Gotta Fish Carburetors -- Thumbs down

[Senorpablo]

Gotta Fish Carburetors -- http://www.gottafishcarburetors.com or user: gottafishgs on eBay

My experience with this vendor was terrible. I found Gotta Fish Carburetors to be impossible to deal with and completely lacking any accountability for his products and service. Be fore warned: if you purchase something from this vendor you will be stuck with it under every scenario imaginable. Giving this outfit your money is strictly a one-way endeavor. What you get in return is a carburetor that looks shiny at first but won't last. Gotta Fish Carburetors ships their carburetors with bare steel hardware and fasteners. I learned this the hard way since it's not mentioned anywhere on his website as of the time of this writing, or when I purchased from them.

My story:
I purchased a rebuilt Autolite 2100 from him for my project. He was helpful enough on making sure I got the correct carb. for my application. He provides a photo of the exact carb. you will be purchasing which is a nice touch. I received the carb. promptly and it was well packaged. I opened the box and did a quick inspection and was pleased with the purchase. The gaskets, instructions and misc parts remaining from the rebuild kit are included in the box. I set the carb., in the shipping box, in my spare room along with all the other restoration parts I was gathering.

Fast forward four weeks. I grabbed the box with the carburetor in it, and took a look at it and this is what I saw:

Rusty carb.JPG

All the steel parts were rusting. I checked the date I received the carburetor and it was less than four weeks previous. I do live near the ocean and the window in the room where the box was stored had been open about 18". However, none of the other parts I'd been gathering showed any signs of rust and they've been in there much longer. Personally, I can't fathom providing customers bare steel parts for and over $240 product.

I contacted them via email and let them know that I was disappointed in their product. I told them the carb had rusted, and would continue to rust, and wouldn't work for my needs. What I got was a long list of excuses and complete failure to accept any accountability or admit any lack quality in their products and/or services whatsoever. I heard things like: it was my fault for not installing it sooner; to which I explained to him that the spare room in my house was a much gentler environment than outside in the engine compartment of my truck. He went so far as to say that he's sold hundreds of carbs which were prepared the same way and rust has never been an issue for anyone else. I guess he believes the bare steel he sells takes on magical powers once he's through with it?

I offered to eat the shipping costs both ways, which was going to be over $20, if he'd take the carb. back for a refund. He refused. I found them to be completely unreasonable and decided to cut my losses and the resulting aggravation of trying to explain to someone why rust is bad and that most every piece of steel sold to consumers has been prepared with some form of rust prevention. He never did grasp this concept. Ultimately, I disassembled the carburetor myself, blasted off the rust and had the hardware properly plated at a local company. The carburetor seems to work well and I learned a little something in the process.

He proudly states on his webpage FAQ that he doesn't paint his carbs: "Paint is a temporary cosmetic fix, and doesn't mix well with gas!" What he does do, and fails to make this known anywhere on his webpage or ebay listing, is abrasive blast all the original plating off every steel part so it is sure to rust. Hey, why paint something which would provide some protection from the elements, when you can just stick your customers with bare steel instead?

Quotes from his website:

"I will not sell a piece of junk"

Q: Do you paint your carbs?
A: No, we do not. Paint is a temporary cosmetic fix, and doesn't mix well with gas!

Here is a list of vendors who seem to understand that bare steel isn't okay:

Web:
http://www.ponycarburetors.com/
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2gsgu/index.html
http://customrebuiltcarbs.com/index.shtml
http://www.carburetion.com/ford2v.htm

eBay:
topspeed1559
thecarburetorman

Update 7/11/2013:

I've been having trouble with my manual choke creeping out while driving which results in the idle being higher while stopped. Turns out, Gottafish carburetors sent the choke rod with a completely wrong part. They use a threaded stop under a brass choke rod busing. The threaded rod they sent doesn't allow the stop to go low enough for the spring to do its job. This prevents the choke rod spring from tensioning the cam towards the closed position as the Engineers who designed the carburetor intended. The choke rod had the stop at a point which would allow the spring to hold the cam in the closed position so it doesn't cam up with vibration and lock at a higher rpm when the accelerator returns to idle. So much for being Autolite 2100 "experts." Gottafish Carburetors strikes again!

Update 8/27/2013:

In addition to all the other issues I've had, it turns out they used the wrong jets. Before I ordered, he asked me what engine I had so he could be sure to set the carburetor up correctly. The jets he installed were 1-2 sizes too big.