Solex Carbs

[Donal]

Hi Everyone,
Just pulled my Carbs for a rebuild. I have a 1969 912 so ordered the rebulid kit from Pelican. Anyway I am now wondering are my carbs stock. It is a solex 40 PII but i think it might be from the earlier years. It has a 5 digit serial number 15272. It has a tall thin brass float chamber vent and sharp, pointed idle mixture adjustment screws. the new needle valve in the kit is a different design to the old one removed. Is it ok to repalce it ???
Is there a way to tell if its a 68-69 carb.
Thanks for any help, Happy new year.
Donal

[WFBowen]

Donal:
The later Solex carbs will have a so-called "split" throttle shaft, as opposed to a single, one-piece shaft on the earlier versions. Look for an adjustment mechanism on the throttle shaft in the middle of the carb body, between the stacks near the mounting flanges.
As far as the float needle, it's probably just a later retro-fit. Remove the old assembly, place it side by side with the new one and see if they're the same overall size. Double check the thread size on the new one.
Bill.

[WFBowen]

This might help......

[Donal]

Thanks Bill,
Looks like mine are the 65-67 years. Not sure where they got changed along the way. As a matter of interest can you use a synchrometer on solex carbs or do you need a unisyn? Thanks for your help, rebuild going well for a beginner. Satisfying work but not lokking forward to gettin the right carb back on. its tight back there.
Cheers
Donal

[WFBowen]

Donal:
The synchrometer's fine for solex carbs as long as you can get a tight fit over the throat. After decades of using a uni-syn, I'm sold on the synchrometer. It gives a nice, steady reading without choking down the motor.
Good luck,
Bill.

[Greg Greer]

Same topic, new question: Did the needle valve change between the solid shafts and the split shafts? I've got solid-shaft carbs, but a couple of new needle valves from the Royze kits for the split shafts. Anyone know if the needle valves are interchangeable? The part # stamped on the bags is 31-216 10E2. I've also come across a couple of others in my spare parts, they aren't completely identical to the ones I took off the carbs, but may be close enough. The only identifying mark on them is a stamp on the head that (I believe) reads 2.C (the C may be a 0 or even a G). I seem to remember ordering them from Tweeks back in the day, but that was before I realized that there was a difference in carbs to watch for.