Weber - fitting time worth it?

[Junglist]

Is fitting a Weber a big job? Anyone got an estimate on how long it might take me? And how long it might take a mechanic? - so I can weigh up whether to pay someone else to do it instead!

Also, anyone know where I can get a throttle return spring and idle control screw?

And do I definitely need to fit a manual choke and a K&N air filter?

Thanks in advance for all help!

[richieA]

should only take a couple of hours, probably an hours labour for a "pro"...

It's easy though, take your time and it'll all go to plan!

should be plenty of How-To's around!

[Junglist]

Yeah I looked at one before. Had about 23 steps I think. Doesn't sound much but each step was fairly involved. The list of things needed to do it was over 20 items long too. Reckon I can get my mechanic to do it for £30 if it'll only take him an hour. Worth it I reckon as I expect I'd take at least 3 (I'm no mechanic and the guy who posted the how-to took four hours). Also I'd be worried I'd make a mistake. Anyone reckon any different?

[filmidget]

Blimey, your mechanic is cheap! Decent local garages round here would be £40-50 +VAT.

And I would think it would be a couple of hours by time adjusted mixture etc.

You don't need a K&N... in fact I would advise keeping the standard airbox and hot air feed - you can fit a K&N panel to the standard airbox. You will have to fit the manual choke (IMO one of the best bits of the Weber conversion!).

Spring and idle screw should be available from any decent Weber agent - try a web search, you might find somewhere local.

[Akinesis]

Kieran, you did the cam OK, so the weber shouldn't be as bad By-the-way, the EX engine is SOO much more revvy with the DX cam - thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an EX

I didn't find the weber that intimidating when I fitted it, and it was the first time. I took the car down to a garage to do the CO mixture, though. I wanted that done professionally.

A company called Burlen Services sorted me with my Weber parts. The step-by-step guide is very good and does have pictures. As mentioned before, take your time. But then if you can get it done for £30 then mabe just go for that out of ease. But definately worth it

[Chaps]

fitting it shouldnt be hard, its just the tuning up that i struggled with. took it somewhere and it was done in 30mins.
A push bike brake cable is good for a choke if your struggling to find 1.

[Junglist]

The £30 price is only valid if he can do it in an hour as suggested. He normally charges £40 per hour but gives me a good price. If it will actually take 2 hours, I'd better do it myself. Anyone got a more definite idea whether it'd take him one hour or two? Maybe I should ask him!

I'll get them to tune it/do CO thing for definite. Does fitting manual choke require drilling, faricating, mounts, etc? Or is it all already there to just feed the cable through and attach the handle?

Thanks for all advice so far - keep it coming!

[filmidget]

If you have swapped a cam, go on have a go yourself Just leave all day free just in case

Nothing should need fabricating for the choke cable - there is a hole for just such a purpose to one side of the steering colunm.

Should be able to get the idle mixture pretty close just by ear - just fiddle 'til it sounds right... that's what I did with my 205 (after the idle mixture screw went AWOL on a long drive) and it passed the MOT spot on

[roccodave]

it is quite easy to fit but can be a little fiddly i had mine on allready but i fitted one on a mates car a while ago cant remeber how long it took [shure it wasnt 4 hours tho]
i would reccomend doing it yourself as it isn't that hard to do and will probably give you a little more confidence to attack other jobs in the future
the more you save in mechanics bills the more you have for important things like shiny bits and
when you get the replacement screw and spring get a proper choke cable from the same place
cant remember how we fitted the choke cable but the carb goes a bit like this

1 remove airbox and vacume pipes
2 remove 3 bolts from the top of the carb and lift off [10mm i think]
3 remove water pipe from the manifold to carb and the one between the heater matrix pipe and carb
4 reverse the heater matrix rubber pipe and refit it to the manifold
5 bolt the conversion plate to the rubber baseplate
6 bolt the carb to the conversion plate
7 connect the throttle and choke cables
8 connect a vacume pipe from the valve in the servo pipe to the outlet on the back of the carb
9 fit throttle return spring
10 remove the fuel line from the old carb and fit to the webber
11 start it and adjust the idle controll screw till its around 900rpm
12 refit airbox and go get it set up properly
it may be a good idea to replace the rubber baseplate too as they can perish and split
this should get the job done allow yourself a bit of time to do it and it should all go well
hope this helps and happy tinkering

[Junglist]

That helps a lot. Much simplified therefore less intimidating/complicated looking. Ta. I'll attempt it Saturday.

[Akinesis]

I got a new choke cable off eBay - £13 delivered for a genuine weber.

[Junglist]

Is it the one that's £9.70 with £2.70 postage? That's what I've gone for. 54 inch long. "Weber dealer" apparently.

[Junglist]

Someone's just offered me twin 40s for £100! What should I do? He just wants them sold quick. They're off an XR2 but I assume they're all the same. How much better would they make my car compared to the Weber? What do they normally go for? Have I struck on as much of a bargain as I think I have? Or am I walking into a minefield of complicated mechanics and expensive upgrades with only a small improvement resulting?

[filmidget]

Or am I walking into a minefield of complicated mechanics and expensive upgrades with only a small improvement resulting?

Bingo!

Would need a manifold, filters, fuel pump & regulator, and some rolling road time (with probably purchasing some jets etc).

And you would only really see the benefit with some serious engine mods/work.

Very reasonable price though (depending on condition)

[richieA]

buy em (if you decide not to use em stick em on ebay should go for 150+ ( stick a reserve of 100 so you dont loose out), look into the conversion, but expect to pay out another 250-500 on other parts (dependent on luck/new/used/etc.), but i guess they'll add a decent amount of grunt plus the sound of twins is SWEET! :D