VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Tilloston Carburetor

Did Chevs of this era ever use Tilloston Carbs? Friend is selling a varied collection of parts, and has an NOS Tilloston, updraft if I recall and box is marked for use on Chevys

I ran my 30 Chevy on a Tillotson JR5A for a while a few years ago and it ran fine. The number is on the side of the bowl.

The correct carburetor for the 1929-31 Chevrolets is a Carter updraft carburetor. The Tillotson carburetor is an aftermarket replacement and due to a lack of repair kits and parts you may want to pass on the Tillotson carburetor.

If the Tillotson is truly a NOS then it probably will be okay. Several people run them and claim they run well. I only use the original Carters on my '31s. Run great for me.

I had a 31 engine with a Tillotson carb and it ran fine. Can't speak about the parts availability situation as I only had the engine a couple of years and didn't need to do any repairs to the carb.

Carter updrafts are by far the most troublesome and unreliable part of a 1929-31 Chevrolet. See how many of them had to be replaced.

When I bought my '31 Coach it came with a modified downdraft setup which was not completed. I converted back to updraft using a Tillotson JR5A which came with the car in a parts box. It worked great right off the mark. A few months later I bought a NOS Tillotson JR5A on eBay for $45, including an instruction booklet! I now have it installed on the car and it works perfectly. I also use the original Chevrolet air cleaner. While I will plan to seek out a proper Carter at some point, the typical $450 price tag for a good one is not in my budget right now.

And that's not just my opinion, that is what I was told by folks who worked on these cars in the 1930s. A Carter updraft is a relic that will only stop making trouble if removed and replaced by a W 1. I have no problem with a modification like that because it can easily be converted back to original, and because my Chevrolets will not be judged in VCCA.

Dave,
I have run Carter RJH-08 carburetors for the past 40+ years on my '31 Chevys. Not to say I never had a problem as crud in the gas, gum/varnish particularly now are a problem or soon will be for any carburetor. The have given me great service and respectable gas mileage. I have rebuilt over 100 of them in the past 10 or so years.

I have also rebuilt a bunch of W-1 carburetors and dare say they are not much of an improvement over the RJH-08. Sometimes I believe they are a step back. I have a few that have proved to be a BIG challenge to get to run well. I couple I am still working on to try to understand why they don't run well. I have also rebuilt several '32 W-1s and have reports that they run well. Had one on my '32 Roadster Pickup until I sold it and it ran well also. Have been told by many experts that you can't make a '32 W-1 run well. Guess I just don't believe them based on my experience. Then there is the gas percolation and leakage past the throttle shaft issues with the W-1s. Guess each of us has its favorites. I prefer blonds to red-heads in most cases. That does not mean that a few freckles are not sexy.

Now if I had a dynamometer so I could check the engine horsepower and torque and a calibrated fuel source to check gas mileage at constant load, I could give a more scientific based report on the carburetors. I do have a few replacement updraft carburetors so will have to run one or two of them to see if I can tell the difference. Won't be scientific but best I can do.

Regarding the 1929-31 Chevrolet carburetors, I will take a Carter 150-S over a Tillotson any day. The Carter is a great little carburetor.....it is also a simple carburetor and just about any part for the carburetor is available.

Yes, the vehicle can be converted to a W1 but the manifolds have to be changed along with the routing of the fuel line. The accelerator rod hookup has be be converted as well, and it's not worth the effort since the W1 is not that much of an improvement over the Carter updraft.

While I am very picky on what carburetor I would use on a 1929-31 Chevy, on the blond or red-head issue....I would take either one!

I thought Dawg's were always color blind, used their noses to check out the fairer sex!

Chipper, No doubt you remember when my Cabriolet stopped running in downtown Springerville. We both assumed the carburetor was the problem and changing the needle valve didn't fix it. Every time the engine got up to operating temperature, it would stop running because the ignition points were not closing, the moving part of the contacts was too tight on its peg until it was allowed to cool. The engine ran perfectly after the points were replaced. The only other time I had that problem the temperature was 5 below zero.

I can remember that. Seems it was your last tour. Need to go on a few more so we can fix something else. You missed a great one in Durango. Had three VCCA members from Alb. that drove their cars up there and back.

My last tour was in the Alfa spider. Weber carburetors, electronic ignition, no trouble.