<VV> Re: Olds Jetfire carb

[Phil Brandt]

The comments re the Rochester RC sidedraft used on '62-'63 Jetfires are on 
the mark. I know because I bought three Jetfire turbo/carb rigs from a 
junkyard in Las Vegas circa 1975 and long ago replaced my '62 Spyder carb 
(164 engine w/early turbo) with the bigger venturi RC unit. I merely sawed 
off the RC mounting flange, rotated it appropriately to match the turbo 
impeller housing studs, and had the thing heli-arced together.   Beside 
having a larger cross-section, another advantage of the RC carb is that it 
is already plumbed for water injection. At first I tried to use the stock 
Jetfire water-alcohol, anti-detonation rig, but it was impossible to get the 
metering pump to work correctly because the diaphragms were always failing. 
Stock Olds replacements were, of course, unavailable, so I tried to 
manufacture my own, with only so-so results.  Finally I jettisoned the whole 
Olds water-alcohol injection rig and simply rigged an aftermarket Edelbrock 
water injection system to work through the already-plumbed RC carb. Worked 
great! I was indicating 120 on Airbase Road at Mountain Home, ID, and, with 
the front airload, the little convert felt like it wanted to get airborne. I 
still use the RC carb on my zero-time '66 block, 140 headed, turbo engine 
which is about to go into a '63 Spyder convert.

Phil Brandt
Austin, TX
CORSA member since '71