TOPIC:

Here's mine. I use c-clamps and wood shims to level all directions and anchor to the bench.

Hardrock, do you use fuel to set floats. I did and it was a stinky job and my hands smelled like gas for days... What other fluid would work?


Not rying to hijack the thread, Just hopefully get a tip out to us rookies.

hardrockminer wrote: That should work but make sure it's level from front to back and from side to side. I built mine so that the carb throats are at eye level when I synch them.

I’m gonna keep an eye on the leveling as I go gotta pretty close know, the tube came today so maybe tomorrow I can get it done. But I think the the cross member they sit on are gonna be in the way of the tube on the inside carbs, gotta re think it.

Mikaw wrote: Here's mine. I use c-clamps and wood shims to level all directions and anchor to the bench.

Hardrock, do you use fuel to set floats. I did and it was a stinky job and my hands smelled like gas for days... What other fluid would work?

Not rying to hijack the thread, Just hopefully get a tip out to us rookies.

That’s what I had in mind to build but no extra boots to hold the carbs, I thought bout instead of gas using rubbing alcohol with red food coloring but I ain’t sure if it will hurt the orings or not.

I think we need to be aware of the density of the alternate fluid. If not the same as gas it will affect the buoyancy and maybe not allow proper float adjustment.

I have another bank of carbs to do a float adjustment on and sure would like to use something beside gas again.

Mikaw wrote: I think we need to be aware of the density of the alternate fluid. If not the same as gas it will affect the buoyancy and maybe not allow proper float adjustment.

I have another bank of carbs to do a float adjustment on and sure would like to use something beside gas again.

Good point didn’t think bout that.

Mikaw wrote: I think we need to be aware of the density of the alternate fluid. If not the same as gas it will affect the buoyancy and maybe not allow proper float adjustment.....

Exactly! The fluid used to set the float height should be the same or very close to the same specific gravity as gasoline. Otherwise the float height will be different when gasoline is used. Ed

Found this doing a quick search, the question is how to change the temperature of X fluid to that of gas so we can pick an alternate fluid.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-gravity-liquids-d_336.html

If you're running with ethanol in your gas the SG will be slightly higher than straight gas. (Ethanol has an SG of about 0.79.)

Setting floats is a bit messy. I use a slave tank for supply. I only do two at a time to keep the rack simpler. I also know (with Z1 carbs) that a fully closed float valve means the bottom of the float is about 16 mm below the edge of the carb body. I use that measurement to get the level in the ball park and then adjust as needed to get the right level. I don't bother tightening all 4 screws on the float bowl, as the gas should not rise far enough to leak. One or two screws is usually sufficient.

It's an iterative procedure. Measure, adjust, re-measure, adjust..... My advice would be to use the gas you intend to use for running your bike and wear gloves if the smell of gas is a problem.

During a very similar thread a year or three ago, I found a fuel substitute sold for this very purpose. It is non-flammable, and the manufacturer claims the same specific gravity as gasoline . I don't remember if the advertisement said straight, e10, or some other blend. The only drawback I saw was that it is really expensive. No, I don't remember the brand name, nor the website, but a web search should turn turn it up. If you are interested.
As you may have surmised, I use what i normally run in the bike.

Z1 has pilot jets for the vm28 carb, but is it the 486/ or 213. I want to go from 17.5 to 20. Cause my floats are right, I have 115 main 17.50 pilots needle on third clip but it will not run down the road right it will rev fine but it’s like it’s running out of gas going down the road should I move needle up some more, I’m at a loss.

Our shop is in our basement. Besides the potential to stink up the house, there's a standing pilot flame in the water heater, so with gasoline vapor being heavier than air & sinking, that's strong disincentive to adjust floats wet during the winter. We've tried water, kerosene, antifreze amd isopropyl alcohol. None matched the same wet level as gasoline.

We generally do one carb at a time, held level in an old B&D Workmate table vise.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Thanks for the advise, although not what I wanted to here but hopefully I wont have to do to many more wet float adjustments. I have an old briggs 8Hp tractor engine gas tank I set up with a fuel "t" and shutoff to use as a slave tank. I have it mounted on an old halogen light tripod so I can adjust the tanks elevation relative to the bike or the carbs when on the bench. I read the slave tank outlet needs to be a similar distance above the carbs as would be the tank on the bike in full running setup. I read it will affect the fuel pressure and could give inconsistence float level setting if the tank is too high.

Maybe we can revive that post TexasKZ is referencing or start a new one. I don't want to interfere with Zilla's problem solving, Zilla good to here you have the correct float level.