With no filter, there is a chance that you may end up with a bent rod or crankshaft - here's how: If a seal petcock fails, gas can flow into the carbs even when the engine is off. If there's even a tiny speck of dirt in one of the carb cut-off valves, gas can flow into the intake. If the intake valve for that cylinder happens to be in the exact wrong place, gas will continue to flow into the cylinder, creating what's knows as hydro-lock, keeping the engine from turning. When you come along and try to start it, you may bend a rod or even the crank. There's a lof of ifs, but if the leak is left unattended for a while, the odds add up against you. This almost happened to me, except I got lucky. I didn't have a leaky petcock, just a bit of dirt in one of the carbs so it never got totally flooded. I now have a fuel filter.

Cut the fuel line somewhere there's room under the carbs and install a regular automotive fuel line filter. They are available in clear plastic for next to nothing and it will save you a lot of potential headache and cost in the long run.

Several list members have also installed manual petcocks or renovated the existing ones using a newer automatic model with a different formula for the seals.