Carb Issue: Melted needle spring seat.

[step]

All set to re-jet my carbs yesterday, so I got started.
I could tell right away that someone was in them prior to me.
They looked pretty good on the inside - relatively clean, stock jets, mix screws at 3-1/2.

But this got my attention right away.  The spring seat for one of the needles was soft and melty.
It was actually pushed up into the spring.  I suppose it could still work ok like this, but I won;t put it back together without replacing it.  I did use carb cleaning spray on them, but mostly on the outside of the carbs and the other side was solid and in good shape - I really don't think I melted it while cleaning them.  This appears to have been going on for awhile.  Don't know if it was a defective factory part, or more likely, a faulty replacement.

Hopefully the local stealer will have a new spring seat in stock....
The #4 washers I bought for the needle are also too big on the O.D.

The little ring on the right is the bad one and the good one on the left.  It was so soft, I could roll it into a ball.

[Funderb]

the melty one does not look oem.
maybe the shop it may have been serviced in before did this:

"Shite! I dropped that plastic donut thing in the sump!
oh well, i got dis here plasticky thing in the truck, it'll do."
-or-
Why I hate taking my vehicles to shops.

[step]

OK!
Local dealer had one in stock, so I am back in business. 
He also said the melty one did not look original..

Now to get that rust cleaned up from the battery leak and I will be together again shortly.

[The Buddha]

Yea good you got that replaced ... and yea not melted, lost and replaced with a hunk of whatever was lying around. Cos if it actually melted, can you imagine how the rest of the plastic in that region didn't ...
Yea I have pulled crap out of carbs like you wont believe. Someone ran the thing with a very dirty or missing filter and the incomming dirt pretty much machined the carbs all around. Everything that wasn't metal was worn to 1/2 its thickness. metal was worn to 90% its thickness.
Cool.
Buddha.