Cold air intake or perfomance carb?

[OCD Boss]

I am currently trying to decide on my next purchase and trying to decide what would have a better out come. I have a 1980 D50 Sport that I need to either replace the carb or rebuild it. Now I have been looking at 2 conflicting products: a performance Weber carb, and a universal cold air intake by K&N. The Weber has it's own set up that I could slap a K&N filter on later, but I don't know if that would be considered cold air intake or not. And if I do go with the cold air intake, I'll just rebuild the carb. Anyway, I'm hoping someone that is much more mechanically inclined than I can help me decided. I'll post a pic of the carb in case if that will help in the opinion process.

Weber Carb.JPG

[blindeyed]

K&N's cold air intake systems are strictly just filters and some piping. All that a cold air intake system consists of is some piping that leads to the bottom of the engine bay/the front of the vehicle/and sometimes they go through the hood in the form of vents. The purpose is to bring cooler air into the motor from outside of the engine bay. The cooler the air is entering a motor, the more power you make. On a stock to slightly modified vehicle, you can experience almost similar gains just by replacing your filter with an aftermarket one such as K&N. In fact, if you want to save a few bucks you can always just fab up your own out of PVC piping material from your local home improvement store.

[OCD Boss]

Hey thanks for the input. That makes sense now as to why they would call it cold air intake. However, the question that I still have left is which would be better though? Which would give me greater performance? Not that I am trying to turn it into a race car, just wanna make her run the best she can.

Basically I'm trying to decide between these two choices:

A) Purchase the performance carb and just purchase a K&N Filter for the new carb

B) Rebuild carb and purchase cold air intake

I know that I could probably do "B" much cheaper, but I am looking for what would be best in the long run since I like to do stuff right the first time.

[LethalEthan]

I would go with the carb. Your not only adding performance but reliability in deleting all the vacuum bs. They make an airplenum for the weber carb so you can always do a cold air later on down the road.

[OCD Boss]

Ok, that sounds good. Best of both worlds then! Thanks for the advise!

[pennyman1]

I have run the weber setup you have pictured since 1983 - great upgrade over stock. If you have an auto, be sure to get the kickdown lever for the carb, or the tranny won't shift right without it. To really get the most from the Weber, get the taller air cleaner for it; I did that and it runs and sounds much better. You also need to change from the mechanical fuel pump to an electric pump mounted back by the tank in a pusher setup; the mechanical pump is too high of pressure and will overpower the carb causing flooding and needle and seat damage.

[OCD Boss]

Ok, thanks for the heads up on that! I would have been so confused as to what is going on haha. And on that note, I haven't looked down at the fuel tank yet, but I have seen a few brand new ones for fairly cheap. Do you think it would be wise to change out the fuel tank as well, while I'm down there?

The only reason I ask is because the more I look around the more rust I'm finding on things, and I'm concerned that the fuel tank isn't an exception to that. Since I live in an apartment, when I do have the space to pull things apart, I have to make the best use of my time and space.

Also, my fuel gauge doesn't seem to be reading very accurately. What could I do about that?

F.Y.I. Mine is a manual, so thank god I don't have to worry about the shifting issue.

[dmr8x2]

i put the Webber carb on my sun's truck , and he loves it.
but i put the fuel regulator too close to the radiator so now he gets vapor lock in the summer
I need to keep every thing back close to the fire wall .
i all so made a CAI on my 2.4 that works very well and looks cool too.
good luck

[l.k.]

carb first...i would check out the tank personally. lines etc...get the filters changed and do a reg maintnance on the fuel system--beginning to end..

good luck buddy

[pennyman1]

All the new tanks available for the 1st gen trucks come without the sending unit, so you would have to reuse the one from the old tank or find another one. Be sure to check the seams of the tank where it bolts to the frame mounts - the tank will rust out between the tank and the reinforcement plates where it bolts on to the brackets. BTW, since that truck is a 2.6 5spd, it has an 18 gallon tank; all the replacements are 15 gallon. For best performance of the electric fuel pump, mount it as close as you can to the tank, right after the filter. The tank can be flushed or cleaned easily since there is a drain plug in the bottom of the tank.

[mikewarme]

Pennyman...... In case your ever wondering ,I have a pile of new NOS sendingunits for 1st gen trucks

[pennyman1]

good to know - how much and will they fit either 15 or 18 gallon tank?

[OCD Boss]

Awesome info guys! Thank you! I obviously completely underestimated what it was going to take to replace the carb. I will definitely do everything that you guys are suggesting, but I think I'm gonna save up and buy all the parts individually, and then when I have all my parts together, just do one huge fuel overhaul with the new carb, fuel tank, fuel pump, and maybe even fuel lines. I'm actually excited for the 15gal tank just because my work is 5 minutes down the road. So the need for fuel isn't as big of an issue as it might be for others. I think I'm just going to start with the basics and just do a basic tune up with a oil change, spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, and air filter. Then move to the suspension and steering. The biggest issue that I really have at the moment that I'm not to sure if I want to take on myself or not is the suspension and steering. The suspension seems pretty straight forward, but the steering I just don't know enough about the actual parts and maintenance. I might just be over thinking this, but maybe you guys can shed some light on that for me. The truck has quite a bit of work to do, but it also has lots of potential.