I recently acquired 4 AFB carbs, a pair of 3505sa (J/Ram K) carbs that
I hoped to restore for my ram K and a pair of 3447sa (max wedge)
carbs. The seller warned me in advance that the 3505s were very
rusty and one of them had a broken base. They must have sat out in
the weather for a long time. In an effort to remove one of them from
the rams someone had drilled out the mounting studs and broke the
base plate casting. Every shaft, pivot point and screw were seized.
The other one had a crack that extended into the accelerator pump
well. So, I turned my attention to the max wedge carbs. Visually,
these are identical to the J carbs, right down to the manual chokes.
I believe that someone might have used these two on an in-line setup.
One carb. was complete except for the fast-idle components. It was
missing the bracket on the end of the choke shaft, linkage and fast -
idle cam. Both were shy the choke cable bracket. The other carb had
zero choke parts. The return spring, choke shaft, butterfly and all
of the fast-idle stuff was missing and I found out that the choke
shaft housing had been flattened enough to make it impossible to
insert a choke shaft. Regardless these were the two that I would
restore.
I
turned to the J carbs to see if I could scavenge enough parts to make
the max wedges complete. Well, I could see that I could get enough
parts to set up the fast-idle on the carb that had most of the choke
parts. If I could get the parts off. I started out by sticking this
carb in a WD40 bath for a week. The screw in the end of the choke
shaft and the screw that the fast-idle cam pivots on were all that
separated me from victory. They put up a huge fight but finally
succumbed to a propane torch, candle wax, a chisel, a hammer and the
biggest screw driver that I own. For the other max wedge, all I
would be able to score from the J carbs would be, if I was lucky, a
choke shaft and butterfly.
So, I
turned to the internet. I based my parts search on googling, “Max
Wedge”. I found that these words had a lot more magic than
J/Ram K. I am going to list various parts web sites and comment on
what I found.
Carburetor
Cleaner:
An internet search led me to buying a 96, fluid ounce can
of Berryman Products 0996-Arm carburetor cleaner, with a dipping
basket. I bought it through Amazon. I should be able to deep clean
every component. Sadly, the top of an AFB will fit into the can and
be 95% submerged. There is no way the main body will drop into the
original can. I found a container that would allow me to cover about
half of the main body, after filling it from the main can.
Gunk Engine Degreaser:
I started the process by giving the exterior of
the carbs a spray down and brushing with Gunk. This removes any
exterior oil and grease. I finished the bath with a spray down of
mineral spirits and a blow off before I started the disassembly. Why
water down the carb cleaner with exterior grease?
Mike’s Carburetor Parts
I searched all of their various
components that they list and I decided to buy their carburetor
rebuild kit for 3505s and 3447s carbs, K6120. Their
description of the parts stated that their components “meets or
exceeds original manufacturers specifications”, but the real
seller for me, was their kit has a leather accelerator pump, which is
ethanol fuel resistant. The needles were also Viton tipped. When
the kits arrived, I reviewed them. The only part that I will not use
was the mounting gasket. They are too thin, nowhere near the
original 0.120” thickness and there was no gasket for the air
cleaner to air horn.
A &A Transmission
I saw their add in Mopar collector’s Guide and
went to their website aandatrans.com. From their home page, I
clicked on the engine box. There was also a box for 727 and 904
torqueflites. I did a quick scan of the 727 items while I was there
and they do list some 62 – 66 parts. It would be worth a more
in depth look if you were in need of trans. parts. From the dropdown
boxes under Engine, I was able to find choke cable brackets for the
3447s carbs. MWCB3447. They are not the same configuration
as the ones used on the 3505s carbs but would bolt right on and do
the same job. So, I had one vital missing component for my missing
choke situation.
Chicago Carburetor
I scanned their website and came across a listing for
their part number M4072 CHOKE ASSEMBLY 3447s AFB 2X4. There was no
further description or pictures. They only listed a price of $208.
I was thinking that for that price, they should have all of the choke
components. I sent them an e-mail with a request for a parts list.
They came back with a disappointing “This part is no longer
available.”
Carbs Unlimited
The home page for Carbs Unlimited opens up with a bunch
of radio buttons. I clicked on the parts button and you come to a
list of carburetors and you choose your carb to get a screen of
related parts. I was able to find some parts that I wanted to
replace because they were missing or looked worn. The accelerator
pump linkage arm on my carbs were showing excessive wear on the
center hole, where the S link attaches. Their part number CU9000-1
gets you all of the related components. I also wanted to replace the
air/idle mixture screws, just to be safe. These will also fit newer
Edelbrock carbs. I also needed some replacement set screws for the
throttle and choke butterflies. I was also looking for 10/32 X 5/8
machine screws that hold the top plate onto the main body. There are
listings for other 10/32 machine screws, but they were the wrong
length. I eventually found them under the general parts list for all
carburetors; but not the parts specific to AFBs.
For
hemi 300s, this website has a pretty long list of components for the
WCFBs. Worth a look.
