[Farmall] Carburetor Floats

[Karl Olmstead]

I dip the cork floats in a pot of fuel tank sealant, Bob.  Makes them 
heavier than stock, but it does a good job of sealing them, and it 
reinforces the marginal connection between the brass float lever and the 
cork float.

If you decide to treat your current float, be sure and let it sit someplace 
warm for a few days so the gasoline it has soaked up can evaporate.

If I recall correctly, alcohol dissolves shellac.  Most of our gas nowdays 
has five or ten percent alcohol in it.

-Karl
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> My 29 Farmall Regular uses a brass, Ensign carb which has a cork float. 
> When I rebuilt the carburetor 4 or 5 years ago I put in a new cork float, 
> needle & seat, plus gaskets. All supplied by Rice Equipment there in PA. 
> Worked great!! Within the past year or so, the carb started flooding and 
> it steadily got worse and worse, to the point where the gasoline just 
> poured out as soon as you turned on the fuel at the tank, and the tractor 
> wouldn't run anymore. I pulled the carb and took it apart, figuring it was 
> the float or the needle. It looks like the cork float was coated with a 
> shiny covering when it was new. A few people said it was shellac. So now 
> I'm looking at the cork float and it looks to be in good shape, no cracks, 
> no holes, no fluid inside. Some of the shellac, shiny stuff is worn off. 
> So I have two questions:  Is that stuff shellac?? and is there any other 
> product out there that won't get eaten up by unleaded gasoline? And,,has 
> anybody reproduced the floats for those Ensign carburetors that is made 
> out of some material other than cork??  One guy suggested using model 
> airplane dope..I checked that out and the can says "up to 15 percent 
> resistant to various fuels". I'm thinking that's not good enough. Anybody 
> have experience with this problem?
>
> bobcurrie