Source for new carb floats?

[miatawnt2b]

Other than the obvious, is there a source for new carb floats? Maybe something plastic, or from a different carb that fits?
-J

[miatawnt2b]

I want to start by saying that I have not yet contacted Clark's about this issue. I will be calling them Monday morning, I have no doubt that we will be able to come to some conclusion. They have proven to be a good company to me.

For a couple months now, I have been battling flooding carbs on my 140. Two of the orig floats had failed with several holes in the brass. I figured that I would order new ones instead of getting a couple used ones. My thought is the old ones are more prone to failure at this point. I bought four new floats from Clark's at the end of May. Installed all 4 new floats, adjusted per Bob's bible, and stuck them on the car. Once tuned the car ran pretty well.

For about a week. Then it flooded.

Pulled the drivers primary off, and found the new float sunk. The side pinhole was not properly soldered and the float had filled with gas. Annoying but easy enough fix.
Carb back together and running great.

For about a week. Then it flooded. Again.

This time it was the passenger secondary filling with fuel. So off it came. Brand new float full of gas. This one had a pinhole on the solder joint along the back of the float where the halves are joined together. So now I'm annoyed enough to pull all the carbs apart again. Want to guess what I found? A third float, with gas in it, not yet enough probably to sink.

3 of 4 new floats bad directly from Clark's. That's annoying. Since I can't resolve this today, I've been playing in the garage and decided to inspect an orig stock float (car is a 65, 140 Corsa) along side the Clark's float. I noticed that the Clarks one (the one that didn't have gas in it obviously) felt significantly heavier than the stock one. On the scale they went.

This is a big problem actually. There is no way that the specified float lift and drop measurements are going to work with a float that is 50% heavier than the stock unit. Even if a new float helper spring is strong enough to compensate, this is really not right I don't think.

[miatawnt2b]

Here are more pics.

In this one, you can see the Clark's float on the left and the stock one on the right.

Here I am suspending the original float where the pin would go through to emulate the height in a bowl full of fuel.

Same test with the Clark's float.

You can see that the orig float is going to sit much higher in the bowl so there is no way to set it up for proper height and drop.

[66vairguy]

miatawn2b - As a buddy says - "Just because it is new does not mean it is any good". Unfortunately most of our reproduction parts are made in low labor cost countries and the companies don't usually have the original drawings and try to "copy" the part, AND have to keep cost down or loose the work! I've talked to folks that buy "offshore" and the initial "demonstration" parts are usually good, but then the big order arrives and you find less than great quality and your are stuck dealing with a company many time zones away and there are few, if any, legal solutions. Clark's simply does not have the people or time to examine every part they get, not to mention the part cost would go up A LOT.

Aerospace is often criticized for high part costs, but often it is because EVERY part is inspected and folks are sent out to manufacturers to inspect the process and look at records to make sure tools are calibrated and examine records to prove the validity of raw materials used. Whenever I'd get an "attitude" about all the extra quality work I'd say "Do you really want this stuff to come down on Grandma's house because it malfunctioned".

Anyway ---- my experience is most of the used floats are fine, and can be tested as talked about here recently. Take a float that is NOT hot and put in hot, not boiling, soapy water. If it has a pinhole, the air inside the float will expand and you'll see the bubbles.

If you go with good used floats, I suspect Clark's will offer you a refund due to the high number of failures. Nothing is perfect, but 3 our of 4 failing and I'd be done with replacing them with more new Clark's floats. Just me.

BTW - If I open a carburetor that looks like the bowl was full of water, I toss that float in the trash.

[Wittsend]

Not floats but I bought an accelerator pump spring/clip recently. It was VERY obvious that the spring felt different. I put the pumps with new and old springs on the scale to see how much force it took to just keep it from bottoming out. The new spring was 12 grams, the old spring 38 grams. I went and pillage a spring out of an old carb.

I'm torn between questioning if vendors are QC-ing their parts or it is a case of what they are stocking is the ONLY thing they can get (and we need to learn to live with it???).

[66vairguy]

I'm torn between questioning if vendors are QC-ing their parts or it is a case of what they are stocking is the ONLY thing they can get (and we need to learn to live with it???).

There is certainly some truth to "It's all we can get and live with it". It's obvious that from miatawn2b's pictures that the Clark's floats are going to cause float level issues, just as different fuel pressures will. In Clark's defense I'm sure they don't have the expertise, or time, to do everything miatawn2b's did and I thank him for his efforts. Clark's floats are now on my DO NOT BUY LIST. That said Clark's is still our main vendor and overall does a good job in the past.

Recently we found Clark's "bargain" fan belts were a problem. They now have a new belt (time will tell), but they continue to sell the inferior old belt as at a discount. Selling a part that is clearly defective without say so is worrisome and doesn't inspire confidence. In the old days at shows when folks would say "Where do you get parts for a Corvair?" the reply was it was no problem as there are good vendors. That is getting more difficult to say!

The one thing I learned to succeed at work was that everyone makes mistakes, If you don't admit to them no matter what the consequences, then you loose the respect and trust of those who deal with you.

[Frank DuVal]

Recently we found Clark's "bargain" fan belts were a problem.

Incorrect! It was their "Ultimate" fan belt that was failing. C5790.

Their bargain belt was probably lasting as ling as a cheapie should, I never bought any. But I bought 20+ of the Ultimate belts over the years, and they used to hold up very well. So I continued buying them as my results were GREAT. Then the change happened and I did not notice right away, just wondered why my daily driver 4 door was eating belts.

So now I have a stack of Ultimate belts, some good, some bad???? Only way to find out, run them....

[66vairguy]

Thanks for the correction Frank. By "bargain" I meant low priced compared to a Gates belt at the auto parts store.

[Dennis66]

To bring it back to carburetors, maybe the thing needed is to make a cut away carb top and experiment with float levels using a good original and a heavy repop. Then a corrected level could be established. Dennis

[miatawnt2b]

I am not mad at Clark's for this at all. I'm sure that they have no idea these floats are faulty in several different ways. If it was a known problem I'm pretty sure we'd see it on the forums or the FB pages. My guess is that new floats from Clarks are not a very big seller. (nor is slate vinyl, but that's another story)
As I stated earlier, I have not talked to Clark's about the issue. I plan on calling them Monday (though my work schedule may dictate Tuesday) I'm sure they will appreciate the feedback.
I hope my frustration helps someone in the future!

-J