1976 Gold Wing Swamp Thing

That should do it. Pretty straight to set the height of the jet that butts against those tangs. I spun a brass punch with reverse cone on the end to tap mine out with. Just keep the emulsion tube. I had picked up four on ebay and ended up using a two-piece because I didn't like tge insides of any of them. Worked great fo me. That cylinder was running super-rich until I replaced that, and now it compares well to the rest.
 
Time to drag this thread back. Life got in the way, didn't get to the garage for a month blah blah blah. Got in there today, poked at some emulsion tubes and put some clean paper down on the bench in preparation for the carb rebuild.

The Mrs K wanted to go for a walk round the park, so that happened.

Carb rebuild didn't.

But I dug the snow away from the garage door, and turned the shop heater on to defrost a bunch of shit that had frozen solid.


So...thread - drug. Back in business.
 
Life seems to get in the way of motorcycles sometimes. Here in East Tennessee, I took both the 1800 and '79 1000 for a brief ride. Happily, the '79 carbs kicked in perfectly once fuel finally got to them. I had run dry and drained them last fall.

Don't neglect testing for leaks before remounting the rack. I always use 91% isopropyl alcohol to reduce the smell, and be a bit safer, plus any not drained should mix with the gasoline and burn. If any of the "pucks" resist removal, a small hole drilled only half-way through will allow a wood screw to grip and remove it. The holes under the puck must be clear as well as all of the other tiny passages. Make sure you check Randakk's notes about incorrect jet size listing in the FSM, and backwards air jet positioning in Clymer. Setting the floats properly requires leaning the rack so that the tangs are just touching the valve pin. If you replace a float valve seat, make sure you to carefully remove the original filter screen and put it on the new valve seat. Also make sure the little pins work smoothly in the valves. They can sometimes be loosened with a soak in carb cleaner to dissolve built-up varnish.

There are so many points to address on GL1000 carbs, and there are four of them plus the air-cut valve. Don't get discouraged if they don't seem right the first time. You will get pretty good at removing and installing them, just like a CB750.
 
Cheers Pid, appreciate the solidarity. Pretty sure I now have everything I need to complete the rebuild (including Randakk's how-to video) so with a bit of time and space I'm hoping to get that job done soon. I always like carb work - not that I'm particularly good at it or anything - I just like the process.

Speaking of checking for vacuum leaks. Randakk uses some kind of vacuum pump along with a bunch of different pucks (to close up air passages). Think I should get one?
 
Glad this is getting back on track, looking forward to seeing Swampy progress.
 
Looking Forward to updates! My projects have been sitting as usual, but I did get a running 89 xt350 so at least I'm riding a little lol.
 
Cheers Pid, appreciate the solidarity. Pretty sure I now have everything I need to complete the rebuild (including Randakk's how-to video) so with a bit of time and space I'm hoping to get that job done soon. I always like carb work - not that I'm particularly good at it or anything - I just like the process.

Speaking of checking for vacuum leaks. Randakk uses some kind of vacuum pump along with a bunch of different pucks (to close up air passages). Think I should get one?
I have one of the Harbor Freight (Princess Auto?) "Mighty Vac" hand vacuum pumps that I use with the rack inverted to lock in vacuum in the fuel rails and all for a quick first check. But, It's a go/no go, doesn't indicate where a leak is. I leave that on overnight, and it shouldn't budge. Still, needs the fill with fluid to make sure the floats aren't sticking. Some people even make up spare drain screws with nipples to attach a clear tube and see what the real level is in the carb. I've made up a manifold section to use testing individual carbs for leaks but that may be over-kill (I had a spare plenum to cut up). Best tool if there is a leak is a flashlight for inspecting the plenum and carbs to find the culprit. BTW, there is a vendor that supplies the fuel "U" rings without needing a whole kit - https://newmotorcycleparts.net/fuel_system_parts/special_fuel_o-rings.html
 
Thanks to lots of people in lots of places all the parts I needed for the carb rebuild arrived a while back, and now have a rebuilt set of carburetors -

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No drama. The innards of these puppies are pretty interesting - pucks and plenums and emulsion tubes and removable-and-thoroughly-entirely-possible-to-mix-up air jets and the like but took my sweet-ass time and it's a done deal. Setting the beaten up floats took a while (each half of each float needs to be set at exactly 21mm, and be parallel to the carb body, with a correct return position too) but a couple of well-aimed beers saw to that. Installed the carbs and hooked up all the cables and re-installed the airbox and shelter cover and now have something resembling a motorcycle again for the first time in months -

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Sure, it looks like something Quasimodo drove off a bridge after hitting 15 lamp posts on the way, but there's an Esmerelda in there somewhere.

Once I connect up all the electrics the plan is to hook up a remote gas feed (the tank's a proper munter and'll need a decent clean before any gas goes back in there) direct to the carbs and have at it. The bowls are dry and as yet the new battery isn't charged. Will kickstarting the bike get enough fuel into the bowls to give this a sporting chance of firing up? Anything else I need to do first to breathe some life into this beast?
 
Swampy is looking rough for sure, but "healing" from the inside out is how things come together. The old girl will be out tearing up the highway in no time. You're doing great.
 
Hang fuel supply up higher than the petcock and it will be fine. Bypass the fuel pump for the test.
 
Yes, it is surprising how well the fuel pump deters flow until she's running. Also surprising how much fuel the bowls hold (but then, they are converted automotive carbs). Still more surprising how long she has to crank to pump enought to fill the carbs after being drained for the winter and having only a gallon in the tank.

BTW, it really is best to remove the tank to clean it. But, requires removal of; shocks, fenders, battery tray and attachments, rear master (and of course rear wheel).
 
BTW, it really is best to remove the tank to clean it. But, requires removal of; shocks, fenders, battery tray and attachments, rear master (and of course rear wheel).
Tell me about it -

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Got the thing out yesterday, couldn't figure how to get the rear wheel off without removing the left-side exhaust so that came off too. Funny how on a CB all you have to do is remove a couple of bolts and disconnect a fuel line - on this thing you end up with something that looks like it's had its entire rear end bitten off in a shark attack. Still, came out ok - but the tank itself was in an average state. (Very) old gas still swishing around, varnish and rust. The body itself is solid and - although pretty rusty - the fuel level sensor looks to be serviceable. The tank is absolutely salvageable, however when I bought the bike it came with a literal ton of extra parts including another gas tank in much better condition. A bit of surface rust but nothing that a bunch of wood screws didn't knock off and a good long soak in Metal Rescue.

I do however also have another fuel level sensor, but with a different looking armature and float position. The one that came out of the tank on the bike is on the left and the spare I have is on the right -

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The one on the right lowers a lot deeper but both have the same "full" position. The floats are the same size on each, just the shadows make them look a bit fucky. Can I use either? The spare one (the one on the right) is in better shape for sure.
 
Idk. I run on reserve all the time as tank sendor goes F-R and if you run in "on" your reserve can foul and you lose the capacity. So I learned you set your trip at fill up and start looking for gas at 250km
 
Yep, its not F-E like a car. It hits R and you still have 75 or more KMs of fule. The petcock for whatever reason if not used in R most of the time clogs and R stops working so you lose the use of it and you would have to pull it all out and rebuild it. A lot. So most owners who want R to work just run the petcock in R all the time and learn when to get fuel. You can still us the fuel guage but if you don't notice qhen it hits R and you didn't set your trip you have no idea when it will be really empty.
 
Got it, thanks for the clarification. Yeah, makes sense now. The internals of these tanks are very different to any other I've worked on. Fuel is fed into the petcock via one of two tubes on the inside of the tank (one for On and one for Reserve) which in turn pass through what look like domed filters/strainers. I can see how fuel left to sit in the Reserve fuel line could foul.
 
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