Hey All, Part of my engine servicing entails rebuilding the carbs.

Ive got the kit, and the carbs. Now I need some advice before I start. Who has rebuilt carbs before and can give me any little nuggets of knowledge that might just make things smoother.

Ive searched the samba and got some good tips so far:

I also recommend buying a large (18" x 24") child's art pad, tear off the cover and use it as a work surface. It is clean to start and as it gets dirty tear off a page. The white surface is good for seeing small parts too. You can make drawings and write notes on it while you work. That is an old watchmakers trick.

Here's the "DO's"
Take everything apart
Clean everything in parts cleaner
Blow out passageways(compressed air)
Put it all back together

Here are the "DON'T's"
Lose anything
Stick a wire in to clean the passageways
Have leftover parts

Also make sure the solvent you dip the carb in is "carb cleaner". It is different than other sovents and leaves a lubricating film on the moving parts. I like berrymans but the stuff is nasty so wear some good rubber gloves and use in an area of good ventilation outside the house.

And a great link on the rebuild itself.
http://www.vw-resource.com/carb_41.html 

Cheers!

G'day again mate. Everything you said above is correct, and if the bushes are OK and the top is flat, then have a go yourself. But unless your carbs have very little wear a new kit will not make a huge difference. Considering the effort you are going to I would suggest you have them looked at by an expert carb rebuilder. They can rebush the shafts and make sure the tops are machined flat.

I paid around $170 ea to have my carbs rebuilt, this included all the labour and the kits, although I did supply a pair of spare carbs for parts.

I found the generic rebuild kits I bought pretty poor quality. It might be worth looking on ebay for the proper Solex rebuild kits.

All good what you said.

Also make sure that the replacement seat is the same thickness as the old one.
Wear gloves when using carb cleaner, and don't get any in your eyes. It's great but nasty stuff.

To get the carby tops flat, place (tape it if you like) a piece of sandpaper on top of a sheet of glass then put carb top on and make with the circular motion. Vary the grade of paper from coarse to fine, so you don't take too much off. You can even do it up against a window

You can do the surface it mates to as well (have to remove a few bits off the carby body first), it shouldn't be out much ( if at all ) so IF you do it, start with a finer grade of paper. Usually just doing the carby top is enough as the gasket should take up the rest.

Also worth using this method on the diaphragm covers as well.

If the throttle bushes are worn take them to a pro.


Regards,


Matt.