Kingsford L carburetor question

[tom_strickling]

Are Kingston L carbs undesirable? I had several on my table at Marietta and no one even looked at them.
I also see several on Ebay that don't seem to be moving? Any thoughts??

[Norman Kling]

I have one on one of my cars and it runs very well. It is a bit harder to rebuild than an NH but works very well. In fact I think it and the NH are the easiest to rebuild and simpler of the Ford carburetors.
Unless your carburetor was rebuilt, maybe you just didn't find anyone who needs one.
Norm

[Scott_Conger]

They're hard to sell

[J1MGOLDEN]

I just mailed one to Russ Potter to rebuild for me.

I will know the answer in a few weeks.

[Scott_Conger]

From my experience, an L-4 will run just like an NH with two exceptions:

1. due to the flapper design, an automatically rich setting is achieved when starting and I personally found little need to choke the carb or ever adjust the mixture...the starting setting is the same as the running setting

2. a car which regularly achieved 20MPG with an NH would never do better than 15-16MPG with the L-4, though the plugs never were the worse for it. No amount of mixture adjustment would coax better mileage. There was one "sweet spot" (like there should be), and that was it.

FWIW, a test of a bunch of carbs years ago listed the L-4 as one of the lowest flowing (CFM) carbs available.

They're just fine for touring but won't make much power. I've tried to sell parts (flappers, hinges, etc) and NEVER have made a sale on a SINGLE part. They modestly do what they're supposed to do, without any fanfare but for whatever reason, folks just won't part with $$ to acquire one. Generally speaking, I only let them into the shop if they came for free with a bunch of other stuff and the seller could not be convinced to take them back home with them.

[Craig Leach]

Hi Tom,
I run one on my firetruck and have one on my spare engine, also I picked up a brass one that I need to get busy & find new shafts for ( want to put it on the firetruck just because brass looks good on firetrucks) this may be just because they are cheap or could be because I'm cheap.
Years ago I think it was John Peterson built a flow bench (very innovative he even made his own mass air flow sensor) He found the the Kingston L4 only flowed 2-4% less than a NH not a big difference unless you are racing for money. Granted the straight through NH is a much better flowing carb.
I think it is just NH's are the preferred carb so therefore Kingston's are harder to sell. The one on the firetruck I payed a $1 for & rebuilt it. The one on the spare engine I payed $5 for and it was in a coffee can and had been rebuilt. Just put it on and fired it up.
My guess is most T people have a box or bin with 3-4 in it already and just don't need anymore.
Craig.
Scott do you have any shafts ( the long ones for the brass throttle & choke levers) ????

[Scott_Conger]

Craig

I believe that an NH throttle shaft (.250) will work in an L-4...as for the L-4 choke shaft it is about 7/32 diameter, while the NH choke lever is 3/16". I think you can bush the L-4 choke rod holes down to 3/16 and use an NH choke shaft

[tom_strickling]

Thanks all That's great information.

[Craig Leach]

(Sorry Tom I kind of stepped in your thread)
Hi Scott,
I'm concerned that the shaft length of the NH are to short for the brass throttle & choke arms that are pinned to the shaft. I can reem the carb for a larger size but can't make the shaft longer.
Thanks.
Craig.

[Scott_Conger]

Sorry 'bout that Craig
It's been a LOOOOONG time since I rebuilt one. Once I figured out no one would buy 'em, that was it. Now I'm trying to remember what I actually did with them (?). I didn't do to many, that is for certain. I wonder now if Lang's used to carry them (?) I apologise for giving bad info on the throttle shaft.

[Craig Leach]

That's OK Scott,
I didn't realize there was that much difference in the shaft length until I took a shaft out of an other carb to do just that
with. Out of three drawers of barbs I didn't find a single shaft long enough. Or one that I would consider breaking up a odd carb that I plan on rebuilding someday. Now I'm trying to figure out how to cut the slot in the shaft. When it comes to machine work that maybe above my pay grade or patience level. The carb on the firetruck works fine so this is about #136 on the todo list. Using later shafts with steel levers my very well be the only solution.
Thanks.
Craig.

[Scott_Conger]

Well, you made me look...

I just pulled out an L-4 carcass and found that an NH throttle shaft is about .050" too long (and could be made to work by shortening and drilling the throttle plate for the slightly offset holes for the staple). The choke shaft is a good deal too long and could be centered when the casting holes are bushed down to match the 3/16 shaft...the choke plate staples can be centered just fine without redrilling. Nothing is too short, so am confused by your findings.

OK...Now I finally see that your levers are brass and are pinned on...so you are working with an L or L-2 and I somehow got on the L-4 bandwagon...sorry about that. I don't even have to measure an older KIngston...I'm sure you're correct. They likely need custom shafts, but unfortunately the carbs aren't worth enough to warrant the cost of machining one. The MTFCA Carburetor book shows someone building up a worn shaft with a brass tube...an OK repair I suppose, if you're careful.

[Craig Leach]

Sorry Scott,
I didn't specify model # because I didn't think they made a brass L-4 the label is worn off so I can't tell if it is a L or L-2 I don't even think the bowl is correct it appears to be machined out of a solid piece of brass. I may end up just polishing the bowl and putting it on the presant carb for show. Thanks.
Craig.

[KBurket]

The encyclopedia discusses when the various Kingston models were introduced.
https://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/C-D.htm#Carb1
The L4 were initially made with a bronze body. I recently bought one from the classifieds. It has a steel bowl. I restored the cast bodied one recently. The brass one is on my to-do list. (After a Holly straight through I just started dismantling).
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26641&p=205144&hili ... on#p205144
Corey Walker Recently sold a brass Kingston L carb. Very nice. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26663&p=206733&hili ... on#p206733
There’s an L2 that sold last year shown in this post.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25687&p=200021&hili ... L2#p200021

[Corey Walker]

The one with the machined brass bowl is the first model L, the L2 had a steel bowl and a more conventional float arrangement. The L had the choke shaft with the hidden spring, the end pokes through a hole in the body instead of wrapping around a post cast into the body.

[Dan Haynes]

I ran a Kingston L4 on a 1917 runabout for years. I used to commute in that car about 30 miles each way. I had taken off a Holley straight-through car, which gave terrible mileage and had a disappointing stumble when starting off that defied remedy. The Holley gave terrible mileage on the commute, always less than 10 mpg.

But I had this dandy Kingston that had been on a TT I have and it was smooth as silk. It gave easily twice the mileage of the Holley straight-though, but it was feeble. It was very smooth but it made the car gutless with no impressive top end at all. But, for my commute, it was OK. It was very smooth, almost smooth and quiet as an electric car but holy smoke it was gutless. Yank the throttle down and the car would accelerate like it was coating down a hill; it would speed up but it was so gentle it was almost annoying.