The Hodaka Club Forum

After working on my 73 Dirt Squirt carb, the float bowl gasket started leaking badly. Looks like the original gasket, hard as a rock. So I cut a gasket from Fel-Pro 1/32 gasket material, and it leaked even worse. So I took a block of aluminum and sanded it completely flat on a granite slab. Then I drilled a hole in the aluminum block so that I could stick the overflow tube of the bowl into it and sand the bowl gasket surface completely flat. Got it completely flat, the "ears" were very slightly tipped up from tightening/overtightening. Then, without a gasket, I stuck the float bowl in place on the carb, and guess what? It rocked back and forth, so the carb body itself at the gasket surface isn't completely flat. So, I cut a gasket from some 1/16 thick cork sheet which is way more compliant than fiber gasket material. Went on a decent ride with lots of shaking and bouncing, and no leaks. I soaked some of the cork in gas a couple of days first to make sure it wasn't affected. No swelling or deterioration. I should mention I run av-gas, so not sure about ethanol's effect on it. Anyhow, hope this might help someone along the way.