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Removing and Disassembling the Carburetor of a 1972 Eldorado Convertible

Richard Edmund Hawkins

dochawk@dochawk.org

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Have a question for dochawk? See answers at askdochawk! February 22, MMIX updated March 1, MMIX I've acquired a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. I'm not a mechanic, but after facing various house repairs from tenants that make the reports of owner damage on foreclosuures look bush-league, I wasn't going to pass up my dream car (OK, I dreamed of a '71, but after the prior close call that I blew [It was an Impala, but in the color scheme I wanted, and I would find out upon my return that it really belonged to a little old lady that kept it in the garage except when she drove it on Sunday . . .]). Anyway, at this point it moves again, after figuring out the correct way to wire the starter. I know why it starts now; I just have no idea why it started to come home. The critical bit is that in a Cadillac, the line to engage the starter solenoid is purple, and shoudl go to the S terminal of the starter. On a 1972, this is inaccessible without dropping the starte . . . Remember that a bumper jack cannot be used in a driveway without blocks on the wheels (not that I forgot this and need to flatten the plate of the jack). Anyway, with the car starting, and the horribly leaky tire replaced with a used one, it's time to turn to the carburater that sat for several years, the prime suspect in the current 4 MPG that this thing is getting. I'm hardly an authority; these pictures were taken as I went so that I'll be able to put it back together. I've used different colors of electrical tape to tag things--but the ones on the carburetor will not survive cleaning; the other ends and photos will have to do. With that, here are the pictures. I expect to update this as I learn more about what these pieces mean. The air filter removed Red indicating first vacuum line removed Green is another vacuum line; white is the fuel line A capped vacuum line? Somehow, I don't think that it shipped this way . . . The red circle shows a capped line. Is this normal? The blue and yellow would be exposed within the air filter--are they to draw air down below when the plates are closed? If I'm reading things right, this piece on the lower left is the dashpot, now disconnected. March 1: It's called a dashpot in the rebuild kit, bit's the "choke pull". It's gone bad. It's also discontinued by apparently everyone; I'll have to either find one somehow or do some kind of conversion. Two screws removed at the finger tips. These need to come out, too. And this pair, which are longer. This pair is hiding inside the primary intakes. I still have things to disconnect from each side of the carb. This lever comes out of the hole. A tiny cotter pin comes out to release this (just above the tip of the pliers) This lever and connecter fell out. I believe that that linkage at the bottom o the connector comes in the rebuild kit. This fell loose . . . . . but appears to fit here. I've turned it over. These screws will need to come out. It is the same size as the first screws I removed up top. The bottom o the carb is at the right; the top two at the left. The gasket is in far worse shape than it appears in this picture. As I said . . . This piece sticks to the metal behind it. THere is a replacement in the rebuild kit. The top is off, with the gasket even more damaged than the other one. These pieces were sticking through the gasket as it separated. I don't know about the spring, but most of the others appear to be in the rebuild kit. This plastic piece does not appear to be in the rebuild kit. March 1: It's a spacer; it does not need to be replaced. This is the float. If you're going to this much work, replace it, too! Over time, it takes in gasoline and doesn't float properly. I'm not sure what these pieces attached to the float are (yet), but the center piece is in the rebuild kit. The float again. The unidentiied pieces again. With my eyes on the Chem-dip bath, I was conerned about this rubber piece with no way to remove it. No problem--there is a replacement in the kit (I don't know yet if the "wings" are replaced, too. (March 1: they are). This comes out easily. This assembly has been removed, but the dashpot is still attached. Now it's separated. At this point, I've disassmbled as far as I can. I put the smaller metal pieces in my can of cleaner, but the three large pieces won't it through the opening! I cleaned them somewhat with wire brush, toothbrush, and a can of spray carburetor cleaner. As I was picking up, the rain started. These are the pieces that didn't go into the bath. The remainder added March 1 I had to disasemble further to get the pieces into my pot of Chemdip. I assume that the screen is an additional fuel filter. Nightmare time? A tab of something is lose. I suppose if all else fails, I can figure out where it goes (assuming it came from the carb) when I find a piece I can't attach. I've been advised to epoxy some lower plugs, as leaking into the engine from them is a common problem with Quadrajets. The parts circled in red are NOT where the epoxy goes! I have no idea what this scoring or gunk is--but I'm pretty sure that I need to remove it. © Richard Edmund Hawkins, MMV-MMIX Related Columns (050223) Read Why I've started http://dochawk.org: Richard E. Hawkins, a lawyer, professor, and software designer among other other abilities, has started http://dochawk.org to use his knowledge to provide explanations from a variety of perspectives, including classic liberalism. (041229) Read Links of interest Discussion of this rebuild The discussion on cadillaforums.com Read Dr. Hawkins is an attorney, former economics professor, software developer, and statistician. Cite or link to this page as http://http://dochawk.org/column.050324.html,

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