenly go out of adjustment. But accidents happen and they might have gotten out of whack while you were checking the needle valves.

Just trying to think of reasons why a float bowl would overfill and debris and adjustment were the first two obvious things to come to mind.

Another obvious situation would be a compromised float that had become saturated with fuel and thus was no longer able to float but I'm sure you would have spotted that.

The only other thing I can think of is the float kinking at the hinges or possibly the float slipping off one end of the rod during re-installation.

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Just follow the instructions in your FSM on adjusting the floats and you should be ok. Tip: Use any bolt that your 14mm wrench will fit and with the float bowl lid upsidedown and level, place the head of the bolt sideways between the float lid and the float itself.

[uNQUOTE]

I adjusted the tabs enough to be able to put a 14 MM bolt head in the gap of the lid and the float and she still flooded out.

But when I looked in the Service manual, I noticed it describes the 14 -15 MM gap as that between the float lid, and the HINGES on the float. It doesnt sound like much difference but it would be a few millimeters. Im gonna try that setting tommorrow.

...snip...I adjusted the tabs enough to be able to put a 14 MM bolt head in the gap of the lid and the float and she still flooded out.

But when I looked in the Service manual, I noticed it describes the 14 -15 MM gap as that between the float lid, and the HINGES on the float. It doesnt sound like much difference but it would be a few millimeters. Im gonna try that setting tommorrow.

The Z Therapy vid shows another way to set your floats: Invert the bowl cover, and see that the plane between the front and rear (where the hinges are) of the float and the metal of the lid are exactly parallel.

Another area for concern: are your mixture screws set correctly? If there was gunk in the nozze before, and not now, you may have an overflow situation...?

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the tips. Well tonight I tried a couple more settings on the floats, even going to what should be an extemely lean setting, with the needle valve only opening when the float is near the bottom of travel. AND..I still get gas leaking out when I tried to start her. I turned the mixture screws up a couple of turns towards the carb bodies, and she just about started (it seemed) but there was gas leaking so I stopped trying. Do you think I should pull the domes off the carb pistons and spray some cleaner in there to see if it's clogged up with junk, and maybe thats why the float chambers are overflowing?

I've never taken the tops off before so I'm kind of guessing what may be going on.

Do you think I should pull the domes off the carb pistons and spray some cleaner in there to see if it's clogged up with junk, and maybe thats why the float chambers are overflowing?

Even if they were completely clogged the float bowls should not overflow because the floats would rise and cut off the supply.

What kind of fuel pump are you using? Factory type on the head? Or electric?

Did you ever check if the needle valves were working properly by blowing in to them as your mechanic suggested?

I haven't seen this asked yet but where exactly is the fuel coming from? Is it coming from the overflow tube? Since you didn't mention this specifically I'm guessing that's not the case, and it is likely coming from the fuel inlet seat. When I removed the fuel inlet bolt to remove the filters inside, I could not get the inlet washer, which is made of aluminum, to re-seat no matter how much I tightened it down. I tried brass washers as well to no avail. In the end I found some plastic washers and that did the trick.

Finding the source of the leak was very difficult due to the material the carb itself is made of. The fuel tended to spread across the top and side of the float bowl in a very thin layer that was almost impossible to detect unless I got real close with a flashlight. Once I figured it out it seemed obvious. At first I thought I had somehow created a hairline fracture in the inlet bore that I couldn't see. I''m glad that was not the case. Anyway, I hope this helps.

Ok, I'll try to answer all your questions.

I have stock mechanical fuel pump.

I did clean and then check the needle valves. When I did the adjustment, I would blow through the inlet and then measure the distance between the top of the float and the top of the chamber when the air flow cut off.

Good question, Enigma, regarding where the leak is coming from. I had to convince my wife to walk all the way down the garage and crank the starter while I watched for the leak. The first time I wondered why the top of the chambers were wet. But yesterday I could see fuel seep out the side of the chambers, where the top screws on.

BUT, I wondered about that inlet bolt as well. On one of the carbs, when I blew through it, I was pretty sure some air was leaking out around the bolt. I will look for some plastic washers for sure.

Anyway I'm still in a no start condition, what do you guys think about spraying some carb cleaner down into the nozzle from the top if i pull the piston out?

Thanks for your help, guys!

I had a similar problem with junk in my tank I thought was rust. It turned out to be the fuel sender unit had corroded and when I filled it up after sitting for 5 years the corrosion fell into the gas. I also had the problem your having with your floats overflowing. When I took the gas tank out I flushed it thoroughly, cleaned the fuel sender, redid all the fuel tank lines(no leaks) reinstalled it with clean gas with a new fuel filter. I still had a problem and traced it down to junk built up in the small fuel hoses between the nozzle and the float bowl. I cleaned these out, now she runs great. The thing I realized is that no matter how much you change the filter, if you don't have CLEAN gas the needle valves will most likely get stuck closed(fuel starvation) or open(flooding). The entire system needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Spend a day taking it all apart and redoing it. If I had done that first I wouldn't have wasted so much time and money on new pumps and filters.

Chris

Cj, I will check those little hoses this wekend if I don't have any other luck.

Well, I did have some luck on getting the rear carb to stop leaking. In that case, it must have been the bolt at the fuel inlet that was leaking.I got some plastic washers and that stopped that leak. I put them on the front carb inlet as well, but that carb was soaking wet again last night when I cranked her over. BUT, if it was overlowing inside the float chamber, wouldn't some of the gas come out of that overflow line that goes into the air cleaner? I havent been able to detect any from that hose.

Sorry, but it's been difficult to watch the carbs and start the car at the same time. I know I saw gas seeping out of the carb top the one time I could get my wife to crank her over. But that MAY have been at a point when the floats were set too high.

Remember though that I never had any leakage problem until after I first removed those inlet bolts to clean the little filter screens.OK so my Z mechanic in town suggested lightly filing the area where the washers go to make sure they make a good seal.

I was wondering, I also have an old set of SU's , would it hurt to try one of the other inlet pieces on the car if that one didnt leak??

OK I did have another success, of sorts.

I screwed the mixture adjustment screws all the way up both carbs first, to lean em out all the way figuring she was just too rich to start. The front carb had been set about three turns out, but the back was more like five full turns out! I guess that's an inidicator of carb wear? Anyway, I rolled both of em back out 2 and half turns, and when I cranked, I got her to run for about 30 seconds before dying. I had to stop at that point cause my car is super loud, especially out here in the country at night. My neighbors goats and horses will freak out!

Stupid question time, When I've been setting the floats I have been measuring 14mm with a bolt head btween the float top and the float chamber lid. but should i be setting it where the little tab just touches the needle valev assembly, (as i have been) or where it actually makes the valve close???

Sorry, but it's been difficult to watch the carbs and start the car at the same time. I know I saw gas seeping out of the carb top the one time I could get my wife to crank her over.

I use a remote starter for this. I can't remember where I bought mine but here's a link to a similar product:

http://www.iequus.com/item.asp?cid=40&pid=3630