[st3gamefarm]

Got a carb in for overhaul.
Edelbrock, 1406. Looked OK from the outside, sed "sure, fifty bucks plus th' kit".
I open it up, and CHEEZ-O-PETE!! What in the world izzat stuff!!?
Both float bowls are cram-packed with some sort of rock hard, off tan colored stuff. It's stuck to everything inside.

I managed to "chisel" out most of it from the bowls, and it made quite a pile.

It has managed to stop up the passage from the jet to the secondary discharge. So I gotta drill out the plug on the side. But before I do that. Where can I get a new plug? I'd thought about just using a 00 lead shot.
But I wanna at least kinda do it right. And don't want any leaks.

Picture of the crap. Sorry 'bout th' focus. I'll try to get a better one.

[cobalt327]

My first reaction was to blame it on the fuel we get from the pump these days. But that actually looks a lot like someone 'sugared' the fuel. Might not be actual sugar, but something was added to the fuel that left the deposits after the fuel evaporated.

Another thing it could be is the alky in the gas dissolved whatever there might have been in the tank and over time this became deposited in the carb.

Either way, I believe it would have taken several to many cycles of the carb being filled up w/the contaminated fuel then having the fuel evaporate after the vehicle sat unused for a period of time. Even heavily sugared gas will be used up w/o much trouble if the vehicle is run more or less continuously until the contaminated fuel is used up. It's when the carb goes dry that the deposits have a chance to really take hold.

What shape are the rubber fuel lines in if it has any? Soft, mushy?

[T-bucket23]

If it is sugar, you could try boiling out the carb. It should dissolve the sugar. Try taking what you have removed and soak it in water, thinner etc until you find something that dissolves it. Then use that to soak the rest of the carb in.
That could just be residue from crappy gas that has built up. The picture is so fuzzy it is hard to tell.

[Gringo]

It's probably from the ethanol in the gas that dried up. It gets as hard as cement. I've had to blast them to get it out, then carb cleaner.

[st3gamefarm]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

My first reaction was to blame it on the fuel we get from the pump these days. But that actually looks a lot like someone 'sugared' the fuel. Might not be actual sugar, but something was added to the fuel that left the deposits after the fuel evaporated.

Another thing it could be is the alky in the gas dissolved whatever there might have been in the tank and over time this became deposited in the carb.

Either way, I believe it would have taken several to many cycles of the carb being filled up w/the contaminated fuel then having the fuel evaporate after the vehicle sat unused for a period of time. Even heavily sugared gas will be used up w/o much trouble if the vehicle is run more or less continuously until the contaminated fuel is used up. It's when the carb goes dry that the deposits have a chance to really take hold.

What shape are the rubber fuel lines in if it has any? Soft, mushy?

I'm thinking that it may have been "sugared", but as yet I've not found a solvent to disolve it. But I haven't tried them all yet.
As to the rubber stuff. The carb came to me without the hoses attached, and I haven't seen the car.
I called the guy and asked him what he'd put in it. and he told me that he'd used nothing but gas in the car. But he pulled the carb about a year ago, put it into a freezer bag, and set it on the shelf. Apparently freezer bags are not air tight.
I'll keep ya'll posted, and try to get a better pic of the crud.

[st3gamefarm]

Well, I've tried every solvent that I could think of, to no avail.
I fired up my cajun cooker, added a couple gallons of water, dropped it in, brought it to a rolling boil, then let it simmer for a while.
Added some tabasco, (for flavor) 'cause if this don't work, I'll haffta eat it.

After cookin' it for a couple hours, (forgot about it), I checked and it was still stopped up. With the help of a little compressed air, a gob of goo shot outta th' jet feeding the left secondary, and hit me in the eye (wearin' glasses). Cool!!
blew out the other passages and it's clean as a pin.
Must have been sugar, or something water soluable.
Here's a better pic of the stuff in solid form.