Holley 1850 fuel transfer tube seals??

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mopar56

mopar56

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When rebuilding a holley 600cfm 1850 and replacing the fuel transfer tube seals the holley kit comes with o-rings and seals, what is better o-rings or the seals? Or dose it matter?

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I like the seals. Much more positive seal.
 
I've rebuilt literally hundreds of 1850's, never had a problem with the O rings...
But there's a trick to installing them..... Don't push them fully on the tube or seat them fully in the cavity... Just barely start them on the tube then insert the tube into the cavity.... That way the O ring rolls due to contact on the inside & outside... If you just fully seat the O ring they often get pinched & leak...
 
Ok, I didn't actually see the seals or know what they were for until I was searching the net after, I had only noticed the o rings and used them, I did roll them down the tube but I used some soapy water so they wouldn't pinch, I suppose I could pre fill the bowls with fuel thru the vent tube then tilt the carb back and forth to look for leaks? Failing that, remove and install the other seals.
 
mopar56 said:
Ok, I didn't actually see the seals or know what they were for until I was searching the net after, I had only noticed the o rings and used them, I did roll them down the tube but I used some soapy water so they wouldn't pinch, I suppose I could pre fill the bowls with fuel thru the vent tube then tilt the carb back and forth to look for leaks? Failing that, remove and install the other seals.
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Filling the carb doesn't do much... They are on the pressurized part of the fuel system, outside the float bowls..
 
The last time I had one apart of rings were the only thing available.
 
I use spit to lube them up. Always readily available. lol
 
mopar56 said:
Well I think I'll just leave in the o-rings, and see how it goes, worst case I change em out! Confidence is high! Lol
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They worked well for a really long time.
 
Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I thought I would give a little update of how things went this summer and I have a question. So first the Holley was a epic FAIL! Lol, as soon as I started the truck ( my 56 Dodge with 318 ) it started running poorly which I discovered was due to flooding, I tried adjusting the floats and watching for fuel to come out the side bowl screws, it eventually diluted the oil with fuel badly and being as I just wanted to drive this old truck for the first time in the 40 years it had been off the road I just said f@#k it, ripped it off and put on the Eddy carb that I new worked and changed the oil. Anyway summers over, the truck is tucked away in the garage for the winter and I thought now I have a little time I'd take another look at the Holley. I pulled off both the bowls and inspected the float levels, if I'm correct when you invert the bowl the float should sit leval, one was not the other was close so I adjusted them. I could not see anything else that looked out of wack. Maybe one of the floats was just hung up the first time I installed it? Looking back i wish I had thought to tap the bowls with a screw driver but I didn't. So with that said I'm am re-installing the bowls and noticed one of the transfer tube o-rings was pinched/damaged so I thought maybe this time I'll use the tube seals that look like the ones in the photo in the start of this post but assuming that the lip of the seal goes toward the lip on the end of the transfer tube I can not get the tube to seat in the bowls deep enough to tighten the screws and seat the bowls almost like I'd need a shorter transfer tube? What am I missing here? I'm going to tag Rob here because he said in my original post the he preferred the seals over the orings but anyone feel free to answer. @RustyRatRod .
 
The lip on the seals goes to the OUTSIDE of the holes in the float bowls. Is that what you were asking? The tubes are no different in length.
 
It is yes, so do you install the seals on the tube and push in or install in the bowls first? If i put on the tube first then they bulge out and don't want to go in the holes in the bowl, if I put them in the bowls first the tube dosnt want to go in even with dishsoap as lube they seem very tight?
 
BTW, i went to a local auto parts store today to get some new o rings which they didn't have, they did have the seals though....32 bucks!! Fortunately i still have the two new ones from the kit i never used but being how expensive they are i don't want to damage them!
 
I had no idea that they had transfer tube seals. I only remember the o-rings and lubed them with vaseline... no leaks, but that was about 25 years ago.
 
mopar56 said:
It is yes, so do you install the seals on the tube and push in or install in the bowls first? If i put on the tube first then they bulge out and don't want to go in the holes in the bowl, if I put them in the bowls first the tube dosnt want to go in even with dishsoap as lube they seem very tight?
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I put them on the tube first, LUBE them with some penetrating oil and they go right in.
 
I did this 2 days ago when I put my Holley back on and changed the jets while I was there.
They are a tight fit for sure. I used a smear of clean engine oil and the tube pushed in just fine.
I had the tube seated in the rear bowl and then seated the seal in the front bowl and carefully slid it in, making sure it didn't try to push the seal in and distort it.

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Ok, maybe the dishsoap wasn't enough? I'll try a bit of three in one oil tomorrow i attached a few photos for clarity of how I have them orientated but I'll insert on the tube then in the bowls.

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