Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines To "B" or Not to B

I have two one barrel Rochester B carbs on my 230 L6 in a pickup. I seem to always have problems with them leaking. I know there are some tech articles about making the Rochesters better, but it seems like a lot of trouble for a 1bbl carb. Are there other 1bbl carbs out there that would be good swaps?

Hey SixPac . . .

I have been doing a ton of surfing/shopping in preparation for my restification.

From what I have found online, it looks like you have lots of choices for 1 barrels that come with 2 15/16" bolt centers - carter, holley, zenith, stromberg - even a few names I had never heard of until I started researching for my project. Ever heard of Marvel-Shebler or Tillotson?

At any rate, I found one place that has them all http://www.vapinc.com/carbs/Downdraft/chevrolet.html http://www.vapinc.com/carbs/Downdraft/gmc.html http://www.vapinc.com/carbs/Downdraft/universal.html

Happy hunting. Let us know what you choose.

stock49

SixPac-- I'm having the exact same problem. Mine is a "BV" though. It's leaking (really bad) between the upper and middle sections of the carb, right past the gasket. I've been into the carb twice, but I still can't figure anything out. I rebuilt it, and used the new gaskets. I read the article in the "Tech Tips" section, but I'm curious if that will work for a single carb setup. Also, where would I find different jets?

I hope I'm not hijacking the post. Thanks guys. John

John,
Feel free to join in. I checked with some other sites and got recomendations for other carbs..everything from Rochester Monojets, which supposedly don't leak, to Holley series 1900 1bbl. used on Mustangs and I think Pintos to Carter WA1's. I'll let you know how my search turns out.

I just ditched the one barrels on my 261 for the Holley-Webers two stage carbs from Langdon's. Wow how nice it is to have NEW vs old to work with. I'm still playing with jets but no leaks and the truck is running great. You can check out Tom's web site from the home page. Or you can shop around on ebay for these Holley 5200s, but Tom has all the adaptors etc. Only way I'd go back to one barrels is if I found a couple new old stock, most are just to worn out.

I have gone through three (my original and two remans) BVs trying to fix the leak between the air horn and bowl. It looks like all three of them had been over torqued at some time because the ridges on the mating surfaces had been flattened. I think this is what causes the leaking. I tried to double gasket, but only made things worse by causing internal leaks. Would a fuel sealant work?

HiTork-- Do you like the 2 barrels better than the one barrels? How well does it work since you have to use an adaptor? Thanks. John.

I think it would be a toss up if you could find "NEW" one barrels. I was running what I think to be the best one barrels around which are the Stromberg BXOV-2s, great carbs just worn out.

I have 2 monojets on my 61 chevy.They work well and dont leak.I also have 3 rochesters each on my T and my Nova.The way to get them to stop leaking is to drop the float level a touch-it worked for me.