Carb body cleaning methods

Hello all.

I’m totally going through the carbs on my XJ700N and doing a complete clean/overhaul. In the past, I’ve media blasted and/or used a vapor hone to clean the outside of the carbs, but I didn’t have access to them this time, so I tried something different. I first used regular carb cleaner (spray) to remove most of the heavy deposits, then I cleaned them in warm, soapy water with a toothbrush and baking soda as a mild scrubbing/polishing agent….works pretty darn good. The first photo shows two carb bodies cleaned on top, and bottom has not been cleaned in soapy water/baking soda yet. Second pic shows the nice cast aluminum look with some sheen.

I also have to say, after I removed the brass plugs over the pilot fuel screws, I checked to see what the factory settings were; #1 was 1/4 turn from seated, #2 was 2 full turns, #3 and #4 were essentially zero turns out from seated…has anyone else ever seen this? I’ve never encountered any that were basically seated, or almost seated. Also, would a good starting point be 2.5 turns out for OEM pilot sizes (stock exhaust/airbox)? I’m going to use a colortune for finalizing the mixture, but just want to be in the ballpark.

Sarge

 

2.5 turns out is the usual baseline, most end up being around 2.75 to 3 turns out when colortuned.
I can't recall ever finding idle mixture screws set to fuliy closed unless a prior owner or bad mechanic messed with them. Once upon a time the replacement anti-tamper plugs that came in the rebuild kits were brass just like the factory used, so it is possible that someone was in there before you.