Carb mounting plate for 1.8 Clipper

Recently my clipper developed a whistling noise that I located (with hose to ear method) to the carb mounting plate area. I found that one of the studs was spinning when trying the quick fix of tightening the nuts that hold the carb to the inlet manifold.

After some disassembly I found a 'thread repair' that I assume was done by a previous owner or garage. Short story short - the thread in aluminium plate is damaged beyond repair and I tried a secondary bodge by filling the hole with a two part 'metal repair' putty and drilling and re-tapping.



This didn't work and realistically I probably need a new one of these - but can't seem to find on eBay or usual places. This piece goes between the inlet on the engine and what would usually be the rubber carb mount.

Would appreciate some advice on where to find - or if anybody has one they would sell?

Summer is coming and the car doesn't run so well without the carb attached to the engine Thanks

is there space underneath for a bolt head and replace the stud with a bolt?

maybe have somebody weld up the hole and then drill and retap that instead of the metal filler /putty idea…….. just a thought. or possibly drill out hole bigger and use a helicoil and then get new stud and cut to correct length. 

Had a lot on recently but finally managed to get round to tackling this. I found some aluminium brazing rod on eBay and thought I'd give it a go. It was a bargain at £3.60 - although 1 rod was only just enough. 2 would have probably been better.

I scraped out the two part putty stuff and cleaned several times with brake cleaner and scotchbrite, picks and a steel brush. According to the instructions the brazing rod is slightly forgiving but I wanted to give it the best chance I could.



I used a pair of mole grips to clamp a stanley blade to the plate to prevent the molten stuff from dribbling straight out of the hole when applying. This seemed to work pretty well.



For heat I used a rothenberger MAPP gas torch which seemed to do the job pretty well. Applied heat, poked the rod in, repeated until the rod started melting, then just sort of mushed it in. Certainly not a beautiful job but it seemed to bond / adhere to the plate pretty well. I reheated everything several times while filling the hole to make sure everything melted / settled nicely.

I did all of this on top of a sheet of 3mm thick mild steel which protected my ply workbench top fine.



Not beautiful but the blade did it's job. Cleaned up well with a flat file and some scotchbrite.



I really wanted to make sure I got the hole in the right place. Ended up putting a couple of layers of paper tape on the plate, then used a sharpie to add ink to the carb, then pressed together. I got just enough mark to eyeball and centre punch.



Used a pillar / press drill to get the hole as straight as possible. Stud has M6 thread so drilled 4mm hole then followed up with a 5mm bit.



Then I used an M6 tap to cut the thread. Again not perfect but the brazed / added material took the thread well and didn't come away from the plate.




Stud added and looking good.



Happily the carb fit on well and I later tightened everything up without issue.

Car is now running again and no horrible whistle from the carb. Would recommend the brazing rods for this kind of repair and have ordered some more to have to hand when needed.

However after a very sunny day it rained as soon as I got the car running. Typical.

Thanks all for comments and advice and happy motoring!

Nice fix! Thanks for following up with the info on how you did it.

Overnight I was thinking about the melting temperature of the brazed material (rated at 300 degrees) and if the manifold / plate will get that hot. I suppose time will tell!  

The carb plate wont' get that hot.  Nice Job, I have been using those rods for years.  It is easier than heli-arc.

My Brother re-crafted a intake manifold on one of his Corvettes.  By the time he got done, (he is a perfectionist on his rides) it looked better than the OEM one.