Anyone know a current part # for the four barrel carb rebuild kit?

[Peter and Ali]

We have a 1977 Dodge with a 440 engine with a four barrel carb. We are having smogging issues and need to overhaul the carb on our motorhome (provided it passes the smog test). The Clipper failed Evap and idle emissions. We're hoping to get these resolved so we can finally make this Clipper our own!

Thanks,
Peter and Ali Fraser

[John Eversoll]

Hello there in Clipper land...

Having trouble with the Carb??

You can go to   TopsAuto supply.com

or call them at 714 772 1600 they are here in Anaheim Ca and they do   ship!!!!
I myself have rebuilt the carb in my 440

I bought the rebuild kit from Tops,.  It was around 45.00

Hope this helps..

The owners name is Pete and the guy that is very up oin things there

his name is  "Keven"  Johnny is good at his trade too..

John

[pop427]

Peter, I don't know how much expertise you have with carburetors but here is so advice from someone that has rebuilt hundreds of them. I worked for Chrysler from 69 to 77 in Los Angeles as a factory tune up mechanic. Then I moved from El Lay and opened my own Dyno tune up shop.

That Carter carb is a good carb. I fixed many of them without using a kit because someone had messed with it not knowing what they were doing. In order to do that carb right you must set it up off the motor on the bench. It takes 13 adjustments done in sequential order on the bench to be sure it is right. If you don't have a shop manual then follow the settings that you get with the kit exactly. I look for plier marks on the little rods to see if somebody has been bending them. Remember every one of those small rods do more than one thing. IE the choke setting rod also keeps the secondaries from opening till the motor is warmed up. So if you don't set the choke right the secondaries will open and you get a back fire through the carb etc.     Good Luck,   Doug

[pop427]

Peter, One thing I forgot to warn you about. Be sure that you put the float clevis pin in the casting from the inside not the outside. I've had people do that and when they put the top on the phenolic body the pin was sticking out and they broke the body when they tightened it down. Bad news, You can't buy the body.

Doug

[Peter and Ali]

Hi John and Doug,
Thanks for the info re carb kit suppliers and overhaul hints and tips. The main knowledge that I have in Carb overhaul is with WW2 military vehicle carburetors (I collect and restore WW2 vehicles as a hobby) and the quadrajet carb on my 1976 Chevrolet pickup. I didn't realise that the thermoquad carb had a plastic body until the parts guy from Napa auto parts told me so.

We finally got the Clipper to smog. I removed the fuel tank and all associated lines, hoses etc and pressure tested the tank and all the small lines. The main culprit that made me fail the evap test was the breather hose that is attached to the main fuel filler pipe. As I hate doing anything twice I checked everything in that system and changed out all the hoses and hose clamps.

The guy at the smog shop was great!! even though it was a test only station, he stayed back after work and just kept fine tuning the carb until he had it. It took him a little over an hour but the numbers finally got to where it would pass. I will still go through the carb at a later date, and when the carb kit from Napa arrives, I will list the part number and give a report on the quality and contents of the kit. The only kit that Napa lists had to come from Virginia and nearly cost more in freight than it did to purchase.
The information about the many small items to adjust is excellent and I will purchase the correct manual for this carburetor before attempting the overhaul.
Thanks again
Peter

[LARRY RAY]

Better yet, change the carb like I did. Went with Edelbrock. Can't remember the exact size right now, but it works great. I have another I'm willing to sell for 150 if anyone intrested. New, almost. It was on another engine that cratered so I put in a box and it's still on my shelf in workshop. Let me know.

[John Eversoll]

And I to have a rebuilt Thermoquad just sitting in a Plastic box waiting to be moved to OREGON...