Rebuilt Amal 932s and Needle Seat Question

I recently buttoned up my 14 month long 75 MKIII project and was able to put in a few rides with no problems, with the exception of minor tuning of the carbs and clutch cable. I heard that I needed to turn off my petcocks after every ride, which I thought was pretty odd, but either way, I have done this if I turned her off for any long periods of time. Anyway, on Sunday I met friends for lunch about 15 miles from home and parked for two hours and when I walked back I noticed that I had not turned off the fuel. I looked and didn’t see fuel leaking nor did I smell gas, so I figured my float needle seats worked fine and I could get away with a few hours of not having to turn off the petcocks. As it turns out, in the morning when I walked into the garage, I could smell gas (not much, but still a bit) so I looked around for leaks on the floor, but nothing, then realized maybe gas did indeed seep into the motor. I pulled off the seat and checked the oil and it was the same level as before, but it had a hint of gas smell. My questions is, is this normal and should I just live with it, or can I:
1. polish the seats as I have read on here (if so what is the best way? Pencil?)
2. just buy new bowls with seats included n bolt em up? $42 each.
3. Drain oil, replace and just shut off fuel? Did I cause harm to the motor with this little amount of fuel in the oil and the distance that I rode?
4. Stop whining?

Thank you,

Door number 4. The gas smell can/does come from an old bike with open vented gas cap (carbs too), engine heat warms the tank after shutdown, vapors emit, you may or may not notice them. The stench in the oil tank is blow-by gasses, most likely, again normal.
I think if you'd leaked fuel into the engine, you'd have greater symptoms.

No engine is ever meant to sit not running, with fuel pressure to the float needle. Always turn the fuel off.
Even your car engine doesn't have the fuel pump running when the engine is stopped.

Even if the float needle works well enough with the engine running, it is likely to gradually allow some fuel into the float bowl if the engine is stopped and there is still fuel pressure.

Concourse and x-file, thanks for setting me straight. I didn't notice gas leaking out when the petcocks were left open for two hours so that's a good sign. I will make sure to shut em off from now on and not worry about draining the oil or polishing the needle seats. Whew!

I like the way my Norton makes my garage smell like the 70's while it's cooling off after a ride. a good heat source in cool weather too.

Roadrash said:

I like the way my Norton makes my garage smell like the 70's while it's cooling off after a ride. a good heat source in cool weather too.

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When my 10 years old walked into the garage one night she said " dad it smells of motorbikes in here"

concours said:

Door number 4. The gas smell can/does come from an old bike with open vented gas cap (carbs too), engine heat warms the tank after shutdown, vapors emit, you may or may not notice them. The stench in the oil tank is blow-by gasses, most likely, again normal.
I think if you'd leaked fuel into the engine, you'd have greater symptoms.

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Yup

Right on guys. I hear ya. I think I'll change the oil just to be safe and then go for a ride!!

Appreciate the feedback. I'm having a blast learning about this bike and it gives me n my dad more to talk about. He's stoked that it went from the back of his garage being started a few times a year to being rebuilt, looking good and most of all, RIDEN

If there is a doubt I'd change the oil. Oil is cheaper than fixing a ruined engine.

Romi3 said:

Right on guys. I hear ya. I think I'll change the oil just to be safe and then go for a ride!!

Appreciate the feedback. I'm having a blast learning about this bike and it gives me n my dad more to talk about. He's stoked that it went from the back of his garage being started a few times a year to being rebuilt, looking good and most of all, RIDEN

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Hope your giving you dad a go on her!

Best of fortune to all three of you.