Should I get my original carter carb back?

[Biggredd2069]

So I briefly mentioned this in an unrelated thread but I got my 68 Chrysler newport 383 factory 4 barrel this last fall. Been doing winter projects on it. Ran generally good except for when I was at a complete stop and tried to floor it. It would sputter and potentially die. So I took it to a mechanic that came recommended by the facebook cruisers page for my city. I knew I had an intake manifold gasket blown and needed my carb rebuilt. When I took it there the guy told me this was a great carburator and sought after and was def worth rebuilding and keeping. Said he would use this over an edelbrock. Well I spent the money and wouldn't you know as soon as I left and made it to a side street to test out it did the exact same thing. So a week later I took it back, and isn't convenient for me to get to this place either, and had them look at it again. They ended up swapping out my carb with an edelbrock with electric choke and said they wouldn't charge me. When I got there the guy said it looked like some spring was missing in the secondary on my carb. Glad they fixed it right the first time. Kinda angry about that. Well the car is running a lot better and I left. Well I called them back saying what about my original carburetor. They never asked my permission to swap this out and are acting like they did me a favor. They said the new edelbrock is worth a hundred bucks more than the old one so they want a hundred bucks if I want my old carter back. Should I bother with trying to get it back or in the long run would it not even matter?

 

[polara71]

Get the old one back. I prefer original stuff, so do others. They will benefit from your ignorance .

 

[Davea Lux]

Generally speaking, if the rest of the car is original, it is worth more with the factory carb. In many cases it will also run better as the factory carb is calibrated for you engine. You can get the Edelbrock there, as in calibrated, it just takes some work. I would spend the hundred bucks and put the factory carb in a safe place.

Dave

 

[Imperialist67]

Nothing like the original Carters in those - both my '67's have the original carbs, and I wouldn't replace either of them.........

 

[rags]

that carburetor is actually your property and the repairer has no right to withhold it from you.

 

[LocuMob]

A part came off your car, you paid them to repair the issue, they determined it was better (for whatever reason) that they would put an aftermarket parts back on. You paid for the repair, they aren't out any money, and they want you to pay an additional hundred dollars? I'd be raising hell that they would refuse to give me what was mine, off my car, without extra money being handed over. Unless they gave you a free carburetor, (I'd demand to see a receipt), hell, even if they give you a free carb, the old one was yours, not theirs, and they have no right asking for anything more than what was in the invoice. That's theft, they are taking your property and demanding money for it. Considering they don't have a core charge to pay, there is no cost to them. And any other part they replace on other vehicles ends up in the trash, they should have said the old one is in the trunk, in case you wanted it. Sounds like they were going to keep it for themselves, or sell it. Got any cop friends? I bet they'd give it to you no charge if you showed up with an officer. This is well I only trust one or two people to touch my cars. I hope you get it back, for free, and find a better shop. Live and learn, I guess.

 

[Biggredd2069]

All good advise. I do want it back. I will write them a letter. I'm not really happy with the other service I received other than they got my intake manifold gasket on which I really didn't want to do. But I paid around $700 bucks for the gasket, extra antifreeze, carb rebuild, extra parts, etc. Thought I was in good hands and worth the money. I'll be getting it back. Thanks guys!

 

[LocuMob]

Forget the letter, go down there and raise hell. They'll laugh at a piece of paper.

 

[rags]

if they're going to get a letter it should be served by an officer of the court, otherwise it's waste of effort. unfortunately, now that the deal is done, the legalities of getting your property back are complicated. in ct, without a signed repair order, a repairer can't legally charge for a repair. but once you've paid and taken your vehicle any actions regarding the repair, unless mutually agreed to by the parties, become a matter for the courts. good luck...

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Not only do I have a factory carburetor on my Barracuda I have thee factory carburetor that it left the factory with.


Alan

 

[CBODY67]

The "letter" can be a "marker" of sorts to imply your displeasure with their work. Unless there is a box on the bottom of the repair order, or verbiage to the effect that "all removed partrs will be retuned to the vehicle owner upon request", then unless you specifically state that to the shop owner/representative and it's written on the repair order, then it's now always "yours" after you accepted the vehicle and paid for the repair.

The fact their "tune" changed after you returned with the "no change in how it performs" issue, then they "no charge" swapped it for the other carb (which you were happy with), might tend to imply that their repair was substandard or the carb rebuild did not fix something that couldn't be fixed (due to wear, etc.).

If he offered you your old carb for $100.00, that might cover some of the labor they performed "for free" initially. Return to the shop and tell them you want to get your old carb for the amount of money he spoke of. Might see if he'd take a bit less, just for general principles. If not, pay the money, get the carb, look it over, and leave.

LESSON IS, in the end, you need to do as much work on YOUR car as you can. It's not rocket science (although Chrysler did build Redstone Rockets that powered the earlier USA Space Program). Get the FSM, read the many Chrysler MasterTech deals at www.MyMopar.com or on the OnlineImperialClub.com website. As the car gets older and fewer shops know how to work on them, this will be come much more important!

Start making your SantaClaus Christmas lists now! No need to jump off into engine rebuilding or such, but normal parts replacements or "tune-up" things, for example. Expand your knowleged and capabilities as possible. There might be a "learning curve" or two, but nothing that probably can't be taken care of. IF you might need some help, do ask!

CBODY67

 

[Wonderwagon]

Be sure to update the local Facebook page as well, perhaps this could be used as leverage

 

[Big_John]

Screw it... The car's running and leave it at that. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business with a bad shop and walk away. I wouldn't give them $100 for the old carb. It's not right anyway...

If you want a carb that "correct" for your car, get one from @Dana that's all set to go and sell the Edelbrock carb. I wouldn't bother if it was me. Go drive the car and have some fun. It's running right now.

@CBODY67 is right though, these cars really don't lend themselves to be worked on at the local garage.

 

[Biggredd2069]

Big John. Good point. I'm still torn. The old carb will likely be sitting in a box for the foreseeable future. I'm sure I could get a rebuilt oem Carter somewhere for not much more that for sure works. But there is the principal of it being true to that car. And I have been doing a lot to my car in my own. Just did new valve gaskets and painted it.

 

[Biggredd2069]

From 2 days ago

 

[CBODY67]

Big John. Good point. I'm still torn. The old carb will likely be sitting in a box for the foreseeable future. I'm sure I could get a rebuilt oem Carter somewhere for not much more that for sure works. But there is the principal of it being true to that car. And I have been doing a lot to my car in my own. Just did new valve gaskets and painted it.

If you want the old carb, then go take him up on his offer. How do you know that some "generic" rebuilt Carter carb will be any better than what the OEM was with a new kit in it? It could be worse! Plus, in many mass rebuilding operations, you might get the correct jetting and such (as the orig carb has) and you might not. In that realm of things, it's considered "will fit and work" rather than "factory-spec replacement". So, if you want the orig carb. go pay for it, y'all remain friends, and go on down the road. You MIGHT need them to do something else later on.

Then you can send it to Dana, at some time in the future. And you won't have a "dead car" while that happens.

IF you want to do the "letters" and such, you'll also need a lawyer involved, typically. More $$$$. Besides, you can put judgments on the shop "forever", with no results. You might seek to "educate" others, but will it really fix anything?? Usually not! And if he closes the shop and then re-opens "under new management", you've not really accomplished anything. Other than your angst and ill feelings.

So, if you want the carb, show up and tell him you want to take him up on that offer he made for you to buy it. Ask if he might take a few $$ less, pay for the carb, remain friends, and get on with life. Enjoy driving the car as it is. This is minor stuff.

A friend in another forum did his due diligence, found an "old mechanic" in town, paid over $3K for an engine rebuild on his grandfather's '56 Buick Century. It smoked from day one, used/leaked oil, and ran crappy. He figured it was "an old car and they were like that". When he finally got fed up with it and tore into it, he found lots of flaky stuff! In the mean time, the guy retired and closed the shop. Any "warranty" had ended, one way or another. When he went into small claims court, the mechanic wanted to know why he hadn't said something sooner? He found another machine shop in another town to rebuild another engine he bought. The new guy wrote up what was wrong with the first rebuild, as evidence of an "expert witness" of sorts.

When the court date happened, our guy was primed and loaded. He came off as "the kid", as the prior shop owner was the "experienced one". End result, "the kid" got his "day in court" with NO changes in his situation. An education in itself.

To me, the best way out is to pay the guy for the old carb, take possession of it, and get on with your life. Then you can figure out what to do with the orig carb later on. And y'all remain friends, rather than enemies.

CBODY67

 

[Biggredd2069]

Words of wisdom. Thanks !

 

[The Goose]

I feel your pain bud. Let me put it this way. I don’t rebuild carbs for anyone anymore. My warranty dept sucks and I don’t offer roadside assistance. That being said once I help a friend (I even started taking nothing in return for my help) I was still obligated to help if the car acted up. Old carbs die, warp (leak), floats stick etc, so it’s really a messy can of worms for us helpers if you can’t rebuild and tune your own carb.

Now I tell my less than do it yourself car friends to treat old carbs like old tires. If it’s worn out replace it and get it tuned. Not at some shade tree old school shop like you’d think would work but at a dyno shop. They’ll tune your carb set your timing etc etc and for the high initial cost it’s cheaper in the long run. We did this for my buddy’s big block chevelle. It ran 14’s had no power you had to drive it with both feet and every time I came by to hang out I wound up half assing it so it would at least idle. Long story short he finally took it to the local dyno shop. Now it breaks the tires loose at 40 mph and runs low 13’s. I’m not saying you’ll have the same results but if everything is new and in good working order they’ll get you where you need to be, at idle, off idle and WOT.

The shop wants the money cause they figure parts and labor into your carb $300 vs new edlebrock to you $400. So they figure they can sell your old carb to you or a stranger and break even. Crappy deal but it makes sense. Pay them the $100, get your carb back sock it away and move on.

My last suggestion would be to take an auto shop class at the local JC. Let the teacher know up front you got an old car you’re willing to be a guinea pig and also let him know what you’d like to learn. If he’s as cool as the one at our JC he’ll show you valve lash, setting points timing dwell meter etc etc. Just my two cents. It sucks to have to have somebody else work on your stuff. My kryptonite is automatic transmission repair. I’ve rebuilt 4speeds but I know I’ll never mess with autos. Never ever.
Ever.

Thanks ed

 

[78Brougham]

If he put a new Edelbrock on it there is no core charge. I bought two of them for my cars. No core charge. Summit doesn't want your stinky old carb.
He's full of it and just trying to squeeze another hundo out of you. March in there, tell him you want your carb back and if he chirps, tell him hell be hearing from your lawyer and everyone on Facebook that'll listen.

 

[Ripinator]

If he put a new Edelbrock on it there is no core charge. I bought two of them for my cars. No core charge. Summit doesn't want your stinky old carb.
He's full of it and just trying to squeeze another hundo out of you. March in there, tell him you want your carb back and if he chirps, tell him hell be hearing from your lawyer and everyone on Facebook that'll listen.

There is something here I'm not understanding: Bigredd, did you pay for the new Edelbrock carb, or did the shop furnish it, so as to fix the problem you had with the old carb ? If you paid for the new carb, they should give you back your old one without charge. If the new carb was furnished by them, then its fair to pay them the C-Note for the old carb.