Description
This book is unique. It not only tells you how carburetors work – but more importantly – why.
Carburetors, like many parts of a car, are not stand-alone devices. A carburetor’s “success” is highly dependent on many related components working together, just like the members of a football team must work together in order to win. We will discuss all aspects of the fuel and air systems of a gasoline engine from the gas tank until the air-fuel mixture enters the combustion chamber. To be able to effectively understand, diagnose and repair carburetors, it is important to understand all of these inter-related systems.
This book will complement the various service manuals you have for your cars. Some books have very good, detailed carburetor descriptions, while others are limited in the discussion of how the particular carburetor works. This book is not intended to replace these manuals, but to give you fundamental knowledge that will apply to virtually all carburetor designs. This book also includes more than just carburetor information, since it is the complete fuel, air, ignition and intake manifold systems that are important to fully understand your vehicle.
Over the past several years, I have been studying the Marvel carburetor calibrations on early Buicks and reporting the results in my “Early Buick and McLaughlin-Buick Owners” newsletter. The variation in air–fuel ratio (A/F) I observed on my 1916 and 1929 Buicks led me to do a more detailed analysis of intake manifold designs, which are critical to achieving an optimum carburetor calibration. It is interesting to see how both intake manifold designs and fuel delivery techniques evolved over the last 100 years.
In addition to my own antique cars, I have been involved in some interesting restorations of historically significant General Motor vehicles. I restored three carburetors used on the restoration of the GM Futurliner #10 and rebuilt the four side-draft carburetors used on the 1956X Buick concept car both restored by my good friend Don Mayton in Michigan. While both vehicles used standard production carburetors, the unique applications made them an interesting and rewarding experience.
The book discusses all aspects of the engine’s demand for air and fuel, how it is achieved and how engine designs affect carburetion. We will trace the carburetor’s evolution from the simple carburetors in the early 1900s, through the more complicated carburetors in the mid-1980s. We will see how emission regulations changed carburetors in the 1970s and 1980s, and ultimately led to electronically controlled fuel injection today. I will also use many analogies to help you understand the concepts in carburetors and fuel systems.
Enjoy and learn.
Dean G. Tryon
