Air Funnels shrunk how do you swell them

[Cadmandu]

Hi All,
Just put my carbs together after a good ultra sonic cleaning and am having trouble getting them back on the air box. Seems that they shrank and are very loose in the air box holes. The machined channel in the steady plate will not line up with the funnel because the O.D. of the funnel is smaller. Have you guys and solutions for this?

Yes I made a pun by accident.
Thanks

[hootmon]

PICTURE?

[Cadmandu]

I will send more info at noon. I have them in a kerosen bath. They swelled .012 in outside dia in 10 hrs. I need about .030 more and they will fit the channel.

[Cadmandu]

Here is a drawing showing the size of the machined channel in the steady plate of the carb and the actual shrunken size of the air funnel.
As you can see with the overlay assembly no one could ever install these 30 year old funnels even if they located them centrally in the air box. I don't understand why we have not discussed this in the past or why it has not been seen before.
Thanks Dan
The fork brace and float tool are for a 85 VF700C, so is the funnel drawing.

[MagnaMan]

By air funnel are you talking about a velocity stack that goes in the airbox area and funnels air into the carbs? Or are you talking about the carb boots on the bottom that connect the carb banks to the head?

[Cadmandu]

Hi Magnaman,
Yes the velocity stack that go in the airbox. If you look them up on Bike Bandit under carbs they call them Air, Funnel with a Honda p/n. I do like your description better. Has any body had the same problem that I am having? The kerosene is working very slow Mike Nixon told me to use carb dip that works in 4 hours but i hate to spend 20.00 just to do that. Is there another solution i can use that i might already have. I used a ultra sonic cleaner on my carbs and jets.
Thanks for all your help

[TLRam1]

Trying to remember but I think on my vintage bikes rubber boots I would soak them in gasoline as they would shrink.

[lragan]

I do not recommend soaking rubber in gasoline.  Serious deterioration of the rubber is the expected result.

Neoprene, OK. 

I seem to recall from my powered model airplane days we kept separate and different tubing and fueling systems for gasoline and model engine fuel.  Both would attack the other system.  I don't recall the details of what materials were which, but I feel certain that a search would reveal this.

[Cadmandu]

Thanks Guys for all your help. Has anybody run into the shruken funnel problem? And is what did you do?

[MagnaMan]

I recall reading a write up on another forum where a carb re builder was rejuvenating carb boots and other hardened rubber parts by soaking them in oil of wintergreen and rubbing alcohol at a ratio of 1 part oil to 3 parts alcohol. He kept the parts in a jar (sealed) for at least 24 hours (longer if they needed it). This would rejuvenate the boots and stacks and there was some swelling. 

Some people reported that it worked well for their rubber air funnels.

[Cadmandu]

Thanks Jesse,
I read that about softening the the boots with that solution. Had trouble finding the oil. I have a set of hard boots and shrunken funnels. I hope that it will swell as well as soften.
Thanks