Anticipating problems, I've looked the eBay carb over in more detail and noticed a couple of small differences - one is the fuel union connection. As the first photo shows, the old connection has a hole in the thread to allow a two-way union to be bolted to the bottom of the carb. I could dispense with the two-way, two tap system and just fit a barb to the connector but this gets in the way of the magneto housing. I've also replaced one of the fuel taps already, which cost twenty quid, and i'd prefer not to remove it and blank it off if I can help it.
The twin chambers of the pre-monobloc carb also have little clearance to the pieces around it when offered up to the cylinder head. The chambers require a precise specific alignment which is
adjusted by slackening off the big union nut at the base of the carb. Sitting at my workbench, having scribed the required alignment on the nut, I'm wondering how to hold the carb and work the two spanners at the same time, making sure the alignment doesn't slip. I find myself looking at the carb and then at the vice attached to the workbench. Oh no, not that again, I really couldn't take another crushing setback - the second photo shows the solution.A small victory, perhaps, but it was that small oversight with the vice that got me into this mess in the first place. Now I've got my eyes on the prize and I'm determined not to risk this repair by allowing impatience to cloud judgement. And yet, I have more niggling problems to solve. Should I drill the connection and refit the old union? Or, dismantle the new chamber and try to swap connectors?
Having removed the needle and float from the old carb, I'm loath to dimantle the new one. I may have damaged the old one or, indeed, have stumbled on the root of the whole flooding issue. As the third photo shows, the needle is looking a bit bent. I wonder if this was me?
