Weber 38/38 DGS and various Distributors

[Sickboy49]

It has been awhile since I updated this post. I finally got around to ordering a Weber 32/36, and put it on the motor Monday. Even at the baseline settings the motor fired up easier that is ever has with the 38/38. I did some tuning on it last night and had to re-jet the idle circuit from a 55 to a 60. Almost fires right up but idles consistently with no backfire from the carb when I step on it. One more session of tuning (messing with timing as well) and I will be able to take her for a test run. I think I may put a 60 jet in the secondary because she does seems to fall off around 3 grand. A big shoutout to all of you that have given your advice along the way and especially to Frank. Less is more! I will post all the specs of the setup after I get a few miles on it so somebody may have an easier time then I have. Also I will be posting in the for sale section the two 38/38 Webers that I have at a reasonable price. Thank you all again.

 

[Sickboy49]

Well I should not have spoke so soon. The reason it was idling so good is I found the linkage was hanging up/open. After correcting that I have been going round and round trying to get the motor to run within the specs of the the weber carb to no avail. I am just not able to tune around the lack of compression on 4 of the 6 cylinders. I am going to bite the bullet have have the rings redone. I have a few calls in for quotes. The saga never ends.

 

[Sickboy49]

I found a local garage that works on older cars. The manager actually has a 63 Falcon. He gave me a quote of 1K in labor (10 hours). They actually prefer that I drop off the whole car, not just the motor. They like making sure the cars that they work on run right before leaving the shop. So it look like I will be dropping her off mid to late April.

 

[DON]

Just make sure you get a detailed estimate on what is going to be done and with what parts. Maybe even list it here?

 

[awasson]

I found a local garage that works on older cars. The manager actually has a 63 Falcon. He gave me a quote of 1K in labor (10 hours). They actually prefer that I drop off the whole car, not just the motor. They like making sure the cars that they work on run right before leaving the shop. So it look like I will be dropping her off mid to late April.

Fair enough. I wouldn't want to bench tune an engine that's misbehaving. It's much better to have the whole car at your disposal.

My 200 is quite a different configuration from a 223 but I have a 38/38 on my 66 200, mild build engine and although it is sensitive to adjustments, it seems to always idle reasonably well.

It's probably not an issue with yours but I've noticed that if there isn't good air circulation, the carb can heat soak while running and then it's obviously a mess. It's not a problem with a mechanical driven fan but I have experienced it when I had a pusher electric fan. A phenolic spacer and heat deflector between the head/intake and the float bowl will more than likely solve that issue though.

Good luck with getting this fixed once and for all.

 

[Sickboy49]

Thanks guys. Actually I know what the issue is. After doing a wet and dry leak-down test I found that the 4 of the 6 piston rings are messed up from the company who originally rebuilt my motor. She is just not creating enough vacuum to draw in the air/fuel. I just don't have the tools and the experience to do it myself. Like I said in my earlier post you can't tune around a bad build.

Don - I actually talked to the garage about that. I asked them to order the rings and new front and rear main seals. I have almost all the other seals which I can provide, and they were more then happy about.

awasson - Thanks man. I want to get her on the road ASAP. I haven't been able to drive her reliably in almost 2 years. I want my daily driver back.

 

[Frank]

Sickboy49, that price is reasonable, especially with them doing the whole project from removal/installation. Having a shop that appreciates vintage engines, especially if partial to I6 is a big benefit. I have that here also with Gary at the only local shop. We were in high school together and both had I6 cars- his was a Chevy with a Clifford 6=8 package. He got fired up when I brought the 240 in for service last year.
Really hope this gets you out of the hood and into the driver's seat!

 

[Sickboy49]

Sickboy49, that price is reasonable, especially with them doing the whole project from removal/installation. Having a shop that appreciates vintage engines, especially if partial to I6 is a big benefit. I have that here also with Gary at the only local shop. We were in high school together and both had I6 cars- his was a Chevy with a Clifford 6=8 package. He got fired up when I brought the 240 in for service last year.
Really hope this gets you out of the hood and into the driver's seat!

Thanks Frank!

 

[philford]

10 hours seems like a very short time to remove rebuild and reinstall an engine. I hope this works out well.
Id just encourage you to talk about the "what if it takes a LOT more time? " scenario. Just know where its going before you have a shop pull your engine and take it all apart because then your options may be more limited than they are at the moment.
100 bucks an hour for a guy and his shop use. probably isn't unfair ,id say just be cautious. Murphys law suggests there could possibly be some surprise hangup and that is sometimes a matter of course,

Maybe he is that fast, Let's hope that's the case.

 

[Sickboy49]

I have two other quotes out there. Actually just one. The one other shop could only get me in in the fall. The other is my regular mechanic, who does work on the older stuff. He is a one man shop so it would take him about a month. He is meticulous, and wants to go through the whole motor, since I told him about the crappy rebuild, just to be sure nothing else is amiss. He is 90% certain it is the rings after I described everything that I did to this point.

 

[DON]

I like meticulous, details!!