Weber 38/38 DGS and various Distributors

[Frank]

I also had some other parts suppliers send me .020, or .001, sized bearing instead of STD

Glad you paid attention! I went thru this same thing with a '59 Rambler flathead 6. They sent .001. Said, "well, we're out of standard, these will usually work on a worn crank." No sir, they won't.
Ebay is a great source for NOS, that's a good find. Old Federal Mogul bearings are the best. In the above debacle, I eventually found NOS original AMC factory bearings for that engine on ebay. The boxes were falling apart with age, the bearings- perfect.

 

[awasson]

Thanks!. Where did you get your spacer from?

I got mine from this guy on EBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192096681116

Worth every penny.

 

[Sickboy49]

I got mine from this guy on EBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192096681116

Worth every penny.

Thank you!

 

[Sickboy49]

Got the motor installed in the car on Sunday. I got it fired up but realized I was off a tooth on the distributor. Last night I corrected that and she is running a lot better then before. I am still dialing it in because I found the throttle was binding a little bit and would not fully shut. I am correcting that sometime this week. From the testing last night it looks as though I should be able to get the 32/36 within spec. I may need to bump up the idle jet but I will only be able to determine that after dialing it in some more. The engine is running a lot smoother, and I am able to keep the timing within reason (10 to 12 degrees initial). Bonus points... no leaks anywhere!

 

[Sickboy49]

Siiiiigh..... back to the drawing board. I can't get it to idle within the Weber specs. I am calling around to different shops to get it tuned.

 

[awasson]

Is that a Weber 32/36 and is it one from Clifford, jetted for the Inline-6?

I ask because those carbs are put on everything from Jeeps to Mazda B2200's to BMW2002's and each has some variation in jetting. For the Clifford one that's set up for a Ford 6-200, it should be a matter of dialling in the idle/air and the idle jet.

The 38/38 version is slightly different because it has 2 idle jets and it comes off the idle circuit earlier than the 32/36 but the basic workflow is the same:

* It took a while for me to get mine right dialled in and it was 1/8 of a turn from too rich to where it is now. I took notes of every time I adjusted it.

* The engine needs to be at normal temp and for mine that means I have to drive it for about 15 - 20 minutes. It takes a long time to get to normal operating temp even though the gauge was at temp within about 5 minutes.

* You probably know the process like the back of your hand but in case something is missing this is how I approach it.

• For a 32/36, back out the the idle speed screw so it is just touching the lever, then turn it in another 1 to 1.5 turns. No more than 1.5 turns so it doesn't come off the idle circuit.
• Set the mixture screw to a baseline of 2 turns out from being just lightly seated.
• It should now be capable of holding some sort of idle. Best case is that it's running rich but pretty smooth. Let me know if you can get it running on the base settings because everything after depends on it.
• Turn the air idle screw in slowly until it stumbles then in small increments back it out until it runs the smoothes and fastest again. On my 38/38, I turn it 1/8 of a turn and listen, if it's not quite right, it goes out another 1/8 of a turn in whichever direction improves it.

If you need to back the idle/air mixture screw out more than 2 turns then you'll need to look at putting a larger idle jet in.

On my 38/38, I managed to get it right on the money at 3/4 of a turn out after quite a number of sessions adjusting it.

Hopefully that helps.