New 1500 build + new 5 speed install

Agnelli said:
NEG - Thank you. I already own the BK model. If you can check and see if the STE-13 adapter specifically for Weber DCNF40 is available, that would be fantastic.
Click to expand...

This one?

WEBER DCN & DCNF CARBURETTOR SYNCHROMETER / BALANCER ADAPTOR - Classic Carbs UK

STE Carburettor Synchrometer Adaptor Number 13 This adaptor allows the use of the STE synchrometer on WEBER DCN and some DCNF carburettors. Outside diameter of 1st section 43.5mm Diameter across the flats of the square section 44mm Outside diameter of 2nd round section 49.2mm Inside diameter...
classiccarbs.co.uk classiccarbs.co.uk
 
Carrying on with engine break-in and carb tuning:

First longer drive yesterday afternoon over favorite curvy road to the adjacent town over the hill. Brief warm up (60 seconds), no chirps or pops, new jets are great very little hesitation when cold. Power is perceptibly stronger, as the throttle tips in there's an immediate snap as the butterflies open. Car ran great running up the turns in 2nd and 3rd gears. Some crackling still off throttle but not obtrusive.

I was mindful of the break-in recommendations from the machinist (vary engine speeds, don't over-rev) and Croft's section on that topic. Waiting at two longer stop lights, varied the revs in neutral. Off those stop lights, there was the slightest transition hesitation, I suspect that will be tuned out when the synch tool arrives.

Great to really drive the X again, totally rewarding experience after significant effort. Can visualize what it will be like at higher revs.
 
Smaller synch tool arrived in the post today. After brief warm up run, pulled the filters, loosened the air correction locknuts, and proceeded to tune.

First major, fundamental discovery: though I had the two carbs closely synched at the linkage, I was using the wrong idle speed screw to activate! What an error. My oddball linkage calls for using the right carby idle speed screw, not the left. This explained the fact that the right carby idle mixture screws had no effect.

Figured this out by observing the left carb was drawing 7.5 on the synch tool and the right only 3+. Shut off the motor and took a close look at the setup and quickly realized the issue. Backed off the left idle speed, made sure the center link was still in good order, then turned in the right side idle screw.

With the synch tool moving from barrel to barrel, adjusted the center link such that both carbs now draw 5 at idle on the synch tool meter. Left carb barrels matched, so I left the air correctors closed. On the right carby, it's left barrel drew just under five, so opened its air corrector to match barrels.

Idles very well and with only time for a short drive, running nicely now. Thanks to NEG, I do have the correct adapted on the way from Europe for the larger BK synch tool. Once that arrives, will be able to accurately ascertain even vacuum at higher revs simultaneously. This, and further jet tuning if needed, or not.
synch tool.JPG
 
oh yeah, I thought I had mentioned that, I only use one idle speed screw, I remove the other...

personally I like the idle air correctors just cracked open on all barrels, and then adjust these to get it even vacuum across all barrels... I think the carbs should have a slight chip-chip sound (not a chirp - chirp) if you listen with a hose near the edge of the mouth

SteveC
 
Sorry I've missed this somewhere but exactly what sync tool and adapter(s) are needed for these DCNF carbs? And can you only order it from the UK Jim?
 
CnC79X19 said:
Sorry I've missed this somewhere but exactly what sync tool and adapter(s) are needed for these DCNF carbs? And can you only order it from the UK Jim?
Click to expand...
Ulix has it right. STE-SK works without adapters. Bought mine from Pierce Manifolds. For the STE-BK, the correct adapter is STE-13. That is on the way from classiccarbs.co.uk per NEG’s lead.
 
fiatfactory said:
oh yeah, I thought I had mentioned that, I only use one idle speed screw, I remove the other...

personally I like the idle air correctors just cracked open on all barrels, and then adjust these to get it even vacuum across all barrels... I think the carbs should have a slight chip-chip sound (not a chirp - chirp) if you listen with a hose near the edge of the mouth

SteveC
Click to expand...
Good copy Steve will try the idle air correctors just cracked and report back.
 
Longer drive over the hill on curvy road after the carby balancing (though I have yet to crack all the idle air correctors). Major improvements to idle smoothness, linear progression from idle to main circuits, and reduced crackling / burbling off throttle. A leap closer to fine tuned.
 
First oil change yesterday since rebuild. Bosch filter + Rotella + Zinc break in additive. Next change will switch to Mobil 1 diesel.

Also, cracked the idle air correctors per Steve's post above. When the rain quits will measure with synch tool. And bump the timing for a bit more advance.
 
75 mile run yesterday to an appointment, combination freeway and city, with plenty of throttle and more revs. Arguably the most fun driving having owned mainly Fiat and Alfa Romeo sports cars for the past 44 years. Hoelscher's 5 speed transaxle is extraordinary, breaking in beautifully. Absolutely pleased with the rebuild of it and the engine.
 
More driving this week exploring higher revs. Definitely driving style adapting to the new drivetrain (faster), which motivated some safety and reliability improvements. Fuel pump inertia switch installed (see what did you do to your X thread), and installed Wix 33040 fuel filter to address potential hot start vapor lock / heat soak. Here's the spec on the filter, employed as the DCNF40's don't have return fuel lines:

"universal inline metal 1/4" fuel filter. This gas filter has a built in return line. The return line has an internal restriction that allows a small amount of fuel to recirculate back to the gas tank to keep fuel in pump/fuel line/filter cool, reducing the chance of vapor lock. Return line also allow fuel pressure to carb to quickly go to zero, preventing possible flooding of carb when engine is turned off."
 
Agnelli said:
Here's the oil galley plug that failed. In trying to source, learned there are deep and shallow. This one is deep. This style worked for me in the front of the block next to the Aux drive oil galley port. But did not work on the rear of the engine port. I looked at the good running block that had come out of the car, the OE galley plug sure looks to be shallow.
View attachment 38102
Here is the new threaded, modified solution. We'll know tomorrow if it works.View attachment 38103
Click to expand...

Next chapter here. During my last drive noticed a strange burning smell, almost like burning plastic. Checked the car after putting it back in the garage and observed a frisbee sized puddle of motor oil under the car. Dang. Sure hoping the source was not from my earlier oil galley resolution, or the rear main seal. These involve dropping the transaxle, and having done that to solve my earlier leak was not excited to repeat that affair. Put the car up on jacks and inspected, the source was in that same region potentially, so more work in order. Pulled the distributor and thought about how to re-power the oil pump without (1) having to start the engine (2) drop the timing belt. I read the threads here on the forum about making the tool (last time I used a Ducellier distributor shaft with a 90 degree drill, but it was a tight fit as I also had to pull the plastic plate forward of the distributor.

New approach: grind the gear teeth off of a spare distributor drive gear with an angle grinder. This save a trip to a shop with a lathe, which would have been the alternate approach. Also, ordered a 90 degree drill bit passive drive from Amazon, so now hopefully enabled the goal. Photo of the rig is below, it worked great, and the good news is discovered what I hope is the root cause: loose breather 'bell'. Oil was definitely not coming from behind the flywheel / rear of the block, so unlikely it was the rear seal or galley plug. And it appeared the oil pan was not leaking, though I did take the opportunity to gently re-torque the pan nuts. There was oil residue below the breather, and its securing bolt was not firmly snug. I will re-set the timing and report back.

pressure jig.JPG
 
Update report - 1500 build is now fully broken in. First two oil change cycles were using conventional Shell Rotella w/ Lucas zinc additive. Ten months on since installation, just switched over to Mobil Turbo Diesel 5w-40w synthetic. Noticed slight weeping at the valve cover gasket, resolved by snugging up the fasteners. This prompted other re-torques, such as the motor mounts. I used a lot of copper anti-seize pretty much on all fasteners, which I theorize may allow for nuts and bolts to loosen up more readily with vibration and run in time. On my 128 , I had a lower engine mount bolt fall out, which prompted re-torqueing all the fasteners on my X crossmember.

This may beg the question: what's a good service protocol for checking critical fasteners?

Final note: the new engine doesn't leak any oil, though it was an adventure getting there with the galley plug issue and pan / crank carriers. Running extremely well pleased with the results.
 
CnC79X19 said:
Sorry I've missed this somewhere but exactly what sync tool and adapter(s) are needed for these DCNF carbs? And can you only order it from the UK Jim?
Click to expand...
The only Sync tool worth money comes from NAPA. Bought one year ago, $52.00 It was listed in a carb tuning category. It's a squirrel cage looking thing with an easy to read number scale, a large rubber funnel shaped nose that goes in the carb throat that will stay in place so you have 2 hands to make adjustments. Many people don't know, up scale Weber carbs have an air flow screw on each barrel to balance the air flow between the 2 barrels in a dual barrel carb That means you have 4 of them on a twin 2-barrel set. The air screws are held by an 8mm hex nut, with screwdriver slot. Before balance on duals, all are turned in lightly , closed. Begin your normal balance routine to get close to the right idle speed, Then you check air flow on each individual carb. the lowest flow between the 2 barrels is increased with the air screw. The other carb the same, lowest air flow increase the air flow to match the other barrel. Now only check air flow in the 2 center barrels for matching flow. Proper linkage, the second carb is opened and closed only with the center linkage, so setting idle speed on the front carb, also sets the back carb. Then come up with a way to move the primary carb linkage, which opens both carbs to near1400rpm, and using the center linkage to bal the 2 carbs together. YOU CAN NOT HOLD THE THROTTLE BY HAND. or jam linkage on the carbs. You want every bit of play to show up, you move only the primary linkage. Only then can you adjust the idle mixture, keeping the idle at under 1000 rpm. So fast and easy, nothing is better.
Also, maybe at NAPA, but for sure at Jegs, a Jeep Weber conversion has the taller chrome single air cleaner for each 2 barrel Weber carb. 90% of the small chrome cleaners set too close to the carb top, seriously restricting air flow. I have those taller filters on my Yugo and they don't hit the hood. The X1/9 the engine lid can be raised easily if needed.
 
pro4art said:
The only Sync tool worth money comes from NAPA. Bought one year ago, $52.00 It was listed in a carb tuning category. It's a squirrel cage looking thing with an easy to read number scale, a large rubber funnel shaped nose that goes in the carb throat that will stay in place so you have 2 hands to make adjustments. Many people don't know, up scale Weber carbs have an air flow screw on each barrel to balance the air flow between the 2 barrels in a dual barrel carb That means you have 4 of them on a twin 2-barrel set. The air screws are held by an 8mm hex nut, with screwdriver slot. Before balance on duals, all are turned in lightly , closed. Begin your normal balance routine to get close to the right idle speed, Then you check air flow on each individual carb. the lowest flow between the 2 barrels is increased with the air screw. The other carb the same, lowest air flow increase the air flow to match the other barrel. Now only check air flow in the 2 center barrels for matching flow. Proper linkage, the second carb is opened and closed only with the center linkage, so setting idle speed on the front carb, also sets the back carb. Then come up with a way to move the primary carb linkage, which opens both carbs to near1400rpm, and using the center linkage to bal the 2 carbs together. YOU CAN NOT HOLD THE THROTTLE BY HAND. or jam linkage on the carbs. You want every bit of play to show up, you move only the primary linkage. Only then can you adjust the idle mixture, keeping the idle at under 1000 rpm. So fast and easy, nothing is better.
Also, maybe at NAPA, but for sure at Jegs, a Jeep Weber conversion has the taller chrome single air cleaner for each 2 barrel Weber carb. 90% of the small chrome cleaners set too close to the carb top, seriously restricting air flow. I have those taller filters on my Yugo and they don't hit the hood. The X1/9 the engine lid can be raised easily if needed.
Click to expand...
The one you described sounds like a Synchrometer brand unit. I bought one in the early 80s and still use it. They were much better than the alternatives back then. They make several sizes based on air flow requirements. There is one on Amazon for about 40 bucks but that is only a few dollars more than I paid 30+ years ago so it might be a copy of the original design. Reviews look good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top