Carter Carburetor

Last updated
Carter Carburetor Company
Founded1909;115 years ago (1909) in St. Louis, Missouri
FounderWilliam Carter
Defunct1985 (1985)
Parent American Car and Foundry Company (from 1922)

The Carter Carburetor Company was an American manufacturer of carburetors, primarily for the automobile industry. It was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1909 and ceased operation in 1985. Founder William Carter started experimenting with automotive carburetors while running a successful bicycle shop. His first, a cast brass model, could meter and deliver fuel more accurately than many competing units. He sold Carter Carburetor Company 13 years after founding it to American Car and Foundry Company. Carl Breer wrote that, upon learning that the Ball family (owners of Ball & Ball) was planning to leave the carburetor business, he set them up with Carter, which continued to produce the Ball & Ball basic designs used by Chrysler. [1]

Contents

History

Carter BBD 2-barrel carburetor on a 1968 Plymouth with a Chrysler LA 318 motor Carter-bbd.jpeg
Carter BBD 2-barrel carburetor on a 1968 Plymouth with a Chrysler LA 318 motor

Carter adapted carburetors for Willys Jeep four-cylinder engines, waterproofing them for water crossings and making it possible to keep the engine going even on a steep incline (the YS carburetor). Carter also produced the first American four-barrel carburetor, used for Buick’s 1952 straight-eight, and followed by the WCFB on the 1955 Chrysler C300. This was eventually superseded by the AFB ("Aluminum Four-Barrel") and AVS ("Air Valve Secondaries") models. [2] The final Chrysler use of four-barrel Carter carburetors was the Thermo-Quad, which used a lightweight thermoplastic float bowl, on the most powerful Chrysler engines. [1]

Carter produced Rochester Quadrajet carburetors for their rival maker whenever demand outpaced Rochester's ability to make them. They were identical to Rochester's units, except the Carter name was stamped into the body. In Carter's final years in the early 1980s, they also produced Weber carburetors under license, such as the three-barrel Type 40IDA sold as replacements (or fuel injection retrofits) for 1960s and 1970s Porsche 911 S.

Carter Carburetor Corporation building in 2011 Acf Carter Carburater Corporation.jpg
Carter Carburetor Corporation building in 2011

In 1984, with fuel injection having replaced carburetors on most cars, the plant closed. [3] In 1985, American Car and Foundry shut down the entire Carter Carburetor foundry, a year later ceding the PCB-contaminated property to the City of St. Louis. The plant became an EPA Superfund site. [4] The site contains contaminants including TCE and PCBs that penetrate the topsoil to bedrock. [5] In 2013, cleanup was estimated to cost US$30 million. [5]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrysler 300 letter series</span> High-performance luxury cars built in very limited numbers

The Chrysler 300 "letter series" are high-performance personal luxury cars that were built by Chrysler in the U.S. from 1955 to 1965 and were a sub-model from the Chrysler New Yorker. After the initial year, which was named C-300 for its standard 300 hp (220 kW) 331 cu in (5.4 L) FirePower V8, the 1956 cars were designated 300B. Successive model years were given the next letter of the alphabet as a suffix, reaching the 300L by 1965, after which the model sequence was discontinued while the "300" remained. At its introduction it was advertised as "America's Most Powerful Car".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Fury</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochester Products Division</span> Former division of General Motors

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Renix was a joint venture by Renault and Bendix that designed and manufactured automobile electronic ignitions, fuel injection systems, electronic automatic transmission controls, and various engine sensors. Major applications included various Renault and Volvo vehicles. The name became synonymous in the U.S. with the computer and fuel injection system used on the AMC/Jeep 2.5 L I4 and 4.0 L I6 engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASCAR engine</span> Reciprocating internal combustion engine

NASCAR, the highest governing body and top level division for stock car racing in the United States, has used a range of different types of engine configurations and displacements since its inaugural season in 1949. The engines are currently used in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series, and the Whelen Modified Tour.

References

  1. 1 2 "Friends of Chrysler: Carter Carburetor". allpar.com. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  2. O'Clair, Jim (June 2008). "Carter 4-barrel Carburetors". Hemmings Motor News. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  3. Tomich, Jeffrey (2011-05-12). "Eyesore in St. Louis will be tough cleanup task". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  4. "Carter Carburetor Site in St. Louis, Missouri | Cleanup | Region 7". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  5. 1 2 Tomich, Jeffrey (2013-07-29). "Carter Carburetor saga has winners and losers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2016-01-11.

38°39′23.45″N90°13′19.15″W / 38.6565139°N 90.2219861°W / 38.6565139; -90.2219861