Carburetor floats - removing stuck pins

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

Created: 2016 August 29

Updated: 2016 August 29

The carburetor floats rotate on a pin, or spindle. Sometimes this pin will be stuck and can be quite difficult to remove.

Thanks to Patrick Hayes for posting the following information on the old Yahoo! Loopframe_Guzzi news group (which has now moved to Groups.io). In Patrick's own words:

I had one like that once. The trick is going to be the amount of exposed spindle shaft on the inside if the casting. You don't have much free space there. I had a little more. I was able to use small diagonal cutters and grasp the spindle between the brass of the float and the casting of the perch. Tap the diagonal cutters laterally and you can move the spindle outward a few thousandths at a time. Repeat and go slowly.

If all else fails, don't destroy the float. Instead use some narrow pliers to grasp the brass and pinch it against the spindle. Again, rap with a hammer to very gradually and repeatedly move the spindle out far enough to grab the tip. Once you have it out, you can use a suitably sized drill bit to hammer into and through the brass pivot away from the carb. You may need to gently hammer on it with the drill shank inside to help restore the correct internal dimension and circularity after pinching or crimping it.

When you reinstall the spindle, there is no need to hammer it in deep. It can't back out because it would hit the inside wall of the float bowl.