All Small Six Tuning help requested for 32/36 weber

This relates to all small sixes
"...Get an air fuel ratio via a wide-band tester..."
there ya go...more parts, but toward perfection~
 
Installed an afr gauge finally. No changes have been made since last time.- i'm at about 12.5 at idle- bit rich. cruising is about the same- i added a bit to the primary main jet- to help with the WOT throttle pinging- and it helped- but i think it helped by adding fuel across the whole board where as I only need it with the secondary's. WOT pull and i watched the gauge dive into the 14-15 range and some times it hit 18-( accompanied by surging and lack of power). this is also the hottest day i have driven the car- so not sure if that was also a fuel boiling issue. But none the less WOT is lean. yet seam like low end is rich. thinking pull the jet from the primary main jet and back it back down to the 150 originally and stab a bigger secondary main jet at it.
Also noticed a big change in idle afr when the AC was kicked on(.5-.75 swing). Need to figure that one out still
 
a lill in the signature line would help us as we would not have to go back & read it all to find the important stuff on this rig for problem solving/recomendations/advisement (drive train, carb [o0OP I C now], ignition, gearing, type of transmis, etc)
 
a lill in the signature line would help us as we would not have to go back & read it all to find the important stuff on this rig for problem solving/recomendations/advisement (drive train, carb [o0OP I C now], ignition, gearing, type of transmis, etc)
Just updated it. Sorry about that.
 
How'd ya make out with this?

I had to use 85 Primary / 65 Secondary Idle.
Mains 160/150 just to get SOME color on the plugs...mine engine was hot & LEAN before with the stock jets.
 
How'd ya make out with this?

I had to use 85 Primary / 65 Secondary Idle.
Mains 160/150 just to get SOME color on the plugs...mine engine was hot & LEAN before with the stock jets.
I'm still playing with this thing. It's fun to drive and I've been busy much of late. Got married, which was the event that I could not miss, nor could Sunshine as she was the chariot. Also bought a house. Shortly after that drove it to work one day and the cam gear decided to hop off the cam. My fault- looks like the cam spacer was installed backwards( chamfer away from cam) by my 19 year old self 6 years ago and broke, which caused the cam gear bolt to loosen. Opps. While putting it back together, found the carb was slightly loose on intake- good 1/2 - 3/4 turn. After that I'm back to the pinging, but my O2 appears to have died. I suspect I'm back to lean. I'm running a 160-180 main jets. And before the carb tightening my WOT AFR was still in the 13's, I'm amazed as to why i'm having to get it this much to close to my afr. I'm back to getting similar symptoms was I was before I made a big change to the mains before.
 
Well congrats on the wedding my friend!

My cam bolt was loose by nearly 3 turns out with a broken thrust plate due to not even having the thrust washer installed. There will be over 3mm of end play without that spacer (also known as the "wedding ring" :LOL:). The cam whacks back and forth with acceleration & deceleration to the back freeze plug to the front thrust plate/washer. Something will give up and break at some point... usually the thrust plate, and hope the timing chain cove holds everything back, stopping the cam gear from shearing off the dowel pin ect...

It's good practice to put BLUE Loctite on that bolt and torque it to the high side of the spec spread.

Now that I have a full exhaust system on the car, I had to go down on the Main Jets to 140/150 with 160/170 Air Correctors.
Idle jets have remained the same 85P/65S.

Could not get the 38/38 to run, so I put the 32/36 back on.
I'm running out of nice weather up here, and just want to drive and enjoy the car before I have to store it away for winter.
I'll monkey around with the 38/38 in the spring.
 
Dragonlich,

Are you running ported or manifold vacuum advance to your distributor? I was having similar issues with mine and switched from ported to manifold and solved my pinging issues at heavy throttle. As I understand it, using ported vacuum will, at higer throttle, advance the distributor from both the vacuum and the machanical advance within the distributor thus giving you too much advance. Manifold vaccum will drop the timing as the mechanical timing kicks in, which is what I think you want. You will have to watch for pinging when cruising at high speeds when you back off of the throttle.

Additionally you can get a synchronous kit to change your 32/36 from a progressive carb to a synchronous ( similar to the 38/38 ). This is what I'm currently using and the gas pedal doesn't have to live above 50%. As others have stated, the 32/36 is an economy carb out of the box, but if that's not exactly what you want, the synchro kit is a cheap way to get some pep out of it. It only affects how the pedal - carb feels, it does not improve overall performance and basically kills any fuel economy benefits that the carb would have had.

Beauty of a car/truck by the way,

Chris
 
"...get a synchronous kit..."
I wouldnt. But I'm only 1 guy.

"...it does not improve overall performance..."
(performance = pep AND MPGs) at any rate a few have come in here w/the linkage locked out (turned a beautiful progressive into a 'regular') and its a bear to jet right, improve performance. I gave up eventho the customer was happy (still smelled, could not be seen anymore). Just usea holley or other made 4 it...
 
Dragonlich,

Are you running ported or manifold vacuum advance to your distributor? I was having similar issues with mine and switched from ported to manifold and solved my pinging issues at heavy throttle. As I understand it, using ported vacuum will, at higer throttle, advance the distributor from both the vacuum and the machanical advance within the distributor thus giving you too much advance. Manifold vaccum will drop the timing as the mechanical timing kicks in, which is what I think you want. You will have to watch for pinging when cruising at high speeds when you back off of the throttle.

Additionally you can get a synchronous kit to change your 32/36 from a progressive carb to a synchronous ( similar to the 38/38 ). This is what I'm currently using and the gas pedal doesn't have to live above 50%. As others have stated, the 32/36 is an economy carb out of the box, but if that's not exactly what you want, the synchro kit is a cheap way to get some pep out of it. It only affects how the pedal - carb feels, it does not improve overall performance and basically kills any fuel economy benefits that the carb would have had.

Beauty of a car/truck by the way,

Chris
i'll have to try manifold vs ported. It's using ported right now, but I'm having timing issues at higher rpm and under load. I'd love to get a holley system for the car, 2300 sniper with dizzy and hyperspark. Wasn't out when I built my set up. I really want to get a vintage inlines head and drill the intake for multiport fuel injection, running a holley dizzy and computer. I can't really drive at full trottle much due to the pinging. On a plus it's getting 22 mpg on the highway at 85.
 
"...drill the intake for multiport fuel injection..."
those bosses just sit there waitin for the injectors (don't they...
 
Back to playing with my "Sunshine", still trying to get everything right, I bumped the primary main jet up to a 170 and took it for a spirted drive, and seams to do quiet well. Still some pining but at higher rpm, suggesting perhaps a little more fuel needed at that range. which means I need bigger jets for the secondary's. Still need to replace my o2 sensor. Other things have gotten in the way, but that is life.
Still thinking about a Holley 2300 kit, as I've I have heard that I can convert my DS2 setup and MSD6al to work with the sniper system to allow timing control. If I end up converting, I'll pull the head and have the intake milled open, so that should help some as well.
 
is it possible to do @ home: double "rags down her throat, 2nd/top oily...vacum, pull, magnet clean @ 2nd & vac? Or is this a "major shaving AND haircut"?
 
Retard the the initial timing to 14 degrees then test drive it. I milled .060 off my 78 head. I run the cheapest gas without any pinging. I do not get any engine tuning advice from this "business" forum (which I suspect is more about part and services sales than performance). I have a wide band O2 sensor and an HEI dist in my 78 200. It runs great no pinging ever.
 
Retard the the initial timing to 14 degrees then test drive it. I milled .060 off my 78 head. I run the cheapest gas without any pinging. I do not get any engine tuning advice from this "business" forum (which I suspect is more about part and services sales than performance). I have a wide band O2 sensor and an HEI dist in my 78 200. It runs great no pinging ever.
He will have only 32 degrees total advance, should be at least 36 total. It has to be a lean WOT A/F mixture.
On your HEI they have way too much centrifugal advance unless you had it recurved. The HEI also has an over oiling condition. If you have oil dripping from the base where the cap mounts you have that problem. However i can fix that.
 
"...advice from this "business" forum..."
an example above?
Yet U give us some pretty good stuff w/o requesting renumeration.
The "business" is like any other forum/site that is membership driven, as
this one. No great scheme of this site to fund an owner or even core of individuals
seeking financial gain. No moderator seeking to 'errase' any anti-company posts (I'm on
a CB site owned bya radio co that does that) but assisted/developed by a 'late comming' volunteer.

If worth a fuller discussion (my last name) perhapse a migrate to 'the Saloon" or 'Gasoline Alley'? I C ur
ur second post now, ofa similar nature, and wonder if that would be helpful? I am not in any restricted role
just 'a member' (we could even cover what that itself means) like yourself. Have gained alot from the site (of non-
financial nature).
 
I'm still playing with this thing. It's fun to drive and I've been busy much of late. Got married, which was the event that I could not miss, nor could Sunshine as she was the chariot. Also bought a house. Shortly after that drove it to work one day and the cam gear decided to hop off the cam. My fault- looks like the cam spacer was installed backwards( chamfer away from cam) by my 19 year old self 6 years ago and broke, which caused the cam gear bolt to loosen. Opps. While putting it back together, found the carb was slightly loose on intake- good 1/2 - 3/4 turn. After that I'm back to the pinging, but my O2 appears to have died. I suspect I'm back to lean. I'm running a 160-180 main jets. And before the carb tightening my WOT AFR was still in the 13's, I'm amazed as to why i'm having to get it this much to close to my afr. I'm back to getting similar symptoms was I was before I made a big change to the mains before.
TOO LEAN @ WOT.
 
I've recently installed a fresh o2 sensor so I'm back at it. One thing I have noticed after the most recent changes is that in 3,4 gear @wot, I'm noticing high 12's (12.8ish), up untill ~4000rpm, it starts running towards the 14 mark. It starts runs great up until it starts going lean, I don't think it's a jetting issue at this point. I'm wondering if it's airflow, maybe air correction jets, maybe total cfm, maybe fuel pressure.
 
The leaning above 4 K makes me wonder if you might be ready for a fresh fuel filter.
Cheap enough to try.
 
The only good way to know if it is down on power, is to take it to a 1/4 mile drag strip and get some et and mph slips. Then you can compare it with others.
You do not have to tear up the drive train to get a good idea what power it is making.
 
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