Schebler Carburetor Model H, Cork Bowl Washer

[talbot-2]

Does anyone know where I might find a source for a "cork bowl washer" for a Model H, Schebler Carburetor? The inside diameter is 9/16ths.

[rwm]

i m always full of bad info but ill bet you need to make one your self

[exeric]

This is one of the handiest tools I've bought. Unfortunately it doesn't have a 9/16 punch. I've made my own gasket punches from pipe by boring the I.D. to the O.D. I want for the gasket. Then turning a beveled edge and striking it on the end grain of a wood block. You can heat treat it and get more life from the punch but I never saw the point in that. They're good for 4-5 hits. The Vellumoid is great stuff if you can find it.

[T. Cotten]

Les!

Sorry I could not reply to your direct personal message, but this site's format is uncompatible with my obsolete browser.

As the others suggested, I made a punch to produce them, using a hardened wristpin and Portuguese cork. But please understand, my business is not mailorder retailing; It is strictly a service shop, so I only offer them with associated services.

The best source of quality replacement parts for H models is FickauPrototypes@cs.com, however I do not believe has gotten to gaskets and seals for the smaller Hs yet.
You will need the external nut seal as well.

Happy to help if I can:
Liberty@npoint.net.

....Cotten
Liberty Motorcycle Specialties, Inc.
118 N. Washington Street
Lacon, IL 61540 USA

[exeric]

I just checked a wine cork, and the o.d. of the cork fit the counterbore of the bowl perfectly. Cutting the i.d. may be more of a challenge. I'm not a wine drinker but I have heard that quality wines have corks with minimal flaws. Even if it doesn't work, you'll have fun gathering the material you'll need. F.Y.I. I've used the Vellumoid on all of my model H carbs and never had a leak.

[Robert Luland]

"Weird" I just had this conversation a few weeks back. I have five different parts break downs for H carbs and not one of them shows a bowl gasket. Common sense tells me that if ya didn't have one, gas would be sloshing all over the place. I remember when I was ten years old. I bought a BSA 250 Star-Fire single lunger. I had no way of getting parts for the thing, I was ten, stupid and broke. I made a bowl gasket for the Amel out of a wax coated milk carton which didn't leak a drop for seven years when it was sold. Bob L

[harleytoprock]

I've used a o-ring. Seemed to work ok.

[T. Cotten]

Robert and All!

Although we all know applying a gasket, (or sealer, if we trust it with modern digestive fuels), everywhere appropriate is prudent.
The '28 Service Station Manual only specs the same seal for the bowl cap as well as for the bowlstem, although the cap gasket is too thin for the stem, and the geometry is worse if a bowl gasket is used.

(Mr. Fickau produces the cap cork, and 3/4" & /1" bowl top cork gaskets. Like NOS originals, they are quite thin...)

Just like sidevalve Linkerts for Indians and H-Ds', absence of a top bowl gasket suggests it was an annoyance.
Today, its absence is an annoyance to modern riders.
There is a Historical perspective in there somewhere.

We must presume Schebler meant only the internal seal in its manual.
The external 'fiber' seal, as is almost always found in situ, is not pictured at all.
And we all know that is the critical seal.

(The rest of the H is much, much more problematical than its seals!)

...Cotten

[c.o.]

I'm glad you brought this up Les as I will have a need for the info as well. There's a Model H sitting on the bench waiting for attention...

[talbot-2]

Thanks to everyone with their suggestions. I was hoping to not have to re-invent the wheel when it comes to finding a "cork bowl gasket". The "vellumoid" option does sound interesting as does the "wine bottle cork" option. The "wax coated milk carton" option also may be a solution.

I have two (2) original Schebler Carburetor brochures, one (1) from 1912 and the second (2nd) from 1914. They were part of the original paper work when one purchased a 1912 and a 1914 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Both brochures have exploded diagrams of the Model H Schebler carburetor and both diagrams have a part identified as a "cork gasket for bowl" with an arrow pointing to the gasket between the bowl and the float chamber throat. The 1912 brochure was part of the original paper work that came with my 1912 H-D, single, battery ignition, when it was new in 1912.

For the past forty-five (45) years I have used rubber O-rings on the Model H Schebler on my 1912 H-D, but with todays fuel they seem to leak after a few years. Came home last week only to find the current O-ring had sprung a leak and the garage was filled with gas fumes. Fortunately, the oil pan on the floor caught all of the gas. I guess it's now called a "gas pan".

Any other suggestions would be welcome additions to those provided by your replies.

[silentgreyfello]

I bought some inexpensive leather punches at Harbor freight a few years ago. Works like a champ on cork. Punch the larger diameter first, then the smaller one so that you can center it.

[rwm]

a little hyjack about cork in wine bottles. soon you wont see a full size cork in the bottle it has been a feared fact of wine makes that cork is vanishing in the world today.in the very near future you will find a 1mm cork lamination on a fiber or plastic plug.

[exeric]

a little hyjack about cork in wine bottles. soon you wont see a full size cork in the bottle it has been a feared fact of wine makes that cork is vanishing in the world today.in the very near future you will find a 1mm cork lamination on a fiber or plastic plug.

I'm glad I saved the corks from my wife's wine bottles. I'm also glad she doesn't like wine in a box.

''

[T. Cotten]

Folks,

I use "natural" cork gaskets only because they are authentic; They are hardly adequate to the task.
Rubberized cork gaskets are an improvement, but only until modern fuels swell them.

....Cotten