Zenith - to rebuild myself or not rebuild?

A

AndyP

Active Member
Messages
47
Reaction score
0
Location
Union City, CA
Folks - I've been through all the Zenith and carb threads and am ready to jump in, but need someone to tell me that it won't hurt. In a nutshell - I need to rebuild my carbs and I want to stick with Zeniths. I was about to pull the trigger on Royce (per Blumax recommendation), but they either seem to have gone out of business, or don't answer their phones EVER. Now I am tempted to do this myself. I am not mechanically challenged, but at the same time, I am not a mechanic and definitely no carb expert.

So what do you think? Can I screw things up if I follow instructions? Or should I just have one of the glorious shops in the Bay Area do this for me? Thanks for anyone's 2 cents.

(It's a '74 CS from Munich.)
 
Last edited:
You can do it.

Andy,

It won't hurt. Follow the manual, work one at a time. Do check all the adjustments and assume someone else might not have done so.

Jerry
61Porsche
 
Andy I am with you, I just ordered my large rebuild kits from Mesa, they are good folks there (they also have the best prices on hoses and gaskets) and I will be starting the rebuilds this weekend. Have you found any Zenith-specific instructions on them and what to look out for? Feel free to contact me, I could use the help and misery loves company. I also want to keep my original carbs. I took off the intake manifolds to clean them up and am replacing all the hoses (from radiator to the little ones from the chokes while there. I cleaned the engine block and will be replacing the starter, as this will be the easiest it will ever be to access it, even still with all this stuff off it was still a pita to remove I cant imagine doing it with carbs/manifolds in place and I never want to have to take this stuff apart a second time.


AndyP said:
Folks - I've been through all the Zenith and carb threads and am ready to jump in, but need someone to tell me that it won't hurt. In a nutshell - I need to rebuild my carbs and I want to stick with Zeniths. I was about to pull the trigger on Royce (per Blumax recommendation), but they either seem to have gone out of business, or don't answer their phones EVER. Now I am tempted to do this myself. I am not mechanically challenged, but at the same time, I am not a mechanic and definitely no carb expert.

So what do you think? Can I screw things up if I follow instructions? Or should I just have one of the glorious shops in the Bay Area do this for me? Thanks for anyone's 2 cents.

(It's a '74 CS from Munich.)
Click to expand...
 
Thank you!

Guys - thanks for the support. I'll rebuild 'em myself. Will get parts from Mesa - they're great! Probably not gonna get started this weekend, but when I do, will take pics and document my experience. Who knows what I'll find. I'll keep y'all posted.
 
BMW has (had) a publication entitled "The BMW Carburetor" which addresses the Zeniths as well as the two-barrel Solex in the 2002. Have you seen/read it? I can scan and email if asked at cgshawaii (at) netscape (dot) net. Mine is a copy so the pics are likely not of high quality, but the text will be useful.

The Blue Books are useful too.
 
I found that online last night but thanks for the offer, it appears to be a good reference also:

http://www.sehlin.com/cscoupe/tech/zeniths/bmw1/bmw1.html



Honolulu said:
BMW has (had) a publication entitled "The BMW Carburetor" which addresses the Zeniths as well as the two-barrel Solex in the 2002. Have you seen/read it? I can scan and email if asked at cgshawaii (at) netscape (dot) net. Mine is a copy so the pics are likely not of high quality, but the text will be useful.

The Blue Books are useful too.
Click to expand...
 
You may find that your Zenith housing sections are warped, as measured with a straightedge. A new gasket cannot correct this. You could file down the warpage yourself, but to do it right I think it would be best to seek a professional shop. I don't know of any such shops, unfortunately.
 
I will address the potential warpage issue, do the intake manifold surfaces warp also or only the carb housings?

hans3 said:
You may find that your Zenith housing sections are warped, as measured with a straightedge. A new gasket cannot correct this. You could file down the warpage yourself, but to do it right I think it would be best to seek a professional shop. I don't know of any such shops, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
 
Intake manifold warpage?--

Very doubtful as metallurgy in your manifolds are much more robust from sand casting a strong aluminum alloy, that is very stable and less influenced by heat cycles--entirely different from your carbs--

Carb housings are formed by a precise diecasting process to form their thinwall complex shapes--and the metalaurgy (usually an alloy of alum., zinc, copper and sometimes tin and lead) is generally less robust and more suseptible to heat distortion.

Just might check their joining surfaces for accuracy as you have them off--
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top