Carburator Upgrades

SanJuanDigger

Sharpest Tool
Apr 5, 2016
293
Ridgway, CO
First Name
John
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1961
Hello my friends-
I have been trying to get a Mastercraft carburetor and manifold adaptor from a guy who goes by Gronk, in Colorado Springs, who advertises on eBay. He claims to have done "thousands" of these carburetor upgrades, with great success. Says he used to do Weber upgrades, and got tired of all the fiddling around it took to get them to work right (I've read about this on the Forum). But he is a bit squirrely when it comes to communicating, and I'm feeling wary.

Has anybody gotten a rebuilt carb from this guy? How did it go? I'd really like to get some member feedback before sending money.
Thanks!
John
Ridgway, CO
 
I don't know him and haven't heard anything good or bad about him, but it says a lot to me when someone advertises thier services and right out of the blocks fails to communicate. Will he return your calls or emails if you have questions or God forbid problems with his work? How many times have you tried to contact him? Several tries with no replays over any period of time wouldn't do much to earn my money. It's basic customer service...
 
RobbyJoe-
He replies to eBay messages well enough, but I find that's a much less direct way than email, which he won't use. I did get his phone number, and thought I'd ordered the carb kit, then my iPhone died while on the road. Most of my contact information was lost (so much for the cloud). When I contacted him though eBay again, he asked if I wanted to order (this is after giving him lots of dimensions and pictures of the 226). So it may just be a series of circumstances. I was just wondering if anyone here had heard of him, and gotten a kit from him (he says he's done several Willys).
I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.
Thanks-
John
 
I just purchased a Weber from Weber direct. Put it on in about an hour. Had to make a small bracket for the throttle rod and redo the fuel line. It started right up and runs great. Very nice throttle response. It does stumble slightly as the second barrel opens up. I am going to contact Weber and see what they say about it. Good luck!
 
Frank- What about the adaptor from your old manifold to the new Weber? Did they make one for you? Aluminum or steel? Did you get throttle rod bracket parts at a local automotive shop, or make them?
This "stumble" issue sounds fairly common for Weber conversions. Did you find out how to fix it?
Thanks-
John
 
I also purchased a Weber 32/36 (from Redline) for my Chevy 230 inline 6. What a great Carburetor, easy install and runs great. No adaptor needed for my application but I know they have numerous adaptors for engines with original Carters.
 
John, I used a one to two barrel adapter that Weber direct sells. The carb I used is a manual choke model. I used the factory Willys linkage and made an adapter out of a piece of small angle iron. Is you're choke manual or electric. Have you read Petes post on this carb? I been really busy and haven't talked to Weber yet. Here are a couple of pics. The red piece of angle iron is the linkage adapter. It simply bolts to the carb piece and it has a hole in it to accept the throttle rod. I am also a cheap ass so I gutted my oil bath air filter and made the base of it fit the top of the carb. The top also fits on and looks factory. If you need the part numbers I can get the for you. Good luck!
 

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John, here are the part numbers I used. Note the carb is a manual choke and I just bought the carb not the kit.

From weber direct
Part 100.550 adapter single barrel manifold to two barrel carb list $39.95 cost $29.95

Part 22680.005 32/36 DGV manual choke list $299.95 cost $189.95

shipping was free

good luck!
 
Frank- Thanks for the info! It looks great (as does the rest of your engine compartment). How funny you modified your oil bath air cleaner like that. The part you made looks super easy to fabricate. I am surprised to see your vacuum advance line looks like rubber hose: all the ones I've seen are steel (as is mine), so there isn't any lag due to slight expansion of the hose. Do you have any "stumble" (hesitation on acceleration) issues? Did you have to fiddle with jets or mixture adjustments (a common complaint)? Did you need to add a fuel pressure regulator (as I've seen recommended)?
Mine has manual choke. Which do you recommend for the 226?
I'll contact Weber Direct. Thanks!
John
 
John,thanks for the compliments.

There is actually a thread on the forum telling about the air cleaner mod.

I used rubber hose for the vacuum advance because the carb has a hose barb already cast into the carb body. I see no ill effects from the rubber hose.

Except for setting the idle I have not touched the carb. All factory jetting. I go by the saying if it ain't broke don't fix it.

No I did not use a fuel pressure regulator. I don't have a fuel pressure guage to set a regulator by so why install one? Another saying I live by KISS keep it simple.

My truck had a manual choke so I used a manual choke carb. It was cheaper and one less issue to deal with. Again KISS
And the cable was just long enough.

Any more questions just ask. Good luck.
 
Frank- Do you live at or near sea level? I was reading the "tuning" info on Weber Direct, and no adjustment is needed up to 3000'. Above that, three different things need changing. We live at 7,600' and I plan to use my Willys to go up to 12,500'. The mountain passes here are really high! I'm totally with you in regards to the KISS principle, but even Weber Direct recommends a fuel pressure regulator (which automatically keeps the fuel pressure at 3.5psi, no gauge needed).
Having rebuilt many old engines with vacuum advance, I've never seen one with a rubber vacuume hose, and was told it has to be rigid. As yours ages, look to see if it starts to get sucked flat, or if your engine doesn't have as much power at higher rpm's. Just sayin'.
Thanks for the info.
Cheers-
John
 
I am resurrecting this old thread to see if there is any further input on carb upgrades. I am looking at either having my Carter rebuilt for around $180, doing the Weber 2 bbl conversion for around $210 or maybe the Motocraft 2bbl conversion for $289. I want to be able to modify the stock air cleaner to keep the original look. I read through Pete's thread on his Weber conversion but it sounds like he had an electronic ignition problem going on at the same time so he was never able to determine if the Weber was a good option.
Thanks
Dan
 
Dan, I am loving my Weber. I had some stumble issues if you got on it hard and fast but cured those with a good tune up, points,plugs,wires, and adjust timing. It runs great for an old truck. Now if I could just get the rear main to stop leaking.
good luck!
 
Frank- I'm very happy your Weber is working so well. I hear he same thing from others at or near sea level. It seems that very few people have sorted them out at high altitude. Pete (who lives at 6000') says his Carter works better than his Weber! I need to check back with him about whether he has re-visited that. Trying to avoid his jetting headaches.

The Doge: what did you decide to do? How did it work out?
 
SanJuanDigger said:
Frank- I'm very happy your Weber is working so well. I hear he same thing from others at or near sea level. It seems that very few people have sorted them out at high altitude. Pete (who lives at 6000') says his Carter works better than his Weber! I need to check back with him about whether he has re-visited that. Trying to avoid his jetting headaches.

The Doge: what did you decide to do? How did it work out?
Click to expand...

I haven't revisited my Weber yet... thinking about giving it another go as soon as the weather warms up around here. I think most of my issues were ignition, not jetting.

Pete
 
John, if you have questions about a Weber call Weber Direct and talk to a tech there. I bet they will have a suggestion as to what jetting to use. Like Pete mentioned it is all about having a good fuel air mix and good spark to light it off. Good luck!
 
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