VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Air Horn Gasket for a Carter W-1?

It looks like I'll be overhauling a Carter W-1 574s.
I think I have everything I need except an air horn gasket, and I can't find one anywhere.
Not one single kit I see that lists or shows the contents has it.

The only mention I can even find of it is on this very site, right here:

Re: Start Up Problems [Re: Rog40] #433774 11/03/19 07:59 AM
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carbking
Backyard Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 288
Eldon, Missouri

Thanks Dave!

Air horn gasket:

1932~1938 - not used
1939~1949 - Carter part number 20-71 (small round gasket which is fitted in the recess in the top of the cast iron bowl where the chamber of the air horn fits). This part should be in rebuilding kits.

So... does any one out there know where I can get this gasket? As above, it is Carter part number "20-71".
Barring that, does anyone know the specs for the gasket? Composition? Thickness?
It seems to me this will be important as I believe the main nozzle runs through both the main body of the carburetor and the air horn, so proper alignment will be an issue

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Is what you are talking about at 25:39?

I believe it is!!
And it isn't what I expected it to be! Feeling pretty stupid right now. :-)
And I've bookmarked that video.
So, what is it made of so I know what I'm looking for in the kit I have?

I have another question on these things I'll ask in another thread later.
It has to do with how I got to the point of needing to work on a W-1 in the first place.

Thanks!
Once again I'm a little better informed because of the VCCA.

I use a fiber gasket that I buy in bulk. Nearly anything will work including cardboard as all it should exposed to is air.

I assume it will need some compressability so as to be sure the air horn seats fully in the cast iron body?

There is available a Carter Gasket Assortment 174A (GM 608432) which was used on Carter W-1 downdraft 1 barrel carburetors used on Chevrolet 1941-1946 (Military Only) carb nos 483S, 515S, 570S, 574A. See photo attached. 20-71 (GM 838894) is listed as one of the gaskets included. Price in 1943 was $0.35 but stamped on the envelope "Add 35% to Prices Shown". Send me a PM and I will put you in touch with the seller. I don't know how much he wants for them (5 complete assortments, 1 incomplete).

Thanks, I appreciate that.
Now that I know what I'm looking for, I'll look through the kit I have to see if it's there.
If it's not, I'll PM you.

I watched the video linked to above.
I've had much of the W-1's apart but never had the main nozzle out or the air horn off. I did NOT know about that little gasket. I assumed it was a regular air horn gasket like on a quadrajet.
If I had read the rest of what Jon wrote in the thread I quoted above more closely, I would have known better.
Stupid of me.

Dealing with missing parts can be a real headache, especially when it's something as specific as an air horn gasket.

Ole, If the subject gasket was not required until 1939, that might explain why it was loose fitting in the video. The carb has a straight throttle lever, making it a 1936, or earlier.

Mike

There was not a gasket required in that locaton.

Everyone needs to migrate to the new site. This site is archive only.