Detached Carb Float

[sabre1]

Just curious about why we remove the carb float from the inlet needle actuation arm. This has been done for over 25 years that I am aware of, and now I'm curious as to why. It would seem that the plastic float would be more stable if it was attached. I know that the REALLY OLD brass floats weren't attached, but they were a lot bigger than the plastic ones. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

-Jim

[FV80]

Jim,
I THINK that the reason is ... we pull a *LOT* more G load than the Germans ever imagined possible in the Beetle. If the float is attached to the arm, it has a higher likelihood of getting LOCKED into some position under cornering loads. If it isn't actually ATTACHED, then when the car goes neutral, the arm and float can restabilize without staying locked (most of the time anyway ).

Steve

[SR Racing]

Steve is correct. An attached float will bind and or not maintain the correct fuel levels in a hard G corner. Typically the float (plastic ones) are counter balanced so that they actually float upside down and at the heavier weight they don't bounce around as much. (They are flipped because the bottom has a curvature that still operates the float lever better even when in a +45 deg angle (1 G corner). The brass floats are normally left as is.)

[sabre1]

Thank you to Steve and Jim for your replies. This was my presumption, but I was still interested in hearing from others.
Interesting though that I have seen the steel washer glued to the bottom of the float so you are still using the float in its original orientation. I have also seen two floats glued together which may provide a more stable (from tilting sideways and getting stuck) installation.

-Jim

[SR Racing]

Over the years I have seen them modified in a dozen different ways. One even had 1/2 of a table tennis ball epoxied to it.

Whatever works...