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My carb has been going out for years now and finally she is done being a kind! i have been looking for a new carb or one to rebuild when i came across one on craigslist that the gentleman wants very little for and appears to be in perfect shape. the problem is that, although it looks similar, the model numbers are different. i have to drive 6 hours round trip to pick this up and i want to make sure its the correct one before doing so. any help would be greatly appreciated. here are the details........
i have a 55 290 firedome with the powerflite transmission, it is an S-22 and according to everything that i have read, the designation for the carb is BBD-2178-SA which is a carter double barrel
the carb i found is, from the information the owner gave me, a 2130S which, according to my research is for a 56 desoto S-23
i understand that the difference in the carb for my desoto is the dashpot which has to do with the transmission and the slamming of the throttle blade upon ubrupt throttle closing....to explain it simple
anyhow, this really is a deal that i cant pass up, unless of course this carb wont fit. i was to travel there today to pick it up but i want to make sure before i make the long trip and spend the money. i do have photos if anyone would prefer to see them. feel free to contact me directly at BAMBAML19@AOL.COM
thank you
Josh
Josh,
Your old carb should be able to be rebuilt. You can still get a rebuild kit for the 2178 carb from NAPA. If you don't want to tackle this job yourself, you can do what I did and send the carb out for rebuild. I sent mine to The Carb Shop in Salina, KS, as recommended by Tim Bowers. It just arrived at the shop today, so I cannot yet report results.
Mark
thanks for the suggestion mark. im not uncomfortable rebuilding one myself, but the gentleman was selling this carb, NOS, never used for 50 bucks. i couldnt pass it up. i picked it up yesterday. ill see if it fits this weekend but i have no doubt, after doing alot of research, that it will fit. worse comes to worse, i can always resell it and buy a rebuild kit. the other thought i had was that, the one that is on my car is the original. there is good reason to believe that there could be parts that are warped or worn beyond simple repair, so having a backup body and parts can never be a bad idea. ill let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks
Josh
PS-i had also been looking for a 55 PA license plate for quite some time and the gentleman i bought the carb from had told me he collected car stuff for years, so i asked if he might have one. he went in the house and came out a few minutes later with a very nice 55 PA plate. when i asked what he wanted for it, he told me to take it since i used a half tank of gas to get up there! very generous. there are still some generous people left in the world!
Hey, Mark; what's the update on your carb situation? Hoping to hear a good report on The Carb Shop. I've been very pleased with everything he's done for me.
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
Tim,
I can now say that I'm very pleased with the Carb Shop in Salina, although it took a while to get to this point. It's a long story so try and stay awake as I ramble...
My drivability issues began late last summer when I noticed my fuel pump leaking fuel. I'd had that fuel pump rebuilt by Arthur Gould in the early '80's, long before strange fuel mixtures so it had served me well. I had the leaky pump replaced with a NORS rebuilt pump I had in my parts stock and also sent my original pump again to Arthur Gould for rebuilding to current fuel standards. My car was still not running right so I took it to the local shop for a tune-up and carb adjustment. While there, I had them install the newly rebuilt Arthur Gould fuel pump. By this time it was late fall, so I drove the car only occasionally but it was not performing as it should and continued to have drivability issues. Those issues culminated in early March when I took the car out for a long run and refueling and I barely made it home where the car died in the driveway and I had to push it into the garage. While trying to restart the car I noticed fuel gushing from the float bowl and running over the intake manifold. My car buddies and other knowledgeable folks said it sounds like float or needle valve problems so I removed the carb and sent it to the Carb Shop.
Dave at the Carb Shop communicated with me throughout the process although it took a little bit longer than he promised. Surprisingly, he said the floats looked fine and he installed a new needle valve as part of the carb rebuild. I got the carb back from the shop and installed it one weekend. With everything reconnected, I tried to start the car, it ran for 10 seconds, died and would not restart. Again, I had fuel gushing out the float housing and over the manifold. I was cussing the Carb Shop at that point. Since my mechanical skills are limited, I reached out to Tim Mabry who has answered many posts on this board. I recall him saying several times that the best car he ever owned was a '55 DeSoto so I thought he might have some insight. When I explained the course of events above, he suggested checking the fuel pump pressure, something I had never thought about. After all, my trouble began when I installed the most recent Arthur Gould rebuilt pump. I still had my perfectly good NORS rebuilt fuel pump so I replaced fuel pumps. After some fuel line connection issues and a temporarily misplaced needle valve, the car fired right up and ran fine with only some minor idle speed adjustment required.
As it appeared that the Arthur Gould fuel pump was the problem, I called them to see what they had to say. Rather sheepishly, they admitted that it is sometimes difficult to get the pressure set properly when they bench test the pumps. It certainly sounded as though I was not the first person to experience such a problem. They eagerly agreed to rebuild my pump - again - so I sent it back along with a copy of the service manual page listing the proper fuel pump pressure. When he zeroed in on the fuel pump, Tim Mabry mentioned that he had heard that "the" Arthur Gould had retired and sold his business to others and perhaps their quality control was not up to Arthur's standards. Maybe so?
Anyway, the car is back together and running fine. I took it to a local show Saturday along with the Stolowich's '57 Firesweep and several other AACA Chapter members. I would recommend the Carb Shop to anyone needing such services.
Mark
