Have a W-1 Carb with a tag that says YF. What does that mean?
It can not be both any more than your car can be a Ford and Chevrolet.
If it is a Carter W-1 the main body will be painted (usally black) cast iron. A YF is an cast unpainted metal that looks like pot metal.
Hello nhinchas,
Here is a post by Carbking: Carter produced 128 different models of the W-1 carburetor, many of them used by Chevrolet (1932-1949). The 1937 and newer are very good units.
The YF came later (1950), and was slightly more technilogically advanced.
The major difference as important to the enthusiast (thanks to ethanol), is the composition of the accelerator pumps. The W-1 pump is leather (totally impervious to ethanol). The YF uses a neopreme diaphragm, which holds up well in daily drivers, but tends to crack over time for vehicles which are not driven often. For a daily driver (or a vehicle for which the owner can acquire genuine gasoline) the YF remains an excellent choice.
Jon.
Thanks for the Info Harry. I have a friend (who is a long time VCCA member but isn't computer savvy) and gave me the info.
The above info. is great but will not help him to tell if it is a Carter W-1 or YF
Hello Chev Nut,
I have to defer to Carbking to explain Carter's carburetor differences. There is also a web site: thecarburetorshop.com having a discussion called 'The Carter W-1 as used on Chevrolet'. I have read that some carbs were model number stamped on their flange base. Others utilized a metal tag. If tags were lost, identification relied on mounting measurements and hookup locations. Here is another of Carbkings posts that may be of useful interest: While all of the W-1's have the same base mounting (Carter also made a W-2, with the S.A.E. size 3 base); the later YF carbs had different (both size 2, and size 3) bases.
The number following the type (for the most part) on Carter carburetors identifies the S.A.E. size; but the numbers are off one size. Thus a WD-0 or a W-0 is a size 1; a W-1 is a size 2; and a W-2 is a size 3.
Jon.
There are listings that say what carb was used on what engines in what years. These can be found online.
This link pictures most of the Carter type W-1 carburetor carburetors used by Chevrolet.
Carter Chevrolet type W-1 carburetorsJon