Carter WO Carburetor - Rebuild? New? Who?

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

I run a Carter WO downdraft carb on my speedster. Has worked flawlessly for over 20 years. Now it doesn't... Last time I used the car, it was perfect. Yesterday, I could not get it to idle. Kept stalling... I turned up the idle speed and got through the day at an annoyingly high idle. Obviously, something wrong in the idle circuit. Playing around on the web, I see that brand new, (made in China ), WO copies are being sold. Many of them listed on eBay by many "different" sellers, all with poor feedback ratings and strangely, nearly all shipping from Hebron, KY.

So, the questions...
1. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with these Chinese copies?
2. Does anyone know of a good rebuilder for a Carter carb?

I'll probably take it apart myself and see if I can find the trouble, but the car is currently on display in the Piquette Plant Museum, so not an opportune spot to work on it and test it. Therefore, tempted to have it professionally "rebuilt". Somewhat less tempted to buy a Chinese copy, but curious about them.

[Scott_Conger]

Jerry

FWIW - I occasionally must purchase very special thread taps from China...not because I am cheap but because that is the ONLY source and every crazy obsolete tap/die I buy is listed 20 times over on eBay with a myriad of sellers...all supposedly in Hebron, KY.

the parts take about 4 weeks from China and the shipping cost(s) are usually around $3.50. Now, you tell me, Why does China get shipping rates on packages for the same price as 2 letters sent to Canada? And even if there was a US source for the tap(s), what would a US company have to charge to get it to me? Likely 2-3 times the price from China. The Reds have one sweet deal with Washington. One of many.

good luck with your carb issue, and here is a "bump" for you.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

Jerry

FWIW - I occasionally must purchase very special thread taps from China...not because I am cheap but because that is the ONLY source

I hear you on the tap & die thing. I bought a die for exhaust manifold threads that came from China. Probably priced at 1/10 what a USA die would cost, sadly, if I could even find a USA version.

[tdump]

I have not used a new carb of that exact type from china but when I repair lawnmowers for folks, most of the time if there is carb issues, i just order a "Wang Fuee special" off ebay. I can't buy a float or needle and seat for what a whole carb cost. not to mention the hour in the ultrasonic cleaner and the time spent working on it. I have had a couple that had issues that I was able to fix , had 1 that was flat missing parts. Luckily I was able to use parts from the old 1 to make it work.
1 thing to bear in mind. The threads and bolt heads on most of the carbs I get are METRIC.
fuel line fittings, pay attention to make sure all that will be compatible.

[Craig Leach]

Hi Jerry,
I ran a WF Carter on my speedster a very similar carburetor and had the same issue from time to time they have a simple idle circuit that should be easy to deal with but one issue I had was the
accelerator pump is very sensitive and if there is no play in the throttle linkage and the engine is missing the engine shaking will activate the pump and flood the engine making it miss fire and shake and make matters worse
Craig.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

Hi Jerry,
I ran a WF Carter on my speedster a very similar carburetor and had the same issue from time to time they have a simple idle circuit that should be easy to deal with but one issue I had was the
accelerator pump is very sensitive and if there is no play in the throttle linkage and the engine is missing the engine shaking will activate the pump and flood the engine making it miss fire and shake and make matters worse
Craig.

Thanks Craig!