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Does anyone out there know of a place to get a carburetor rebuilt or a kit for a Pierce-Arrow carburetor on a 1927 series 36 T-head 6 Cylinder?
Thanks,
Mike Burkhart
Dodge City, KS
try daytona carburetor in FL.
Thanks, George, I’ll call them.
Anyone else have an idea?
Thanks,
Mike
It depends on what condition the carb is in, and what condition you want it to be in when it is in use on the car.
If you are restoring the car to be a 95+ point car, then using a professional rebuilder may be the best bet. If you are putting together a poor-man’s restoration, that is a spiffed up driver, then just disassembling the carb, cleaning and reassembling it may be all that is needed.
What is the reason for wanting to rebuild the carb? Is the car running at this time with this carb? Any particular issues with the carb?
If you have a running engine, but with issues, most problems are with the ignition system, spark plugs, points, condensers and coils.. if the carb has had fresh gasoline through it and the engine is running, usually the carb is fine..
Just trying to help..
Greg Long
Thanks, Greg for your response. This car has set for 30 years without being run. I had a new gas tank built for the car, and have new gas lines on it for the most part. I have taken the carb off and apart and it is in real nice condition. I cleaned it and put it back together and back on the car. I have had it running, but it just slobbers and does not run right. I drove it sunday about a mile, and it progressively got worse and finally quit(I ran it for 20 munites before driving it).
I’m pretty sure its the carb. I think it got some junk in it. It drips gas out of the bottom where the lean/rich shaft goes up into the carb. It idles real fine and smooth, and accelerates good, but runs like crap in between.
I will take the carb off and take it apart again and clean it, but I need gaskets and seals to stop the leaks, then a pro to tell me how to adjust it so it runs properly.
I have worked on Packards for 40 years, but NEVER a Pierce-Arrow. I am learning a lot, and have a lot to learn.
ALL input is WELCOME!!!
Check the float to see if it has cracked and filled with gasoline. Check the ‘air correction’ system.. I’m not sure what that particular carb uses. On the ’25-27 Series 80 carb, there are flat spring steel air vanes that open with increased air flow, adding air to compensate the over-rich mixture as rpm increases.. Your carb may have this system, or maybe some other system, I can’t remember on the Series 36. what ever the system, make sure it can move or open to lean out the over rich mixture you will get with increased RPM..
Make sure your distributor advance weights are free and allowing spark advance, no advance often feels like a carb problem.
Most gaskets need to be hand made. There are a few gasket sets for some Pierce carbs that are also used on other makes.. like the Stromberg EE and Ex series used in the early 30’s.. I have to hand make the few gaskets for the S80 carbs.
You can buy gasket material from NAPA or other good auto parts store. A steady hand with an Exacto knife or sharp scissors will usually do the job. A paper punch works well to start an inside cut. and you can buy inexpensive gasket hole-cutter sets from Harbor Freight.
Usually leaking around the mixture shaft is bad or old packing, sometimes cleaning it to soften it will work, I soak the packing in solvent. New packing can be made from felt.
That’s all I can think of right now.
Hope this helps
Greg Long
I just thought of this: doesn’t the S36 use a pressurized gas tank to force fuel up to the carb? Watch the fuel air pressure gauge when idling and as you try to drive it. I think your car has an air pressure regulator, to limit the fuel pressure to the carb..
My feeble memory seems to recall around 1.5-2.0 psi is what you want to have. If you have too much pressure, it will overcome the needle/seat and flood the carb as the pressure increases with engine rpm [air pump rpm].
I may be totally wrong, but this might be one issue you could have.. you might try unscrewing the hand pump to bleed off the excess pressure while running the engine and see if it runs better with some pressure bled off.
Greg L
Thanks , Greg. Yes, this has the pressurized gas tank system, of which I figured out about a month ago, what a surprise! I have never seen one like this before. Before starting, I pump it up to 1/2 lb, then start it. While running, it has about 1 to 2 lbs pressure. I think the float is set OK because it shows gas about halfway in the sight glass on the side of the float bowl. Before starting, it is usually empty because of the gas dripping out of the lean/rich shaft.
The air pump on the engine is adjustable for higher or lower pressure.
I am not familiar at all about the “air correction system” you mentioned so I need to do some studying up on that or maybe someone here can educate me what it looks like and how to adjust it.
I first will take the carb back off and clean it again and try to fix the dripping gas leak in it. It will probably be a week before I can do that as I am real busy right now.
I would like to see some more discussion from other “Veterans” out there to give me some more input to figure this thing out.
Greg, what do you think? Thanks for your help!
Mike
this carb. is relatively simple. well discussed by Ted Thompson. Most carb. rebuilders won’t be of help. Check your bulletin index for Thompson’s article. Isuggest you talk to Eric Rosenau, he has had a series 36 for years and should be of some help. this is acarb that is easily damaged if you don,t understand it. You can call me at 586-752-6662 if you wish, I can talk better than I can type.—Leo
Thanks, Leo for the response. I’ll look for Ted Thompson’s article. I’ll also give Eric and you a call on the phone.
I need all the help I can get!!! Also thanks to George Quay….
Mike
EUREKA BOYS!!!! I found my problem today. Yesterday I changed my inline fuel filter, cleaned the sediment bowl, and reset the screw adjustments on the carb and it still didn’t run right. Today I monkeyed with it, and no luck. On the technical sheets that Leo faxed to me were helpful.
In the directions it said to turn the “T” adjustment all the way to the left to the stop, then turn right 5/8 to 3/4 of a turn. No luck. OK, when I turn something to the left, I loosen it, like unscrewing a bolt. Guess what!! They meant something else, I guess. I loosened the “T” adjustment all the way to the stop and back 3/4 turn and the PA purrs like a kitten!!! I got confused on left and right when it’s upside down.
Thanks to all my new friends in the PAS, I’ll get this thing finished yet.
Thanks to all who helped me on this, including George Lewer, Greg Long, Leo Parnagian, and Eric Rosenau. You guys are great!!
Thanks,
Mike Burkhart
.
And thanks to George Quay for the nice manuals.
Mike
Glad to hear you found the problem,, any chance you can post a photo of the carb and the ‘T’ adjustment that was the problem?
Greg L
Greg,
just got back from being gone for the weekend. I don’t know how to post a photo on here. Maybe I can get one of my computer geeks to show me how sometime.
The “T” is the main needle on the furtherest bottom of the carburetor. It has a clamp-on lever that attaches to the wire that goes up to the dash which is the rich/lean adjustment. The “T” is a part designation on the chart, not a “T” handle.
Leo FAXed me a picture chart of the carburetor and adjustment instructions all the way through. The chart is shown in the PAS technical bulletin #3 from 1976 of which I did not have. I just joined PAS this year.
Everyone here has been very helpful in getting this car going. Now it’s time to move on to the next challenge with this car.
Thanks to all!!
Mike Burkhart
Dodge City, KS