Webers: resurrect or replace

[RichC]

first of all there was the vile smelly green gunk which I flushed out .
being a bit minimalist (lazy)I thought I'd just pop them back on and give 'em a go ...start her up for the first time since mid 90's....
I've not played with Webers before hence my reluctance to 'dive in'.
Jason was there to witness she did start but the carbs were flooding like a good'un . ran for a bit but I shut her down 'cos I knew the needle valves needed seeing to ;they were stuck open.
Jason goes home - he's witnessed brief resurrection of twincam lain dormant for 13 years since shortly after its rebuild
So I'm on my slow learning curve ...second try resulted in absolutely nothing and the upshot of it all is that ALL the jets are blocked solid.
(the assumption was that the petrol overflow into the airbox was the ONLY POSSIBLE route of fuel delivery to the engine .

and now I know the the accelerator pump pistons are siezed and the control arms are broken 'cos I pulled em out as gently as I could, but the hooked ends just unhooked themselves from the pistons. The pistons are soaking in redex overnight I'll try again tomorrow . maybe I'll use a little judicious tapping to try and free them.
I found a nice little scanned file ( called dcoe.pdf - part II chapter 11 on DCOE carbs )on the net of weber manual which seems very thorough with photographs and everything

RichC

[RichardS]

I resurrected mine - or more correctly got someone else to resurrect them! elan-photos-f18/shiny-webers-t16704.html

Richard

[Elanintheforest]

As long as the body of each carb isn't corroded away, you can get it fixed up...all parts are available. Don't see why you'd need new ones.

Mark

[dusty]

I rebuilt mine, It's not hard once you give yourself enough space and lay everything out logically. Do one at a time that way you'll have a referance.

Haynes do a good Weber manual which I'm sure you'll find on eBay.

There is also a seller (FastRoadCars I think) on eBay who sells all the spare parts. Search for DCOE




* Slightly OT but I'm looking for a single 40DCOE2 if anyone has one going spare.*

[TeeJay]

I also rebuilt mine.
See before and after photos. Needs a very clean environment and careful handling.

The Lotus Elan+2 Workshop Manual has an informative section on Weber Carburetters, including, dismantle, Cleaning and Inspection, Overhaul and Re-assemble with many diagrams, exploded views and parts lists.

For service kits and parts try:-
http://www.dellorto.co.uk/default.asp
http://www.gowerlee.dircon.co.uk/

I used Gower & Lee and received items the next day.

Go on, give it a go.

[RichC]

thanks guys , a bit of moral support is what I was after.
got up this morning & with the right sized screwdriver inserted in the top of the pump plunger wedged against the spindle I gently turned...........ah!!!!!!!!!! the front carb yielded .
the rear carb also did so but after quite a bit more torque was applied. I think the plunger & bores are pretty much Ok now.
new valves etc arrived this morning from Fast road cars which is pretty damn quick!
waiting to hear back from Gower and Lee about new levers now...

[RichC]

uh. just heard back from Gower and Lee and the rods/levers are not available and have been on back order with Weber for some time . Told me they checked with US suppliers and they have none either ..
Guess I'm gonna have to try a bit of heat on these rods and then attempt to bend 'em back into shape without breaking them ......

[Jason1]

Nearly there Rich.

Sadley I do not have any spare 40's knocking about or I would offer them up. They do come up on Ebay, if you only need a few parts you could get some pretty grotty ones for not much money and take the parts out you need.

I dropped the hook covers in the post yesterday so you should get them today or tomorrow. It is nice to get little presents in the post.

Keep us updated of the progress.

Jason

[mrob]

If you can obtain a copy of the Weber DCOE manual it would help. I got mine from Classic Motorbooks.

"DCOE Serie Carburetors service manual"
4-1970
Printed in Italy

I just found a copy online. It's a free download, only 30 pages:

http://www.onlinefreeebooks.net/automot ... l-pdf.html

[dusty]

If you can obtain a copy of the Weber DCOE manual it would help. I got mine from Classic Motorbooks.

"DCOE Serie Carburetors service manual"
4-1970
Printed in Italy

I just found a copy online. It's a free download, only 30 pages:

http://www.onlinefreeebooks.net/automot ... l-pdf.html

I have it uploaded here as well - http://www.type50.com/plus2/Technical%20Docs/weber-o.pdf

There are a few other useful docs here http://www.type50.com/plus2/Technical.html I must get around to finishing off the website sometime!

[RichC]

end of a Good Day. just back from having a few beers with mary & kids after long slog with carbs all day; we all deserved it.
Anything that could be siezed or blocked was so...
Took some butane heat to the accelerator pump rod and managed to reinstate the hook to carry the plunger.
Replaced all the jets with fastroadcars purchases ... incidentally, even though I have the standard early plus 2 with 30mm choke we noticed on removing concretion from old jets that they were 115 & 150 , the SE specification with 32mm choke . The new bits ordered from the book were for the standard weaker mix i.e. 110 & 155
towards the end of the day we were left with one stubborn blocked starter jet channel for cylinder 4 . Over supper I made a unilateral announcement and said I was not waiting for the redex to 'work overnight' but drilling out the lead plug for the channel & fixing it now...
It was a good call because the silt was set like concrete along the whole channel horizontally and vertically too!. it wasn't easy drilling out this stuff as it was HARD! Vertically, as we couldn't use a 1.5mm drill bit, we were using a piece of bicycle cable ( fed down thru starter jet aperture )which had the stiffness , flexibility and scratchy end to scuff away the concrete,
eventually we got through... the indication of this was a lovely silty brown 'paintball' blatter against the white plastic wall of the babybath we were using as receptacle .
Next came the challenge of refilling with a lead plug . Although I wasn't looking forward to this I remembered we had some lead 'came' from doing stained glass repairs a while back =clean stuff which went in a dream ! looks very v. professional if I say so meself!
There's no doubting that resurrecting neglected carbs is a very time consuming exercise and I'm very grateful for my two willing volunteers & tea maker !
RichC

[Jason1]

Hi Rich

Is it running properly now?

Jason

[RichC]

yes Jason . 2 blips of throttle , no choke and she's away.
seems a little on rich side at idling . I'll have a proper go at setting them up when I receive the 155 & 110 jets for front carb friday.
having a break to do gardening / other essential chores today
cheers,

[Jason1]

2 blips of throttle , no choke

That's great, chokes are an anti-theft device on these cars

Is the MOT booked?

[RichC]

MOT's not booked yet but monday is a possibility...
just need to get wiring sorted for headlamps ,and washer bottle and tinker with carbs . it idles sweet as a nut but is a bit rich & blipping throttle is a bit rough too.
reversing light isn't wired up so have to search for it on top of gearbox somewhere
sorted out the interior today as carpets arrived from Sue Miller. Seats and seatbelts in place and centre console.
you sorted your clutch yet?