CA95 Carb Cleaning Part II

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:08 pm

I seemed to have done a good job cleaning the little carb out but it was difficult to properly work the throttle. I installed a new cable, made sure there was more than enough grease inside of it and lubricated all of the pivot points and the throttle grip housing. Alas the only thing left to keep the throttle from working good was a worn out throttle slide. I knew the plating was worn off some but I didn't expect it to stick so badly.

The only way to preserve this carb is to install another slide or to have the slide plated. The slides are made from brass and chrome plated. There are different grades of chrome of course but I'll let the pro's do what they do. I submitted my carb and slide to a company that plates and anodizes pieces to the exact micron for gun manufacturers. They will measure exactly how much material needs to be replaced. This sounds kinda easy but they will actually have to remove a certain amount of stock from the slide itself and then apply the chrome plating accordingly to get a proper tolerance.

With my awesome parts bike I acquired a second carb as well. But they aren't made exactly the same. It seems way back then they didn't really have a standard when it came to producing these things. They may look the same but the slide from carb #1 doesn't come close to properly fitting into carb #1. Shucks.

So as of now I'm waiting on carb #1 to have it's slide plated and returned to me. What now? Well lets move on to carb #2! Time to become an expert at cleaning carbs. I have 4 to do so lets get started with this one. Here is what I got when I removed the bowl:

Now check out that throttle slide on the right! Now that thing looks near new. This carb is going to run like a champ, ready to race.

I definitely have my work cut out for me in terms of racing Benly CA95's. Have a look at this mad dog out in Indiana. He has a background in aviation and knows how to make his CA95 fly around the dirt track.

Check out the video at the start of his webpage here: Robs CA95 Restoration

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:15 pm

Man oh man I have my work cut out for me. Probably 2hrs worth of cleaning. Notice how dirty it is where the needle fits. At least the jets aren't all scarred up from someone taking them out with the wrong size screwdriver.

To remove the seat from the carb you'll need a 5/16 wrench or preferably a ratchet and socket. I used a skinny punch to break the float pin loose and then the needle nose pliers barely were able to remove it. Be very careful not to break either one of those posts that hold the float pin. If you break anything you basically will be looking for another carb.

Those jewelers magnifying glasses are stylish and necessary. These parts are TINY!! Get yourself some of these glasses as they are only $5 from Harbor Freight.

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:25 pm

Lets clean the needle and seat. If these are worn out or not cleaned correctly you will find your bike coming to a halt while cruising out on the road. This is the main cause for your bike stalling out mysteriously in the middle of a ride. The float WILL NOT retain the needle and pull it back out of the seat when it might become stuck in the seat. If the needle doesn't pull back out then the fuel flow into the bowl will stop. I had this happen on my CA160 and I'll be working on that carb this week as well.

Here is a picture of the first thing I did when I got the seat out. I used a tiny dremel brush to remove the obvious debris and carbon/dust out. This does ok but there is more work to do. I'm quite proud of my throttle slide on the right. When these wear down you are in trouble. I can't wait to get the first one back from the plating company to see how it works compared to this one. Having 2 carbs will be nice peace of mind.

I decided to get a little crazy and really make sure that the seat was cleaned out as good as possible. I basically resurfaced the seat at the bottom and now it's nice and shiny. Just be careful not to scratch it or remove too much stock from the piece. As long as you get a quick shine on it things should be fine.

Much better

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:42 pm

Now for cleaning up the needle. If this part isn't cleaned thoroughly it will promote further corrosion buildup and ruin your day. Take a minute to do it right. I would stay away from sand paper altogether. This part is much to sensitive to surface imperfections. If you accidentally make a oval of this circular profile fuel will be leaking through it and you can only guess what problems will come of that.

Here I have my Dremel with a polishing bit. The buffer alone won't do squat. Find some sort of light abrasive polish to dab on it. You just need a little. I used my FLITZ polish which is water soluble. Not that it matters... You can buy aluminum wheel polish that will probably give the same results. You can see all the crap that was removed with just a couple seconds of cleaning with the dremel. Best of all the soft bit is safe to use on this part and it only took a second. That sucker shines clean now. B) Here we are nice and clean, ready to install.

Get ready... it's the fuel topic! - I'm glad that this forum is locked so what I say goes! =]

I was contemplating using some fuel additive for classic vehicles but I just don't think it's all that necessary. MAYBE it would be helpful for the valve seats in order to prolong the lifespan of them but the engine isn't high compression and even though you can rev the RPMs up you probably won't be comfortable doing so. If one was to rev the crap out of these engines and take it up to 50mph then I would suggest a ZDDP additive. To keep things short the ZDDP restores the fuel to the 1980 and earlier condition. The stuff is NECESSARY to preserve cam lifters and cams in all engines from the old days. Once it was discovered that the ZDDP was harmful for catalytic converters they removed it from the fuel and beefed up the quality of engine components so they could operate without ZDDP.

It's not a bad idea to run ZDDP in these engines and I will be in the bikes that I'll be riding around on the street. Here is a HUGE amount of info on the additive, knock yourself out: http://www.zddplus.com/

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:49 pm

NEXT I'll be dipping the Honda carb in some Yamaha brand Carburetor Cleaner/ Dip. This stuff is crazy. You are instructed to mix it 50/50 with water and only dip the carbs for 10 minutes in order to not harm the alloys or any seals inside of it. I have a few carbs to do so I'll be using this in a plastic resealable container. It was $13 if I can remember. This is supposed to be the BEST stuff to use for motorcycle carburetors.

If it wasn't 100 degrees in the shop I would be doing it right now but it can wait until it cools off.

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:25 am

Ok I didn't realize that I never finished this process! Here we go. I finished it up and took pictures along the way. Now the following is the typical Honda carb. I have cleaned it up very well on the outside but the inside gets an "F" in cleanliness! Here you can see how bad things get inside over the years. As I have said before, you MUST invest in some brand new little screwdrivers so that you have a fighting chance when you remove these little parts from inside the carb. The new screwdriver blades will ensure full contact with the slots when you apply the high force needed to break the soft copper parts free.

Make sure and keep track of every single little piece! They will NOT have these at your local Honda shop!!!

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:29 am

Now for the dip! I slightly larger container might be nice. I eventually graduated to a glass jar so I could see better while dipping carbs. You don't want to leave them in the dip for more than 10 minutes without watching them very closely. This stuff is brutal. And they recommend that you mix the concentrate with water so read the directions closely. It's a good amount of water... like 2/3's or something and it's still gets right down to business when you put any parts in.

The thing is that it works too well and it will start to soften up the old carb alloys pretty quickly. So it you leave it in there for too long then when you remove the carb you will notice grey marks on your gloves and towels as you clean, rinse and dry it off. And when you go to scrape any residue off it will be very soft when you poke it.

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:31 am

After the carb has been in there for a few minutes you want to shake it a little bit to agitate the solution against the parts. Also it helps a TON if you can scrape any crud from the carbs surfaces before you put it in the dip. Plus it keeps the dip cleaner so that you can put the lid back on your jar and use it again. I have used the same dip about 5 different times and the sediment just falls to the bottom leaving the whole jar clear for next time.

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:33 am

The dip really penetrates the surface crud and anything that is inside as well. Grab a small parts brush when you rinse your carb and try and brush some more stuff loose as well. Once the crud is removed you will notice pits that have formed in the inside surfaces from the contaminates of the past.

USE EYE PROTECTION as this stuff can just flick up into the atmosphere and it will hit you in the face if you don't have a shield on.

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:36 am

Check out how nice the parts come out with a little bit of work! You had better take care of the parts that you have since they are becoming extremely hard to find. Plus the ones that you do find need to be cleaned up just as much as what you have. Finding one new? Forget it... plus if you do it won't be cheap! Now just find some new rubber seals and put that puppy back together.

JasonandMichell · Post by **JasonandMichell** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:32 pm

Where does one pick up an o-ring kit like that? I'm going to be tearing apart my CA160, but before I do I would like to have all replacement gaskets and o-rings without selling my kids to get them.