Mixture

[M Towsley]

Re: Mixture

Brie,

It appears you are quite adept at dealing with getting the carb on and off. May I suggest you get the carb boxed up and send it off for overhaul. Though I do not know what your time-frame is, perhaps the carb overhaul folks can get it going for you quicker than usual with an explanation of your predicament at this time. Even though your mechanic thinks he is helping you, at this point he is wasting your time. I wish I had a carb ready to go and could send to you. Let me know if you need the contact info for KPS, who did my carb.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Mixture

I have to have the plane OUT of there before January the 31st when they start tearing up the runway.
Brie

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Mixture

Anytime anyone needs to sell a Taylorcraft THIS is probably the best place to do it. The folks here know the planes and what they are worth. You may not get the kind of "TOP DOLLAR" price you could get from someone who doesn't know what they are buying, but you won't get ripped either.
This isn't for Brie, we all have a pretty good idea what your plane is worth, but if ANYONE here ever feels pressured by economics to sell their baby, the guys and gals here will help find a good home for a fair price. Don't ANYONE EVER fall prey to one of those sharks. Lots of us know people who would love to get a nice plane for a fair price, or even a pretty beat up plane for a reasonable price.

Hank

Problem is, the market for REALLY NICE planes is pretty depressed right now. It is good that so many of us are making our planes great, but sad to see that we make them worth more than we can get for them. The market will recover, but right now there are a lot of planes too nice for the market to support a fair price. That's when finding a partner can save your baby.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Mixture

THANKS Hank, I'm NOT "rich" but I,m NOT starving either. The A&P, who actually IS a friend of mine, he is the son in law of the AI that took my plane down as far as you could take a Taylorcraft, and then over the Course of three years, rebuilt the entire plane, all new wing parts, totally rebuilt engine, everything.
He loved Taylorcrafts, and mine was the third one that he built. and the last plane that he restored before he died of Brain Cancer. When I got the plane, I got every scrap of paper that was ever issued to it, including the original bill of sale when the university of Chicago bought it in November of 1940 for flight training. I also got two new appearing A-65 cases, boxed up, a new appearing crank, cylinders, pistons, the whole nine yards.
At the time, Jim was still working for the U.P., and he hated seeing me flying around in my Ultralight, so he sold me the Taylorcraft for ten monthly payments of a grand a month.
After I made my first payment three days early, he told me he trusted me, and signed the plane over to me. I was never late one day on a payment, you don't disgrace that kind of trust.
When he lost his job, we moved him out to our place with us. His landlord kicked him out, and we weren't going to have him die in a gutter.
After he was diagnosed with Terminal Liver Disease, he GAVE the C-140 to my sweetie.
Jim died two years ago of Liver Disease.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Mixture

Marty, please send me the contact info for KPS.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Mixture

Jim is the kind of friend you never forget. Gives us all something to live up to.

Hank

Everyone deserves to have a couple of those kind of friends. I have had many. You gotta honor their memories.

[3Dreaming]

Re: Mixture

I'm working from my phone today because internet is down. Setting the float level is not hard. With the top of the carb removed you add or remove gaskets from under the seat. Check the level by connecting a 22" (IIRC) column of fuel to the carb inlet. Try and find a manual online somewhere for all the details.

No need to take the carb on and off the airplane everytime.

[M Towsley]

Re: Mixture

Tom, the reason why I did not walk her through it is if you haven't made the tool to remove the seat it can get buggered up pretty fast. I have done four of them, (all under the ultimate inspection of an A&P), and had a tool machined to take out the seat and then torque it to specs. The body of the carb has to be level and you have to setup a remote fuel supply with correct head to get it accurate.

Brie, PM coming shortly. They should easily be able to get it done for you in that time period. Just let them know your time issue.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Mixture

THANKS Marty, I'll send it off to them on Wednesday if they can do it for me. I'll also copy and paste tom's note to me if I ever power an Experimental with an A-65. Even THEN, I will get ALL the proper tools FIRST. Holley's and Quadrajet's are a piece of cake to me, so I'm smart enough to DO this, but not without being walked through this once by an A&P who KNOWS how, and NOT without the proper tools. You can't park these on a cloud and call Triple-A.
Brie

[M Towsley]

Re: Mixture

I can explain how you can have the tool made and sources for manuals on how to do it. Hope KPS can help you!

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Mixture

I hope so too Marty, I REALLY don't want to pull these immaculate wings off.
Brie

[M Towsley]

Re: Mixture

Here is the tool I had made from a Sears Craftsman 1/2" to 3/4" adapter to torque the seat.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Mixture

I LIKE that, good job. I got the 80 something page Stromberg Manual, and downloaded it.

[M Towsley]

Re: Mixture

I made a wood block mount for the carb, (as you have the studs extending on the bottom). Carb has to be level during the test.

Hang a remote fuel tank high enough to get the correct head pressure, (can't remember height at this time). Make sure you have a valve that can turn the fuel on and off.

Measuring the fuel level is not as easy as it seems as the fuel climbs the wall of the float bowl, (it is called meniscus). You have to measure it away from the wall, which isn't easy as there isn't a lot of room to do that with the float in the way. I place a straight edge across the bowl and then measure down from that to the fuel level.

Setting the actual level with the gaskets is, at first, a trial and error process. Use the ones that are already in it for a base measurement. If new gaskets have to be used I torque to the lowest setting. If the level of the fuel has to come up you can torque a little more to the high end. Otherwise, you have to start over. Torquing the seat can be difficult as you have to hold the bowl and torque the seat.

Once you think you have the correct height leave it for several hours. I make sure it isn't going to leak over the edge and leave it overnight. Measure again to make sure you don't have any creeping up of the level.

Once you have a good level safety the seat and button everything up. Then celebrate because it is a long tedious process to do this. I am reciting this from memory so I may have missed a few steps. You have to be meticulous in setting this as you can be too rich or too lean by just a smidgen of fuel height. Also, many Strombergs were built that did not allow the float to travel its full movement, (mine was like this). That is why I sent it in to be worked on as I did not want to mess with this. There is a Stromberg guy in the Chicago area who supposedly has an approved method to machine the seat down for full travel of the float arm. He charges a lot of money to overhaul a carb. He also has a lot of Stromberg parts, (I talked to him by phone and he filled me in at length).

[Garry Crookham]

Re: Mixture

There is a Stromberg guy in the Chicago area who supposedly has an approved method to machine the seat down for full travel of the float arm. He charges a lot of money to overhaul a carb. He also has a lot of Stromberg parts, (I talked to him by phone and he filled me in at length).

The Stromberg guy in the Chicago area is Bob Kachergius. If you want some very good info on Stromberg carbs, including the mixture control give his website a look: http://thestrombergspecialist.com/.
It is worth looking at!

Garry