Coincidentally, was going to suggest fill the setscrew hole with PB Blaster.
Ok, regarding the centering tool diff. If you have drill press, place the small end in the chuck. Get a length of emory cloth fold it in half, so it's about a 1/2"(?) wide. Spin the tool and apply the emory cloth. Being aluminum, it may cut it rather quickly.
Just a wild **** thought....

 

Heh! I do this s**t all the time! Brilliant idea! Needle centering was fine on the first carburetor so I did not need this. Two more to go

 

Check the other carb diameter, also...Those centering tools are usually right on the money...
I have an original SU kit from the 60's...Would you like me to check the diameter of the centering pin?
Edward

 

Sure, it will be interesting to see if it matches RedRider's reading. I am doing the second carburetor right now and I have the same problem with it. It won't fit.

 

It just so happens, mine is an early 70s carb adjusting kit. Mine fit my SUs on my '67 4.2 Type perfectly. Where did you purchase your kit?

 

I bought mine about a week ago from Roger's Motors Certainly a reproduction and inexpensive. The rest of it could be crap too. The rods have have 3 distinct sections of varying diameter. The first section has a slid. I can fit the pointer in the section that has the slid but not on the opposite end. However, only the slid section fits in the piston. So far its proven to be either crap or have not figured out how to use it. But then again.... there ain't much to figure out.....

 

Yep, that's a "sad" example. It appears to be a classic "China Doll"....
Perhaps, one of our supporting vendors .....SNG Barratt would have a more precise kit? BTW, they chime in from time to time....
Happy Motoring...

 

I followed RedRider's recommendation and shaved off 0.002" from the centering pin and it now fits *perfectly*!

I used my bench top drill press and a 150 grid sandpaper. Did not take long at all.

 

Excellent work mate!

 

So finally got to measure my centering button...First, it is made of steel , not aluminum...
Measures exactly .244 inches.....
The split end of the tube goes into the piston ....It is inserted with the carbs mounted and ready to run...Wires are then inserted in the tube, with the "pointers" facing each other...Bend until the ends are at exactly at the same height...Start the car....Pointers should still be at the same height...Rev motor...pointers should still be at the same height....
If one is lower than the other, it means the piston is sticking, or there is an air leak in that piston chamber.
Edward

 

Thank you!

 

I should have posted this earlier - the reason of the leak is shown below:

All carburetors looked close to this.

 

The new gas is killing the rubber products and on top of that the moisture in the tank is creating rust and getting into everything.
Sadly most etype drivers let their cars sit 11 out of 12 months.
A tip from the last of the cowboys. AKA GTJOEY.
1. The gas tank, lines and pump should ALL be replaced.
2. Curto has the NEW rubber products that will not get eaten up by the new gas.
3. Other suppliers should be the same make sure your not getting old stock.
4. Fuel injection hose only for all the rubber sections.
5. The new gas tanks are treated and coated not to rust or shingle from the new gas.
6. The fuel pump is your life line, new fuel filter EVERY year.
Hope this helps, but as Ive said if you don't do the above, the trouble will only keep coming back.
Good luck my friend. Its a lot of work but the car will run like new or better.
GTJOEY1314

 

So, I am hoping I am doing a rookie mistake. I have followed all the instructions wrt rebuilding the carburetors. I installed them and followed the manual with the initial setup - linkage setup, slow running volume screw, mixture adjusting screw.

Once I got the car started, the idle went to 2000RPM and could not do anything to get it down. I disconnected the auxiliary carburetor as well. With it connected to the battery terminals the RPM jumped to 2500 and without it down to 2000 rpm.

What could have gone wrong???

 

IMHO, Just loosen the entire linkage on the car. pull back all the pre set screw settings.
Another words everything is just barely tort.
Then snug up the linkage and then turn in the idle screws, watch the shafts that they all turn even across the three carbs. DISCONNECT THE CHOKE linkage while doing this. Then once your settings and linkage are close, Now add the choke linkage and cable locking nut. Does this make sense?
I think your choke wire is too far in , making it choke more and keep the revs up. Hope this somehow makes sense.
ITS A PAIN IN THE ASTERICK, But once done, your car will be smooth as glass....
Or like mine

 

This engine has no choke cable. Instead, it has an auxiliary starting carburetter. This device is disabled once the engine is warmed up so there is definitely no contribution from this device to the high idle. I have played around with the mixture adjusting and volume screws on each carburetor; the only way I could get it to idle half way decent is with the volume screws all the way in and the mixture screws unscrewed (lean). It idles rough.

I may experiment by dropping the needle on each carburetter a bit to see if that gives me some adjustment room.

 

Insure the needle bases are flush with the surface of the lift.

 

Check for vacuum leaks as well, are the carbs bolted tight to the manifold.

 

I am such a stickler for such things! Under a lighted microscope I ensured that the needle bases are flush. Carbs are bolted nice and tight.

One thing, I now realize, that I did not check is whether the throttle body butterflies are nice and tight against the body when I put the spindles and butterflies back together. That is the ONLY thing that I could have screwed up. There is an air leak for sure. When the idle volume screws and shut off tight on all three carbies and the car still idles at 1K you know there is something massively wrong.

I'll be taking them off next weekend and checking the throttle bodies more carefully.

 

Well , now your down to it, That's why I wanted you to LOOSEN everything.
If everything is bolted tight to the manifold, balance all three carb shafts that they all open evenly, one or more are open...
I don't know why you don't have a manual choke, the electric card choke is horrible and VERY UNRELIABLE.
But past that, now tweek the shafts down, pull the throttle back and make sure all three carbs open the same and seat the same.
Good luck.
GTJOEY1314