MTFCA Forum

A few years ago I bought a reconditioned Holley G at a swap meet. I decided to put it on my T and run it in place of the usual NH that I normally use. The car started and ran nicely, although I didn't drive it. The next day, I went to start the car, and fuel started dripping from the nut on the bottom of the carb. I removed the bowl, and found that silicone had been used inside the bowl to seal it around the thread, and the silicone had softened and was melting away. My question is, what is used to seal the bowl around that rather large hole? Thanks, Nevin Gough, New Zealand.

Nevin,

silicone is not the right stuff to use when rebuilding a carburetor. What you need are the right gaskets and parts.
What looks great on the outside isn't always right on the inside.
What you need to rebuild your carburetor are in the photo.
you can do the rebuild yourself but do not use silicone.

Good luck
Andre
Belgium

Originally the bowl base nut seals with a lead washer.

Thanks Rich! Thanks Andre. I'll order a couple of gasket sets from Langs.

It’s my favorite carb. I think you’ll like it !

Here is free technique advice.

Incidentally, I've never seen a lead washer on an original G but I've heard so many times they were used they must have been.

The bottom sealing area is so often damaged that it is hard to get the bowl to seal against the bottom of the carb. They are almost impossible to straighten without a special tool. A special tool is easy to make. All you need is an old driveshaft, two of the roller bearing races that are so hard to get off and a little patience. If you have a metal lathe it really helps.

Cut the driveshaft to one foot long. Most of the driveshafts are machined back quite a ways from where the bearing race fits. If your isn't machined, get one that is. Find a piece of pipe that will fit over the driveshaft but will contact the race. Heat the race with your torch enough that you can whack the pipe with a bfh and drive it back far enough that the second one will fit on and the nut will screw on the end where the pinion usually goes. Now chuck it up and turn the shaft down about .005 so the second one will slide on and off easily. Get a big washer that will force it on when you tighten the nut.

Now chuck it up in your lathe, slide the bowl on with the bowl part to the chuck, you can see how far out of plumb it is, just heat it around the seating area, tighten the nut and tap the whole thing into the chuck until the bowl is contacting the chuck all the way around. The two bearing races are the perfect size to reform that area, the heat from the torch won't hurt a thing, get it hot and tighten that nut with a bfw, let it cool and v wah law =) you have a bowl that fits correctly that, has a perfect sealing area and after you make the jig, probably took 5 minute topside to do.

I wore one out -- the threads were bad so I gave it to a guy and made another.

You can thank me or cuss me for the free information! =)

While you're at it, make a buck exactly the size of a G bowl so it will fit over the bearing race. While you have it on the jig, beat the dents out of it. If you are really good you can take a skin cut across the surface of the bowl to get rid of all the whack marks.

Gosh, I guess I'm lucky. Both Holley G bowls fit and don't leak. However they are both steel and I have never seen a brass bowl that is usable so I brass plated one of them for my '15 car whenever the engine gets out of the closed machine shop