Rebuilding my first carb this weekend, any first time tips?
 

Well, with any luck, my parts will be in for my 127 this weekend and I can tare into the carb. This is my first time opening up a carb so I'm not quite sure what I'm in for. I've read Matt's guide on how to rebuild:

http://mgonitzke.net16.net/tools/carb_rebuild.pdf

But there's something I'm confused about. He says that the brass screws he removes after he takes off the butterfly valve and throttle shaft are delicate and best replaced if removed. Do I have to remove my butterfly valve and throttle shaft to accomplish my goal or (as it sounds in his article) is this extra stuff that doesn't necessarily need to be done? I'd rather not dig any deeper into the carb the first time through than I need to.

And is it very difficult to set the float level?

And for those that have been down this road many times, any advice for the first time carb re-builder?

i think you would only have to really remove the butterfly valve if you need to put in a throttle repair bushing. i did not do it the first time on my rebuild. i am now putting in the bushing that i should have done when i had the carb apart the first time.

Matt's done a good job detailing this. My personal suggestion is once the carb and you are ready to re-assemble, when you try to put the O-gasket in the groove for the bowl it can seem too large, so I've used a heat gun on the lowest setting to make it more pliable (obviously you don't want to melt it, but just heat it up gently as though using a hair dryer) and when you go to insert it into the channel, I will just get the slightest touch of petroleum jelly on my finger and run it around the gasket to make it "sticky" enough to hold to the channel. If you can see any petroleum jelly on the gasket, then you have too much on....it should just make it shiny. Well, those are my tips to add.

Cub Cadet 123

The most sensitive part that takes finesse is the set screws takes time to get them tuned in sometimes the factory number of turns isn't exact