NEW July 2023: We are now able to offer these copper floats - to fit original Amal carburettors fitted with the Type 14 Float chamber - this include roadgoing Amal Type 76, 276 and 289 carburettors and competition Amal TT and RN carburettors. These floats are manufactured in the same style as original Amal floats - with two spun copper halfs, soldered in the middle - and a brass tube running through the centre of a float, with a 'press spring' at the top. See detail listing for more information.
Price is Each
Carb Type Fitted To:
These floats are intended for 'Type 14' Amal Float Chambers - i.e. carburettors with seperate float chambers - pre-Monobloc. For roadgoing models - Type 14 floatchambers were fitted to a variety of Amal carburettors - but predominantly Type 76, Type 276 and Type 289 carburettors (as fitted to most roadgoing Norton OHV and SV models from the 1930's through to the mid 1950's, as well as many other marques)
The same style of float were also fitted to most Amal TT and Amal RN competition carburettors, as well as Type 29 Track carbs. Earlier Amal TT/RN carbs (normally pre-war) used a brass bodied float chamber - with the smaller Type 14 needle, also used on road going floats (our Item 0161), while later competition models used the alloy floatchamber with larger conical float needle (our item 0613). However both varieties of float chambers used this type of copper float.
See also the line drawing of the 1948 Norton Catalog which shows Type 276 road carb, Amal TT on the Norton International (using smaller Type 14 needle), and Amal RN fitted to the Manx Models (using larger float needle) - all employing this style of Type 14 Float.
Please note that some later original Amal TT and RN floats had an additional small hole drilled cross-wise in the top of the brass centre tube, between the top and bottom of the steel top spring - this was to allow the added security of a split pin on highly stressed racing models on long races. We do not try an replicate this on our floats
Background and Manufacture:
These floats are manufactured in the same way as the original Amal Type 14 Floats - and in one of the photos is a picture of our float alongside a genuine 'New Old Stock' Amal float from the 1950's/60's as a comparison. As you can see the general construction is the same - the copper float is manufactured in two halfs - with a lipped seam in the middle. There is also a brass tube running through the centre of the float, which sticks proud of the copper float, and which a (spring steel) needle spring fits over. Finally a small brass rib fits over the spring and brass tube, and is soldered to the top of the copper float, to ensure the spring is retained. All this is replicated from the original float design.
We are currently making these floats in small batch's - and each float has a float needle fitted after manufacture, to ensure it sits at the same height as original. We also 'Leak' test each float in a tank of water after soldering - where it is left for a number of hours, to ensure it does not leak.
Final Note:
The process to manufacture and solder these floats is extremely labour intensive and time consuming - the soldering process is done by hand, and has taken a considerable time to find the most efficient method (as well as having 'written off' numerous trial floats in setting this up!). Although each float is cleaned and lightly linished after soldering (as per the photos) - it is inevitable that they may have tiny soldering or manufacturing marks or the slightest of flats in places . . . this is almost inevitable in the manual process of soldering up, but we do our very best to ensure each is as close to perfect, and is of course rejected if dented or leaking.
Please bear this in mind when ordering - but remember we give a full money back guarantee if not satisfied (other than postage) - providing not fitted to a carb, and returned in the original packaging as sent.
Finally - we are only making these floats in small quantities, and may not always have them in stock. If this is the case (the Stock bar will show in RED if out of stock), you can email on sales@racingvincent.co.uk - if you are less fussy, as we do have a small quantity of rejected '2n'ds' - these will be fully functional, but are likely to have a small cosmetic fault - i.e. we have found the spun copper float dents extremely easily - just as originals did!