Holley flooding

[RCM]

No clear answers on search.
Im really mad. My car is at a shop some 15 miles from hometo have the stock holley 1960 rebuilt.
It floods with gas exiting from the top. When removing the economizer gas is right there so the bowl is full.
Aside pierced float, needle seat, what can be the cause?
Also, what is the rule for setting the float without a gauge?
There are 4 great vids on youtube on rebuilding the similar 1904 (just type the keywords) but when it comes to float setting the thing is off the screen!

Want something done? Do it yourself! Should have learned by now...

[rick55]

Try this link. They have the full manual for your carburettor. You should find what you need.
They are a great resource.
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/m...1904-IHC-1953/

[Daves55Sedan]

Hate to tell you this, but when you have a rebuilt Holley 1904 single barrel on a 223, the inlet fitting has a hole three times larger than the original fitting. The fuel pump will push gas past the seat and keep the float forced down and overflow the float chamber. The only remedy I have found is to add a fuel pressure regulator and set it to about 1.5 lbs pressure. If you do a lot if hiway driving, the pressure will destroy the regulator in less than a year. The best way to fix it is to get a bypass type regulator, but then you will need to modify the gas tank with an inlet for your return line, but the pressure at the reg would be greatly reduced and the regulator would last much longer.

[RCM]

Rick, precious information. Lots of answers for my rookie doubts. Thanks a lot.
Dave, I bought a rebuild kit for my stock original 1960 Holley, and that rebuild work, which by now I regret not undertaking myself, is what is causing problems. The fuel pump is also stock. I'm not mounting a rebuilt 1904 Holley, maybe I expressed myself badly.
The car was working good, only thing was the leaks from a cracked glass bowl. Since 1952Henry was generous enough to offer me a metal bowl from a 1904 which fits perfectly, I thought why not rebuild the whole thing?!
Should have done it myself. At least the car would be at home and the responsibility would be only mine.
Learning... and really mad.

[RCM]

Also, I dont have access to a float setting gauge.
Is there a rule of thumb for this?
Thanks a lot for helping guys.

[oj]

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I'd say you left a seal/gasket/washer out when you installed the needle&seat/float assembly. That cast piece that the float hangs from and it is held in place by the bolt inside of the inlet fitting? you remember it? there is a small gasket that seals the casting to the bowl and it is easily left out. It is a pita to get on, you have to slide the bolt part way into the bowl area, get the washer on it (it might be a copper washer, its been a while) and then get the casting with the float assembly down in there. If you don't have that gasket fuel will bypass the needle & seat and just run into the carb unabated.

[lowandratty]

RCM
To get back to your original question, (Yes) general rule of thumb here is level or flat. I turn the top upside down and let the float rest on the needle, i will put a piece of hose on the fuel inlet and blow through the hose with my mouth, and move the float up and down to see where the air stops moving, I adjust my float to set level with the top of the carb by eye, if there is 1/4" at the back of the float at the needle end then I adjust to make it 1/4" all the way down the float (both ends) just look at the gap an try to level it out. Don't worry about the 1/4" thing yours may be more or less that wont matter, just try and get it level. ( I hope I did not confuse you ) just level seem to work well. Ken.

[Daves55Sedan]

Originally Posted by RCM

Dave, I bought a rebuild kit for my stock original 1960 Holley, and that rebuild work, which by now I regret not undertaking myself, is what is causing problems. The fuel pump is also stock. I'm not mounting a rebuilt 1904 Holley, maybe I expressed myself badly.

Does not matter who rebuilt the carb. If a rebuild kit was used, it has the inlet fitting with the enlarged hole.

[Daves55Sedan]

RCM, here's everything you ever wanted to know about your carb:
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/m...1904-IHC-1953/

[RCM]

Problem solved guys, at least it seems to be.
Drove it back home yesterday evening and its really smooth, no backfiring when letting go off the throttle, powerfull when you step on it, but, most of all, no drip drip off the carb, its all dry so far as I can see.
The problem was a missing washer between the cast piece where the float hangs and the inner side of the bowl, AS OJ SAID, and also the new cast piece / needle assembly didnt seal the fuel, so we used the old assembly, and from this I think that DAVES55SEDAN WAS ALSO RIGHT, at least from what I can tell and understand from what he wrote.
Since we used the old needle float assembly I didnt reset the float and it went good.
Only changed those small clips, spring. But thanks anyway for the tip LOWANDRATTY, its been registered.

Another gain: The engine does not die no more when coming to a halt (red light for instance). It was the carb for sure since that problem existed before messing with the Holley.

So.. Thanks for helping guys, once again.
Keep it up.

[smtichy]

RCM, glad to hear all is in working order. From recent experience, if you haven't done this already, I'd recommend running through the following tune-up steps and then make a final adjustment to your carburetor fuel mixture: check point gap, clean rotor, clean distro contacts, check plug gaps, check dwell, then finally set idle mixture using vacuum gauge. On my car, I went through these steps, discovered the prior owner had them all wrong, and when I got to making final adjustments on the carb the car was running super smooth. After that I moved on to the timing and then tweaked the fuel mixture again.

[RCM]

Those are all already on my to-dos list for the weekend. Dont have a dwell gauge though....
Thanks