Taking the plung, Weber Carb

[SirNik83]

I've wanted a weber for years. I'm taking a road trip to Texas this November and I think I'm going to do the weber swap before my trip. I found this kit online. is this the best deal on the carb kit?

http://www.jtspeed.com/product_info.php ... s_id=20534

I've read the posts about the carb conversion. any other thought would be welcomed. I can't buy the carb til I get paid at the end of the month, so til then i'll just be pondering it...... I hate waiting!

[splatterdog]

That's pretty much the going rate...

Just make sure they will swap out the air filter element. The kit one is too tall. You will need the shortest element to clear your hood.

Enjoy!

[ARCHINSTL]

I echo splatterdog.
http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... ner#p35079
Carbs Unlimited did swap the shorter cleaner for the one in its site's photo; several other vendors would not - the shorter cleaner was something like $30 extra or so, as I recall.
Are you going to go the regulator and gauge route?
Take pix - more info on this is always good! Everyone seems to do it slightly different.
Tom M.

[Snax]

Just know that the Weber carb lacks the refinement of the stock unit. It probably won't idle reliably when cold - either underchoking or over-revving. And unless you have a stock carb that was performing as poorly as mine was, your fuel economy will likely go down. (I get upper 20's around town.)

On the pressure regulators, the one I got was a cheapy and actually needs to be set at 5 psi to deliver enough fuel to the floats without starving it out at high throttle, so a guage is probably not a bad idea. On the other hand it's probably not really necessary if you start with the pressure low and dial it up to meet maximum demand. I never installed my guage.

[splatterdog]

(I get upper 20's around town.)

Sounds like you've got a little more tuning to do. Or do you play the offense on the road? Neither of mine have gotten below 30 post weber. Usually 31-32 almost hitting 35 once. And that's on our corn fed gas....

Sub zero starting could be better, but once it's going I haven't had problem. I've covered about 140 degrees in operating conditions with my terc's and am still very pleased with the weber. The 84 even started when it was cold enough that synthetic gear oil would kill the engine and lurch the car in nuetral when I tried to let the clutch out. Killed the engine a few times before the gear oil broke free. That was one cold night ice fishing.

Injection could make it better, but requires so much more engineering for our cars, especially if you want it to work right. Then you have to think about breaking down out of town with a special needs car that most shops won't touch.

I would say the weber is just as refined as a terc would need. Makes the fuel system as simple as the rest of the car.

[SirNik83]

I would say that my existing carb is on its way out. it works well and when tuned correctly it preforms as entrnede, but I've never gotten better then 28mpg out of it. I'm hoping to brake the 30mpg barrier with the weber. I've driver some older cars with the wishey washy cold stars, and here in sacramento we only get a truly cold morning a few times a year. so I'm betting that I don't even notace that problem once I get the carb diled in. I will be installing the pressure regulator and gauge, I'm a nerd about gauges, so why not.

I may be putting the carb swap off a month. I've got a knock in one of the CV axles... But I have a new drivers side axle in the box under my work bench. Cross my fingers I don't have to go buy the other axle.

[gatemaster]

If your weber is not sharp and snappy then you have more tuning to do. You will gain power and not lose gas milage. My MPG actually improved. 4 psi is the max for fuel pressure and then only if you have the float needle with the rubber tip otherwise it will flood. there is no starting issues in the winter and it gets down to 10 below where I live. On the weber web sites they say if you put the weber on you will not get the full benefit from it unless you upgrade the ignition. I can verify this since I recently installed a Jacobs ultra coil on the tercel. The car fires up instantly with no cranking, just fires up. And the performance went up. The stock ignition is barely adaquate for the stock carb. actually I don't think it is up to the stock carb as I always had starting issues. I used to put high voltage coils on all of my cars when I lived in Pa. Otherwise some mornings I was lucky to get started and get to work. After the coil upgrade that was never a problem again. I ordered a 4 by 6 piece of phenolic spacer material 1 inch thick. I am going to machine it so it not only replaces the aluminum adapter but insulates the carb from heat soak which boils the gas out of the fuel bowl. I read that the carb will go from too hot to touch to almost cool to the touch. Also the aluminum adapter does not have the right path below the carb for the idle mixture, resulting in having to use a richer idle jet to compensate. I am going to machine my spacer with two holes matching the throttle plate bores. So it flows straight down from the carb. that will also improve throttle response and may improve mpg slightly. I also use a foam ramflo air filter. It breathes way better than the low profile filter from the weber site.

[ARCHINSTL]

gatemaster -
I attempted to get some info from the Jacobs/Accel site to no avail - I had the same luck with the Ramflo site (I did email them for info). The latter site's pdfs are made for people with magnifying glasses for eyes: Minuscule fonts.
While awaiting word, which Jacobs coil did you use and what was its source? Ditto on the Ramflo (I presume it is shorter than the Redline shorty?)?
Pix of the Jacobs installation?
Your idea for the phenolic adapter is clever and sounds logical.
Tom M.

[gatemaster]

ARCHINSTL
The link below is where I bought the coil it came as a black coil with yellow lettering and is called Accel Ultra coil. I guess they bought out Jacobs. I think it went up in price a bit from when I bought it. I did not buy an aftermarket igniter. I took the one out of the 84 dizzy and mounted it on the outside of a 1980 reman dist. when I can afford it I will buy one. I have pics and have been meaning to post them.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Jacobs+Electronic ... 6/10002/-1

I bought these spark plug wires and have enough left over for another 4 cyl.

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/40200/10002/-1

I think this is where I bought the air filter. It is about the same height as the shorty. The spacer I am making will give me about 5/16 extra clearance above the filter.

http://carburetion.com/Weber/weberpartsair.asp

[gatemaster]

Here are some pictures. My camera phone sucks so sorry about the poor quality. This is the igniter bolted to the back of the dist.

[Highlander]

I've been mulling over the adapter/spacer for the Weber 32/36 conversion. Having some experience with phenolics and machining I have a few recommendations- First, be sure that your tools are either re-sharpenable or replaceable (phenolic is incredibly abrasive and hard on tools)-Second, try to keep it wet (water works) to keep the dust down, and use both a shop vac and a respirator (not a cheap disposable one) or you'll spend months coughing the goo out (BTDT) . Third, get some wood style thread inserts (not tee nuts) for the carb threads-they've got external threads kind of like lag bolts, and internal threads-install them from the opposite side that you'll pull on the studs or bolts from (it'll keep them from pulling out). I'll probably follow suit when I get my engine assembled.
Gatemaster, Where did you source the standard dizzy from? All of mine have the built in coil.

[teranfirbt]

the 1AC has a coil free distributor. I've been considering getting one myself to be able to run the MSD 6A I have sitting on a shelf...

[gatemaster]

Highlander I bought a 1980 tercel dist from checker online. I think it was about a $100 for a remanufactured dist. my 84 dist with coil built in was worn and had a lot of play in the shaft so i accomplished two things with remanufactured unit. When I can afford it I will add an MSD unit and remove the ignigter from the outside of the dist.
I will heed your advice when drilling out the spacer. The two bolt holes on both ends will bolt to the intake manifold. i was going to counter sink the underside of the spacer where the bolt holes, that bolt to the carb, but not the manifold go and thread the spacer there. that way the bolts will screw into the spacer from the underside and will act as a stud but with a bolt head.
I think what you mean if I read your idea right is to tread a metal tread insert into the hole and just use a stud. Am I correct?

[Highlander]

Yes Gatemaster, that was my intent. I'm not sure if the Weber 32/36 makes it impossible to get to the factory studs or not (I haven't gotten that far yet). counterboring would work as well assuming that you can keep them tight enough not to leak-especially when cold (Thermal expansion issues), but a good gasket underneath should probably work anyway as long as it covers the heads or inserts.
From your previous post, I assume that you will be boring out the phenolic to the ID (inside Diameter) of the Weber throats? You may want to consider putting a large radius on the lower edge of the spacer holes directed towards the head(or all around) to decrease induced vortexes at the edges. These vortexes might tend to decrease your throughput velocity (just a thought from fluid mechanics here). A Dremel tool followed by sandpaper would probably do the trick.
Keep me up to date as to how it works.

[gatemaster]

Yes I want the two throttle holes seperate, no plenum. your right about the radius underneath, that was my plan. The aluminum adapter that comes with the weber is angled underneath the carb causing the fuel to pull at an angle which disrups the idle mixture especially. yesterday I installed the bearing sets for both throttle plate shafts. It is amazing how smooth the throttle is now. I also installed a number f6 emulsion tube on the secondary and that allowed me to change the secondary idle jet from 60 back to 50. I will probably have to retune it after the spacer plate is finished.