Weber conversion

[rmprob]

I have an 89 escort 1.3 carb jobby. I saw some people had done the escort Weber conversion.While waiting for a stock replacement carb to show up, I thought, Hay, I have one of those Webers out back! So now I have built my adapter plate and I am getting ready to install the Weber. I am trying to see what you guys did as far as throttle linkage and ALL the vacuum lines from the manifold. I think all I need to keep is pcv, vacuum advance for distributor and brake booster. Is this correct? also, What wiring can I eliminate and what can I do with the egr stuff? Any help/pictures would be great.

Ps, I also just remembered that there are 2 vacuum lines currently going to the distributor, do I need both of these?

[FestYboy]

need both vac lines, chuck the EGR if you're allowed to, plug the remaining emissions crap ('cept for the PCV), and then get to a dyno for a tune.

[Festy46]

I never used a Weber/Escort carb newer than '86 so I'm not sure if there is any difference in your '89. The carb throttle shaft should be the same size as the Festy carb. You can take the Festy cable linkage (the 1/2 circle thingy that the cable rides in) and put it on the Escort carb. You may have to fabricate a bracket to hold the cable where it attaches to the valve cover. See the attached picture letter "E". On the back of the carb where the idle adjustment screw is located, there should be a small round object (solenoid) with a wire attached to it. Cut the wire off and unscrew it out of the carb. Once you have it out, you will see it has pin and a spring that extended into the carb on the end of it. Take a pair of side cutters and cut this pin off flush with the threaded end of the solenoid and reinstall it without the pin and spring. Like Festyboy said, plug all the other vacuum connections (and there are several) except for the one for the distributor vacuum advance. The distributor has 2 vacuum connections. One goes directly to the intake manifold and the other goes to the carb.

[rmprob]

The Carb I have is off of an '84 escort. looking at your picture, I see that my throttle linkage is on the opposite side of yours? Did they make different configurations depending on the years?

[TominMO]

The Carb I have is off of an '84 escort. looking at your picture, I see that my throttle linkage is on the opposite side of yours? Did they make different configurations depending on the years?

Webers were made in different configs to accommodate the application they were going to be used on. That's why there are "left-hand" Webers and "right-hand" ones. Mountig the carb facing the other way is a common move, so that the throttle cable is going into it properly. Or find a way to make it work as is, since the fuel lines might be an issue if you mount it "backwards".

[Festy46]

The Carb I have is off of an '84 escort. looking at your picture, I see that my throttle linkage is on the opposite side of yours? Did they make different configurations depending on the years?

Your carb main throttle shaft should have a nut on the shaft on the same side as mine. Take the nut off and install the half circle cable linkage from the Festy carb. If I remember correctly there may be some extra linkage on that side that you don't need. Also the power valve is mounted very close to the throttle shaft and has 3 mounting screws with very fat heads on them. These may cause a clearance problem with the Festy linkage. If they do, take one out and go to a hardware or auto parts store and get 3 flat head screws that don't stick out like the original ones. Remove and replace one at a time. Don't take them all out at once. To be sure you have it on correctly (the carb to the intake), as you face the carb from the front of the car, the fuel inlet should be facing toward the driver's side of the car.

The Webers TominMO is referring to are the "true" Webers. The Escort Weber should work correctly if you have it installed with the fuel inlet toward the driver's side. I have 4 or 5 of these carbs from various years in the early to mid eighties and they all work in the correct direction.

[rmprob]

Great! I'll check more into it tomorrow, if I am not sure then, I will get some pics to show what I'm looking at and hopefully you can point me in the right direction!

[rmprob]

And I do appreciate the help btw!

[rmprob]

Got it installed and running today, It seems to be leaning out when the secondary kicks open. Does it need to be jetted or do I have something like a weak fuel pump or plugged filter?

[Festy46]

The jets should be big enough. I would check for vacuum leaks and make sure you capped all the extra vacuum connections. I have installed larger jets for racing the 1.6 and 1.8, but it should work fine right out of the box for street use. If this was an old used carb, you may have some dirt in it.

[rmprob]

I double checked for vacuum leaks and didn't find anything. The stock carb was acting like this as well, that's why I decided to change it, but this new setup isn't helping. I think today I am going to do a compression check and hook up a vacuum gauge to see if maybe I am just not getting enough draw out of this old engine. I am not really sure where else to check!

[rmprob]

Compression fine and plenty of vacuum. Now I am stumped. I pulled the cat today and it was already hollow, so no restriction in the exhaust. Maybe I just got another bad carb? Any other suggestions on what to check?

[Festy46]

Since both carbs were doing the same thing, it may be an ignition timing problem. Put a timing light on it and locate the idle mark. Rev the engine up to about 5,000 rpms and watch and see if the timing mark advances. It should move a distance equal to about 30 degrees. If it doesn't move very far, loosen the distributor and move your base timing up about 15 degrees and take it for a ride. If it works better with the base timing advanced, your vacuum advance on the distributor is probably bad.