Hi

I'm looking for suggestions on how to persuade the top of my float bowl to come off. This is on my project bike, I have the same issue with my M20 though, but I’ve avoided dealing with that for several years. For my M21 project as the bike had been laid up for many years that’s not an option.

I was thinking of putting the float bowl in some hot water to see if that released the two parts. But I’d welcome any ideas that people have!

The carby is a little interesting, I haven’t fully stripped it yet, but it’s seems to be brass, and I can’t locate a number on it, but the main jet is 170 which I think is correct for an M21.

Photos below, including a view of the overall project.







The guy I bought it from said it had been rebuilt and then laid up many years ago, having popped the head off this appears to be true

















Cheers

Richard

email (option): dickie.bobbie@hotmail.co.uk

Hi Richard
Here in Australia there was a beast known as the "Allparts" carby & it was made of brass. Seemingly an almost identical copy of the Amal (not sure what Mr Amal had to say about that) it was sold as a replacement by a big automotive spares firm of the same name. Amal internals fit.
I assume from the email address you're in the UK so it's hard to see how one of those would be on it, though.
As for the float bowl top, has the locking nut been unscrewed?

Hi Bob

I'm going to have to learn to use another email or put "Aussie Based" somewhere in the post! I'm in Melbourne, and the bike came from SA, I'm not sure where exactly the guy I bought it from is around Salisbury Park. All is clear now, and some Googling had got a reference to Allparts along with a lot of other details of the variants of the 276 that came about.

http://velobanjogent.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/276-amal-carburettor-from-early-1930s.html

So my knowledge has increased thanks.

Yes, the locking bolt is out, on both the M21 (Salty) and my M20 (Bessie) the latter went somewhere on route to the ABR in the rain this year, but that top doesn't budge either. The reason may be different as a previous owner had used something to stick all the threads on the carby tight, I got a replacement body from Henk a few years ago to fix the more significant issues that presented.

I'll have a go at the hot water I think for the M21. Although given what I'm aiming at with the project and having re-measured the carby body and re-checked what jet should be fitted then I need to change the carby! It's definitely not a 1 1/16" diameter and the jet should be 160 for an M21. So it looks like I have another spare for my M20...



Cheers

Richard

email (option): dickie.bobbie@hotmail.co.uk

Allparts were in Adelaide Sydney and Melbourne
, also listed in their catalogue was Bentons in Melbourne.

In their war issue catalogue that I have their carbies are labeled
Diecut, they note that "Every part interchanges with Amal".

For carbies I highly recommend John Parker, who is active on the site.
Also he is local being in Ringwood.

Hi Richard, you could try and clamp the hexagon of the lid in the vice and turn the bowl, that works better than a spanner on the hexagon. And maybe some little heat from a blowlamp on the bowl it is still stuck...

Nice Original piston you have!! and nice early carb !!

Good luck! Michiel

Richard
Glad the provenance of your carb seems to be sorted.
Haven't any brilliant ideas about that float bowl top though.
Best of luck.

I can confirm it is an Allparts brass body. I purchased the Adelaide shops supply off a dealer in 1990 after they closed down.They were made from brass and sand caste that's why they appear rough on the outside. They never numbered their bodies. Some people over the years have numbered them and passed them as original Amal. Amal stopped using brass bodies in 1932 to 1933. I used to recondition Amal carbs but gave up when the new ones became available as over the years the bodies got worn out the jet blocks got bent specially on the 1 and 1/16. Guys who were good at resleeving the bodies have nearly all now passed on or are sitting at the Old peoples homes. Also the float needles would not seal unless you were lucky, spent hours sorting these. These days suppliers can supply new float seats. Plus a lot of people wanting the job done were resellers and wanted it done for next to nothing so as to increase their profit. I often saw motorbikes advertised on Ebay as carb fully reconditioned by me when I had not. I now sell new carbs from Burlen and parts from them and a couple of other UK based specialists one with initials MB who most of you know. The float bowl tops can be stuck with loctite and sometimes heat will help but often wrecked on removal. Amal did sue Allparts over the Copyright and this got sorted.

Hi John

Thanks for the details.

I put the assembly in the freezer overnight, on the basis and any contraction / expansion will help. Then clamping the hexagon in a vice and applying what felt like a heck of a lot of effort it has come undone. Pictures below. I see now how the lock-nut is intended to work, the top it split and it clamps the thread to the mating thread of the float bowl over about 1/3 of the circumference.











Are the Burlem float bowls interchangeable? I'm not sure I want to buy a whole new 276 and my project bike may end up with a MkII, and although I've got the top of this one I still need some parts. What's you contact off forum for purchase?

Cheers

Ring send you an email. John

I should've mentioned in my first post that my carby's an Allparts.
These things are a piece of history in their own right.

Hello John,
I have a pair of unmarked brass carbs that I think are type 76. I thought they were Amal but after reading your info they are probably Allparts. Anything that you can add to my scant knowledge would be brilliant.
John in Cairns.

email (option): lindaannereynolds@bigpond.com

Hi John, All Amal carbs were marked with a number, the ones fitted on to two studs were marked on the top right of the flange for example 276C/1B. All parts carbs were sand caste so are rough on the outside. They had a store in Brisbane up to the 1970's. If I go to a rally of pre war bikes about 30 per cent will have the All parts carb on them. Obviously it was cheaper to replace the carb with an Allparts than a proper Amal in Australia. I knew guys who as 13 years old worked in drilling out the main jets as a job after school and even assembling the carbs. All parts made the complete carby and all the Amal parts fitted so often you find an Allparts body with Amal parts fitted.Most Amal jetblocks were marked 30T on the base and a number like 54 on the top whereas Allparts numbered them 18MW or similar on the top. Another guy who I spoke to left Allparts and got a job stripping Merlin aircraft motors of the steel so they could sell the aluminium. He said the fence around the factory was made of crated Merlin motors new stacked two high. Another guy bought aircraft instruments at Government disposals after the war and until his death about 3 years ago was making good money selling them mainly to United States. I am told that Allparts started making the carbs before WW11 and after the war they bought some American landing barges at a great price and employed locals in new Guinea to collect the brass shells and then shipped them to Darwin and onto Adelaide to make the parts. The guy I bought the carby bodies and parts off sold the dies to a scrap yard in 1990.