Carb support bracket. 1979 AMF Harley-Davidson XLH1000 Ironhead Sportster

If you buy an old project Sportster, the big airbox will likely be missing. This bolts to the cylinders and supports the carburetor, and without it the weight of the carb will wreck your inlet rubbers, resulting in an ultra-lean mixture and a long push home. I've made an L shaped bracket from 4mm x 25mm mild steel with holes to bolt it to the top of the manifold and the centre head bracket. Further support is provided by a bent piece of 2mm steel held to the top tube with Jubilee clips. Crude but, so far, efficient.

[@seller559]

Great point. What doesn’t have support rattles off eventually.

[@jameslester3861]

I had problems for years getting the manifold to seal. The bike (79) had bands on it and they would crack. I noticed that the manifold and cylinder spouts were made to accommodate O ring seals. The manual for the ‘79 shows band seals while the manifold has “78” embossed on it indicating a 1978 part. I ordered a James O ring and clamp set for a ‘78 bike,installed it and it worked perfect. That was four years ago.

[@ImminghamIronhead]

Mine has the '79 manifold so it was happy with the rubbers once the carb was supported but yeah, the amount of other-year stuff on your average old bike is astonishing. Loads of weird parts on mine.

[@jameslester3861]

@@ImminghamIronhead I forgot to mention the bike originally did not have a carb support🤦🏼‍♂️. I took care of that, they are a must have item.

[@ImminghamIronhead]

@@jameslester3861 True

[@hughtuller6344]

The usual support bracket for the carb goes from the bottom bolt of the manifold as you pointed out, then down the the bolt holding the tappet guide (front cylinder, second tappet. You just need to bend the bracket a bit to reach the tappet bolt. Or, buy an aftermarket one.

[@ImminghamIronhead]

That would work.

[@benderbender1233]

eye am almost ready to install an adapter plate & cv carb on my ironhead as soon as eye get a rebuild kit for the it. 🤘😎🤘

[@douglas9607]

I'm trying a CV40 carb too on my '69 'CH. First I have to get the heads on the engine. Ha!

[@benderbender1233]

@@douglas9607 🤘