VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Carter RJH 08 Float observations

As many of you must have noticed, the 1931 float (Brass hollow donought type) tends to rub against one of the jets sticking out from the carb body. This results in wear on the brass float to the extent that eventually a small hole develops in the float causing the carb to flood. (The float no longer floats when filled with gasoline.) I resently had two of my old, original floats go bad. Morale: Always keep a good spare float in your spare parts bin on the road. We used both of my '31s in our son's wedding last year, luckily without any problems...here is a question: I have a 'spare' carb designated as a Carter C-RJH 08. Anyone know what the C stands for? (We removed this carbfrom a '31 in a junkyard in Norway back in 1965...VCCA 18184

The "C" means that the carb was manufactured by Chevrolet using the Carter prints, rather than by Carter. Either one is equally correct for your car.

Hope to see your Phaeton here in NC soon!

All the Best, Chip

Thank you, Chip I did not know that Chevrolet made some of the Carter carbs. Finally got my new Fillingstation radiator core installed using a set of tanks from a cheap radiator I found at Hershey this fall. The tanks had several stress cracks in them. The radiator shop repaired all cracks. but missed a tiny one on the front of the top tank. That one caused a small leak when motor heated up. It is being fixed as we speak by adding extra brass sheets where tank is not visible. FS core is very nice indeed. Hopefully the tanks will hold a long time. PS, I have a 29-30 radiator with good tanks and a 29-30 radiator shell that I don't need....

The "C" means that the body was cast in the Bay City Michigan foundry and not the St. Louis foundry. That is according to official Carter literature.

The carburetors were assembled in a Michigan plant instead of Missouri. They were intended for Chevrolet engines. I have never seen an non-Chevy Carter carburetor with a "C" but can't tell you that they were not produced in the Bay City foundry also.

I have rebuilt over 100 RJH-08 or C RJH-08 carburetors and have a bunch more in my parts stash. Never found one that rubbed through the float from "one of the jets". If the float rubs the jet it will not properly seal or may stick. Neither is a good thing. Suspect that someone not familiar with fitting/adjusting the floats messed with them so they rubbed through.

Same here. I have restored many, many RJH-08 carburetors and I have never seen a float that was not distorted that has rubbed on one of the jets.

Chipper, what you said is interesting. Was the Bay City foundry a Carter facility or a GM/Chevy facility? Maybe what I said was wrong. I had thought for years that the C stood for "Chevy" and meant the carb was produced in a Chevy facility. I'd be interested to hear more.

All the Best,

Chip

The Bay City Foundry was a Carter facility. It has been a common myth that the "C" indicated Chevrolet production. I have over 10 pieces of Carter literature, several have the note identifying the significance of the "C". In a few cases like 1933 W-1 carburetors there is a difference in the castings that is noted on the specification sheets.

In 1916 William Durant purchased the Bay City plant and in 1918 Durant added the Bay City plant to General Motors. In 1922 the manufacturing of carburetors became part of the Bay City plant.

For indentification purposes Chevrolet carburetors that were produced in the Bay City plant had a "C" cast on the body and all of the parts within the carburetor carried a Chevrolet part number, not a Carter part number. Also, the production tag on the Bay City built Chevrolet carburetors had the Chevrolet carburetor assembly part number not the Carter model number.

The float 'rubbing' only happens when the bowl is almost empty of gas and the float is at its bottom position. I have 3 floats that have wear on them at the rubbing spot. the wear spot is opposite of the hinged end (lip that closes the needle). The 'rubbing' is very faint and failure happened after 82 years of service...My phaeton (and the car that my spare carb came from) had many miles of service on rough 'washboard' gravel rods, causing the float to 'bounce' quite a bit I assume..

Pretty cool here. Sorta like Carburetor College, with a couple of great professors. Great education.

So, Mista Dog, just to get it all clear, in, say, 1925, if you ordered or ended up with a Carb from the Bay City plant, was it back then called a Carter carb or a Chevrolet carb?

Careful there, the early 1925 used the Zenith Carburetor.

A Zenith, or Carter or Holley for '25. The vast majority were Carters.

Even if they were built in Bay City they are still Carter carburetors.

The Bay City plant was owned by General Motors not Carter. However, if the carburetor was built in the Bay City plant with a "C" casting, it was a Carter carburetor manufactured by Chevrolet. The body castings with a "C" that were made in Bay City had internal parts that were stamped with the Chevrolet part numbers and the production tag had the Chevrolet part number for the complete carburetor asssembly. Carter manufactured carburetors had Carter part numbers on the internal parts and the production tag had the Carter model number as well.

I have discovered a transcript from a lawsuit.

CARTER CARBURETOR CORPORATION v. FEDERAL TRADE COM'N
112 F.2d 722 (1940)
CARTER CARBURETOR CORPORATION
v.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.
No. 434, Original.
Circuit Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

June 3, 1940.

In paragraph 3: "Carter Carburetors were standard equipment on 60% of 1937 passenger cars and trucks and on more than half of all passenger cars and trucks sold for three years prior to 1937. Respondent's carburetors were standard equipment on 1937 and 1938 models of Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, LaSalle V-8, DeSoto, Hudson, Terraplane and Reo; also Chrysler-Royal, Plymouth, DeLuxe Model, Cadillac V-16, Dodge trucks and some Studebaker cars and trucks. About 70% of the Carter Carburetors used on Chevrolets are manufactured by the Chevrolet Company in Bay City, Michigan, under license from Carter. These are Carter carburetors and the parts are interchangeable with those manufactured by the respondent. Respondent also makes and sells a number of carburetors which are designed for use in replacing carburetors of various makes and models on automobiles in use, such as the Universal, the Packard, and the Ford carburetors featured in its sales literature. Respondent sold 1,635,000 carburetors to automobile manufacturers in 1937 for use as standard equipment."

So it appears that the Bay City plant was owned in 1937 by Chevrolet and they manufactured Carter designed carburetors under a license. It can be assumed that carburetors for other years were also produced under license by Chevrolet.

Paragraph 1 of the same document contains: "Respondent, Carter Carburetor Corporation, is a Delaware corporation, organized in 1925 with factories and principal offices located at 2820-56 N. Spring Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri. It is engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling, chiefly, carburetors and carburetor parts for use in the automobile industry. It is the successor of Carter Carburetor Company, a corporation which was engaged in the same business from 1909 to 1921 when it went into bankruptcy."

Makes one to wonder if GM was involved when American Car and Foundry Company acquired Carter in 1922. Or did GM own part of ACF? Or did GM offer a contract to purchase carburetors from ACF/Carter? At that time and today the principal business of the company (which changed its name ACF Industries LLC in 2003) is rail cars. Kinda strange that they would make an investment in a business they was far outside their normal area. Also kinda strange that Chevrolet began to use Carter carburetors in 1922. I smell a rat. Was not Durant's doing as he was ousted from GM for the second time in 1920. Though it was typical of how he operated.

Quote

About 70% of the Carter Carburetors used on Chevrolets are manufactured by the Chevrolet Company in Bay City, Michigan, under license from Carter.

The document helps to confirm the information that was included in my above posting that Carter carburetors were manufactured by Chevrolet in the Bay City Michigan plant, thus the "C" embossed on the Chevrolet carburetors made in the Bay City plant.

Thanks for posting the document!

Mercy!! I'm glad my '32 has a down-draught. Is there this much to know about a '32 carb?

The discussion above also applies to your 1932 downdraft carburetor!