Weber 38 going on my 1986 2.6l newbie help please? High altitude...

I got a bonafide Weber from Triangle Auto supply, who Redline recommended. I let them talk me into the K610-38 GE, I hope I don't regret it. Anyways, so far my main question is...

Where do these huge threaded plugs go?? 2 of them about the size of my thumb??

The kit includes them but none of the "destructions" tell me what to do with them.

Also, I think I'm going to go with an electric fuel pump so that my fuel pressure is lower. When you go away from the mechanical fuel pump do you guys remove it and make a cover plate over the hole?

I'm rejetting the carb on the bench to hopefully get close to what my higher altitude will require...

I've got the original Mikuni carb removed so far, trying to go slow and careful...Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

Bill in Colorado at 8000 ft elevation

Hi, as to removing the mechanical fuel pump, yes just get a plate and gasket cut for it.
You will want a regulator or at least test it with a pressure gauge to be sure the electric pump is supplying the correct pressure

The big threaded plugs are used to delete an EGR pipe that runs from the exhaust manifold back into the intake (not on the earlier engines). Yes most of us will either cut up a block off plate out of alu or sheet metal but the fuel pump block off plate for a Ford or Chrysler can be used (AFAIK). You will also need to ensure the coolant port under the base of the carb is sealed up and the coolant barb where the water choke was hooked up to is sorted out (I removed mine and used a brass barb to reconnect the heater hoses).

Thank you Tortron and Geezer! So maybe my late '85 early '86 Power Ram doesn't need the threaded plugs???

It goes into the top of the exhaust manifold to remove the air injector tube currently in place, if the stock exhaust manifold is still in use.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pennyman1

It goes into the top of the exhaust manifold to remove the air injector tube currently in place, if the stock exhaust manifold is still in use.

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So that's the sketchy @ss smog pump set up? I've only ever seen pics of it and I thought it was an EGR pipe on steroids...

I presently have the 38mm (Redline) and have had good results with the AC EP42S electric fuel pump mounted by the tank. I did a lot of testing and have kept the list of jetting I arrived at- Runs strong.

More I read into it the more I'm inclined to think the 38 DGES is the carb to go for on our trucks. You'd have to be beating the crap out of it before the 38 gets close to reaching it's limit while the 32/36 might handle a few minutes of WOT before it gets strangled. It will handle running a modded engine without breaking too much of a sweat either. Take note of the above pump - AC Delco EP42S low pressure pump that delivers 42 gallons per hour. Same specs as the ebay budget pump as I have recommended (Carbole 42S).

Well Im still fumbling along on my Weber transplant. Thanks to you guys I did find ONE hole to plug with one of the TWO plugs Redline sends in their kit...the hole is left after I removed that aluminum Pipe contraption thingie that lived on top of the exhaust manifold. I also removed the heat shield cover from the top of the ex manifold, only to discover that it looks like my exhaust manifold is cracked and has been leaking black sooty stuff inside the aforementioned shield...so I kinda wanted to throw more money at this thing...I may be ordering new headers...

And while I was in the neighborhood I pulled the spark plugs...hmmm! 3 of the 4 were barely tight?!? The fourth was as tight as I would have expected BUT backed out of the hole quite hard and squealed and scraped as I turned it out...EVEN THOUGH I had sprayed some penetrating oil all over the base of the spark plugs before trying to remove them...DANG, I may have to heli- coil all four spark plug holes??????????? When I put new spark plugs back in the head they all started and turned into the hole just fine but they seated down kinda funny and soft...I was afraid to torque them too much???????? Have you guys ever dealt with stripped spark plug holes in these 2.6 heads????? OK to heli-coil them? Must remove head before heli-coiling???????? Amateur mechanics must ask for wisdom????????????!!

Hey Geezer, thanks for your encouraging comments about this bigger 38 synchronous carb. I was wondering if I had made the right choice. The guy at Redline strongly recommended the 38 over the 32/36 even though I've got a stock motor and I WANT GAS MILEAGE, NOT HORSEPOWER...??????

So I was kinda wondering if I shoulda told the salesman at Redline to keep his advice to himself and sell me the 32/36. He said the 38 was a newer, better design than the old 32/36. Better for him or better for me? Better for HP? Or better for efficiency and gas mileage...thats what I'm hoping for.

Well thanks for letting me vent, or rant, or at least think over these issues. If anyone is still reading this and wants to give me your thoughts about:

1. OK to heli-coil the spark plug holes?? Do I have to take the head off before heli- coiling?? Years ago I heli- coiled a VW bug motor and was told that I didn't need to remove the heads before tapping out the old threads and turning in the new heli- coil insert...just try to keep as many of the metal chips from falling into the combustion chamber as possible...? Course the heads come off an air-cooled bug much easier than this newer 2.6l Mitsub.

2. Any other advice or guidance or experience about this Weber conversion...I blocked off the hole left after removing the EGR...is that OK? The instructions do tell you not to leave the vacuum lines attached from the EGR but they didn't say if it was OK to remove the EGR and plate/plug the two holes left in the intake manifold.

2.5 Which one of these many hoses and tubes is for the brake booster?? The instructions seem to say I should keep vacuum hooked up to this??

3. Anybody else out there more concerned about MPG than HP with these old 2.6l motors????

THANKS AGAIN IN ADVANCE!

Bill from Colorado

Removing the EGR and blocking it is fine (most guys will either block it off or just leave it there disconnected). None of the EGR stuff is helpful with the engine anyway (I have the G63B 2.0 and I physically cut the entire gas gallery out of the manifold and did a bunch of other mods to it to delete the EGR junk. I may yet go one step further and cut the EGR mount off the manifold and seal it with JB weld and alu shavings...) Only one hose for the brake booster (the big one off #4 intake runner next to the heater hose connection - yeah, don't nerf your brakes. They're kinda important...). The 38 will give good all round performance but will be less likely to struggle when you're planting your foot down (you should still be getting around 25mpg - it's an improvement over the Mikuni) There are a couple of reasons why owners do the Weber swap. The Mikuni is complicated, not cheap to fix and really holds these engines back. Don't know what to suggest with the spark plugs other than visually check the threads. I am mystified on how anybody strips a spark plug thread out. They must use a mallet to install their plugs :shakehead:

sometimes it is not that they over tighten them, it is that the carbon buildup on them is so bad that it wipes out the threads on the way out. My Lincoln Blackwood is like that - if you go to change plugs, you loosen them about a turn, then soak them with carb cleaner and let them sit to dissolve the carbon on the threads - the threads on the plugs are longer than the holes in the head, so they carbon up easily.

Success!!! I was starting to have my doubts, but she fired right up today. I replaced spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, coil and thermostat. (While I was changing all these parts AND doing the carb swap I worried that I was changing too many things at once and might make troubleshooting problems later, but all seems pretty good!)

Both idle mixture screws set around 1 to 2 turns off the bottom. Idles fine. Say, why doesn't Weber explain anything about setting the main jet or higher speed settings?? All they talk about is setting the idle, then we're good to go??? Don't check spark plug color right after a higher speed run???

Yes, just like you all said, it runs much much better- much more power. Thanks to you all for the help. Bill

They do in a actual weber manual. It really is a trial and error method to get it to run its best, because these carbs are designed to be used on so many different motors, there is no one way to tune them. Sounds like you got a good start.

I talked to triangle auto today, whosold me my Weber, and they said that if you follow their directions and get the idle dialed in just right the main jets and other adjustments will most likely be fine. He said it wouldn't be a bad idea to check the spark plug color under higher speed running, but I guess many folks just do the idle! I was pretty surprised, And I don't think I'll trust that. He said I should look for a white or gray color, but if it's brown it's too lean...pretty different to my old 2 stroke running days. My dad used to say chocolate brown is what you wanted to see....

Tan to chocolate brown is what you want to see - white or gray is lean. If the insulator is blistered, you are in the danger zone of burning holes in the pistons and detonation.

Pennyman, yeah, I knew that is the case with 2 strokes, but I thought that guys that sell Webers all day long oughta know something??? Maybe the guy was just a salesman!

Right info - wrong order. You knew how to read a plug but if all this stuff is new to someone, they could mess up an otherwise properly set up and running carb.