VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1927 RXO Carter Carburetor Settings

Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum. My Son and I have purchased a 1927 Chevrolet Landau Sedan as a father Son project car. We are both handy, but not vintage car savy, so could use some advice.

We are currently stumped on the correct settings for our RXO Carter carburetor. The car starts up right away, but doesn't want to idle and has the occasional backfire through the carb. I am thinking it is either the timing or the carb is running lean. We have taken the carb off and cleaned it thoroughly, but still having the same issue.

The manual indicates there is only one setting on the RXO carb (the idle adjusting screw), but strangely our RXO has a second set screw at the back of the carb. The manual has no mention of this set screw, but the carb is clearly stamped CARTER RXO.

Here are some pictures of the carburetor.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103109...letLandau?authuser=0&feat=directlink

If someone could let us know the proper settings for this carb and the mystery set screw, we would really appreciate it.

Thanks - Chuck

Your diagnoses is correct with the either/or.

Experiment with the adjustment screw on the carb. Screw it all the way in then back it out about 1 turn and see how the engine runs. When warmed up with engine running place the screw at the best idle.

Now for the timing. When you move the lever on the steering column from retard to advance, does the engine react? Again, set the lever for best idle. If this setting is against either the retard or advance, loosen the distributor and rotate to the best idle with the lever on advance.

Move the lever to retard and the engine should reduce the RPMs.

You may have located the problem as the idle circuit and professional help may be needed for the carb.

You have a dual adjustment RX-0. It is a model 6s versus the single adjustment 4s. They are fairly rare and supplied for high altitude and tropical climates. The adjustment suggestion given by Antique Mechanic is a good place to start. The adjustment on the back adjusts the high speed mixture. The other idle.

Chipper and AntiqueMechanic: Thanks very much for this information. We'll give this a try and let you know how we make out. Thanks again for the assistance.

My Son and I finally had time to work on the car today, and we adjusted the idle screw and carb as you both had suggested and the car ran much better and idled well without stalling or back firing as it had been. We also adjusted the high speed adjustment and found that it was also part of our problem.

Our rad has a leak, and as such, we don't want to run the engine too long, given it doesn't have proper cooling at this point, so we'll have the rad repaired and then we'll do a more fine adjustment with the engine up to temperature. We'll also check and adjust the timing at that point too.

It was a real thrill for us to get 'er running well today, and we want to thank you both very much for your excellent advice and assistance. We'll likely have a few more questions as we progress, and it's great to know there are guys like you out there to lend some guidance and advice. Cheers !

Chuck,
You should think about bringing the car to the Northwest Meet in August. It'll be held in Federal Way, just south of Seattle. While there, you'll get enough Free Advice to last you for another year!!!

Keep checking HERE for the full information to be posted.

--Bill Barker