Heya planning a carb rebuild on my '78 20r. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions about:

OEM/Ebay direct stock rebuild/cleaning

Weber/Other brand.

Rebuild vs. fix/clean?

I'm proud of my truck's 100% stock condition.. it's the only reason I would choose OEM/Ebay purchase over aftermarket. But if there are significant known benefits to something else I am willing to consider.

If OEM is best.. what brand? Shop? Price range?

If Weber/other is best... same questions.

Thanks!

 

Are you looking for more power? Reliability? or Gas mileage. The stockers aren't as bad as most would make them out to be-lot's of poorly adjusted or not cleaned old carbs will convince lots of people that it's the carb to blame and not a lack of maintenance. But if you want more power and fuel economy is not tops on your list then the Weber's have long been a popular and well supported upgrade. Best fuel economy will come from a properly set up/clean stock version of your motors system-or fuel injection.

Rebuilding and Fix/Clean are basically the same thing with carbs. They don't have many parts that will wear out, but they do have many parts that will get gunked up or varnished by bad gas and potentially get damaged by someone rushing the job. Your least expensive route if your carb is in decent shape would be to get a rebuild kit and go through it meticulously. This is time consuming though and can be challenging. Stay organized and be prepared and it's not too bad. If you have someone do it for you-then find a reputable shop that has worked on the brand of carb you plan on having them go through. You will still have to do some of the work yourself at the end, unless the shop is local and you take the truck to them. Like setting the float level and hooking it all up-but that is the easy part.

 

Thanks for the tips! I think I'll go the way of rebuilding.. I noticed while adjusting the valves that there was some oozing leakage coming from the seals on the carb so I think it's time! This should be fun so long as I can find a good step-by step or schematic.

Cheers!

 

The various manuals all have that info (Haynes, Chilton, Clymer) and I think Autozone has it all on-line for free as well. Check it out on their website. It would be great if someone would put together a tutorial on it, but so far I haven't been able to find one. Before tackling mine I had rebuilt motorcycle and small engine carbs, but they were all different from the Aisan downdrafts. I am probably going to up my jets later this year so when I do I will take lots of pics and try and put together a "how-to" on these carby's. They have a lot of parts but they aren't as tiny as the motorcycle ones.

Oh and yes if you saw oozing coming from your carb it's due for a cleaning/rebuild. Once you get it clean be sure and use gas stabilizer in your tank and never let it just sit for days on end. At the very least start it up and either drive for 5minute or let it run for about 10. This will prevent varnish in your jets, and eliminate condensation elsewhere.