Re: Opions on remanufactured carburetors
Most carbs used on I/O's will have a cast iron base and they're rebuildable time and time again.
As somebody that rebuilds 100+ carbs a year. (I do at least 1 carb job a week, be it a single IO carb, or a 4 pack from an OB) I would say that the rule of thumb is any carb over 10 years old has a 50/50 chance of a rebuild being successful. And the older a carb gets, the worse those odds get.
Throttle shafts are moving parts, and moving parts are considered wear and tear. Depending on the actual specific carb your doing. Some have seals or bushings on the throttle shafts, but most do not, but once the throttle shaft wears into the carb bore and there is an air leak at the throttle shaft, the carb body is no good. And carb replacement is mandatory.
Carbs are also just a soft cast pot metal with a glazing on them. The glazing eventually fails. Carbs get porous internally, and will develop fuel or air leaks. This is basically just a matter of time with any carb. Air leaks cause funny things, and hard to diagnose problems. I once rebuilt a carb, left it on the bench, and filled the float bowls with fuel to see if it leaked, and sat there and watched fuel defy gravity and leak right up and out of the top of the housing of it because there were micro cracks under the glazing.
Some are so bad internally that no amount of time in the heated ultrasonic machine does any good.
Lastly... Mercarbs suck, Rochesters are good but more complicated than they need to be, Edelbrocks are the best "value" on the market, Weber is overpriced italian bullcrap. These are of course all my personal opinions, but I can tell you about Solex and Stromberg carbs if you needed to know something. And my last dog was named Holley =)
I do a loooooot of carbs. Remaned carbs can be a crapshoot. If you have local rebuilders, I would stick with them, as they are more likely to help you out if you have a bigger problem.
