Carbs

Came across some carb ifo on a site, I currently have an edlebrock street carb on my 73 skier, also a street distributor.{bought the boat that way, 3 weeks ago} In the process of finding the original equipment to go back on the original m273. If anyone knows what I need I would appreciate it.

Richard


From Holley Marine Performance Products
Marine carburetors have certain modifications that make them uniquely adaptable and legal for marine usage. "Legal" meaning that it has the ability to pass the U.S. Coast Guard test for marine carburetors. Folks, I'm not talking about Paris Island here, either. The main qualification that a marine carburetor must meet (as set down by the U.S. Coast Guard) is that if the carburetor should "flood" only .5cc of fuel is allowed to escape in a period of 30 seconds. There's also a "backfire" test which confirms the ability of carburetor/flame arrestor combination
to contain the backfire. For this reason a gasket is not used between the carburetor airhorn flange and the flame arrestor. It's possible that this gasket could become saturated with fuel (if the carburetor should flood) and become a potential fire source as a result.

The primary areas of a carburetor that require some sort of modification to meet these requirements include the fuel bowl vent tubes and throttle shafts. The vent tubes of a marine carburetor are bent inwards so that the tube looks like an inverted "J". These tubes oftentimes are referred to as "J" tubes, as a result. The reason for bending the tubes inward is that if flooding should occur, the fuel that would normally come out of the fuel bowl vent tube is rerouted back into the carburetor.

Throttle shafts also get special machining attention. Shafts are "grooved" and "slabbed" to prevent fuel from exiting out the throttle shaft if flooding should occur. When a carburetor floods fuel will end up "puddling" on the throttle plates. A non-marine carburetor will allow this fuel to seep out of the throttle shaft ends and onto the manifold. This is not allowed on a marine carburetor because normally the engine is situated in an enclosed bilge where potentially deadly gasoline fuel fumes can accumulate. Throttle shafts that are "grooved" and "slabbed" channel the flooded fuel safely down into the intake manifold. With no raw fuel allowed to puddle on the manifold outside the carburetor, there is no chance of deadly fuel fumes to accumulate in the bilge and no chance of explosion or fire. For these reasons an automotive carburetor should NEVER be used in a marine application.

Cant do enough for the safety of your family in these old boats.
Can you emagine if someone you loved got hurt or killed, and you were at fault, or could have prevented it.

Tim, I don't know where to find out when marine started to be used, but the fuel pump was marine on mine and it looked original. By the way, when I replaced it I went to NAPA with the number stamped on the old one and they had an exact replacement marine part for half the price that the local marine store wanted.