I had my emissions removed and a weber carb and new intake installed by a "mechanic" that didn't know what he was doing. Although the truck runs solid and strong, my Brake light, Battery light stays on, and my temperature gauge doesn't work. Any help would be appreciated...

 

Your situation seems to be significantly different than the original post. Suggest you start a fresh post with more specifics.

 

Been driving this thing around now for a while. Trying to learn the tuning that
works best with this new set up. Timing seems a mystery. Many internet
opinions on where to set it. Have tried everything from 0º to 12º. It is sluggish
as it moves towards 0 and diesels after shutdown. It is quite peppy and no dieseling
at 12º, but still has a heavy exhaust smell and still doesn't quite feel right. With
the 38/38 Weber, what should the timing be ? What would the correct method
of plugging vacuum advance lines while setting timing be ? The idle line has me
confused. Leave that one connected ? Plug them both ? Something else ?

 

Questions:
Which choke type do you have?
What is the 38 jetted at (Mains, idles a/cs)
Where are you? - altitude matters when tuning.

 

1. Electric Choke

2. Unknown - gotta claim "pure stupid" here. Whatever it came with. Need some edjamacating on
this subject. Wish I had bought the manual. Is a retrofit kit made/sold to change it ?

3. Spokanistan area is roughly 2000-2800 feet above del mar.

 

OK,
1. Have you adjusted the choke? IIRC the 38 is like the 32/36 - has round housing that turns and there are notches.
2. First find a diagram of the carb there a plenty online.
3. You are just at an altitude where adjusting for it begins. Do you drive any/a lot at higher elevations?

One question I forgot to ask.
What modifications have been done to the engine? Compression? headers? head work (port/polish, bigger valves etc)? anything else?

 

1. I have done nothing to adjust the choke. It probably needs something, as it is rough
when cold, but once warmed up runs nicely. I say this, not knowing exactly what one of
these should run like when really dialed in. But as an example, we have a hill in town that
all testing is done against .... steep and long. The stock carbed enginewould have you doing
20mph at the top, hitting the hill doing 40. I can now hold speed and actually accelerate all
the way to the top. I am very happy with it's pep, as is. The heavy exhaust and just not knowing
specs and how to tune it leave me wondering what more I can do to really have it running right.

2. Will do.

3. Most of my driving is done at lower elevations. I do occasionally get into the mountains.

Bonus question: Engine is a stocker. Sunwest is a large rebuilder of 22r engines, and they
are also right in my backyard. I had them do the long block build. The only mod was a higher
performance cam than stock, as the engine, as I bought the truck, was pretty wimpy on the
Monroe "test hill" or any other for that matter. .... and, of course, now this carb.

No headers. Just pretty much stock, minus the emissions gear, and the cam and carb changes.

 

OK, first, since your engine is essentially stock you have "too much carb". On a stock motor as small as the 22R the 32/36 is better suited CFM-wise and drive-ability/MPG-wise. And it will still give you better performance than the stock carb - when properly tuned. The 38 is rated at around 380 CFM, the 32/36 is 325ish and stock is 290 ish.

I believe I read on the LCE site (or maybe Redline) that a 38 on a 4 cylinder car is best suited for a car with higher compression, head work, headers, cam etc. Somewhat like a mini-stock race car.

Sorry bout the bad news. However, you possibly could make the 38 work, but I doubt it would be optimum for a stock street vehicle. I wouldn't bother.
I would find a used 32/36 and rebuild it - they are easy despite what some people say.
Either way I would go with at least a good (meaning sized/"tuned" for the engine you have) header to help extract what you're putting in.

Also, the fairly puny air filers most guys run are a choke(joke) point. If you have one of the little ones that will make it a bit worse as it can further starve the engine for air.

Let us know what you're thinking so far and we'll try to assist.

 

L5wolvesf
All i know is when I'm ready to put my 32/36 weber on I'm calling you!

 

Well, most of what I've learned from my racing days is on the web now and ya don't even have to do the calcs on a piece of paper - but I prefer to.
Some is here, but I haven't read the whole Weber install post(s) and Redline and Carbs Unlimited have a lot of the info - IF people would read and absorb it.
It seems like some guys, over the various sites I check out, don't want to do the research and learn the details. So they blame the Weber 32/36 for their problems.

Yeah, just ask whatever question you have and I'll try to point you in the right direction. Kinda like I told Raoul, I suggest getting a good used 32/36 and rebuild it. That is how I learned my first one - hands on with the smell of carb dip in the air.

I hope I didn't scare off Raoul with my earlier "dissertation".

 

Well, here it is three months on and I thought I'd report back on how the conversion is
doing. More-or-less, I am really happy with the way the truck runs and drives. I have
become accustomed to the added power, so it is hard to remember how sluggish it was
before. I have not crunched the numbers, but fuel economy seems pretty good, based
on how often I have to refuel.

An odd thing occurred when I did the conversion and removal of smog gear ... an oil
leak appeared at the oil pump-to-timing cover bolt, directly behind the timing marks. A
quick check of the tightness of the bolt revealed it spun freely with my fingers. A call to
a local builder of 22r's told me this bolt does not go into the block like the one on each
side of it, and that a simple helicoil fix will correct the stripped out issue. But the timing
of the oil leak to the work I did got me thinking about all the vacuum lines that were removed,
so I put one back on, from the manifold to the valve cover. Minimal size was 5/16", and
this proved to be WAY too much, sucking lots of oil into the cylinders and creating a heavy
smokescreen in traffic - good for a brief laugh, but a no-go. It DID stop the oil leak though.

I got to work and plugged the line, then hit an auto parts store along my travels and got a
restricter. This stopped the smoking and the oil leak was still not happening, but the exhaust
smelled a little "heavy". I stuffed a little piece of cotton ball in the line, and seem to have
found nirvana (?).

Got a long road trip coming up. Will see how it performs ...