weber 44's questions

I just got my oil changed and valves adjusted, and notices there seems to be a flat spot shifting between 2nd and 3rd and then 3rd and 4th. When I took the speedster back in the guys at the shop said that they could pull the carbs and possibly changed the jets, but I think the jets are fine because it was running great in the past. I have a nicely built 1904 motor with weber 44's some of guys I've talk to thought thought it would probably be an adjustment with the carbs. I havent ever adjusted them before, is it something I should try over better left to a good shop. I'm pretty good a repairing things just never worked with Webers before, any tips or resources you guys would recommend?
Thanks,
Matt

Oh Matt, Matt, Matt... I see that you've been such into the hellish realm of Weber ownership too. After discovering my idle jets clogged (again) with schmutz from another dimension, I have come to the conclusion that only a demonic creature in pursuit of our souls could create such a fiendish device as a Weber carb.

In all seriousness, I wouldn't recommend fiddling with them unless you have some experience and/or the Tomlinson book. For most of my ownership, mine have been just fine, but right now I'm thinking of using 'em for target practice.

Matt - I see you are in Laguna Hills. In light of that, I think your best bet would be to make a trip to Larry Jowdy in Ontario. He posts on here quite frequently and has worked on a few of the cars on here. Do a search for Larry Jowdy on here.

I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that there's probably NOTHING WRONG with your carburetors. Everyone seems to automatically point their fingers at Webers without realy looking at what has happened.

These guys changed the oil and adjusted the valves and then, all of a sudden, it starts to bog on shifts. No rough idle, supposedly no change in the carbs and now it bogs. And when you take it back, they magnanimously offer to pull your carbs and re-jet them to overcome the bogging. Really?? And would YOU be paying for this "upgrade"???? Pardon me while I drag my eyebrows down off the ceiling.....

Oh, and by the way - you can change Weber jets without removing the carbs from the engine - did they know that??

YES....take it to a much better (and different) shop. One that might not retard the spark just enough to cause it to bog on shifts. Maybe they had good intentions and checked the spark advance just for the hell of it, found it somewhere around 12-14 Degrees BTDC at idle, didn't understand that it has a centrifugal advance distributor that must be set at 30 degrees BTDC at 3,000 rpm, not at idle and set it back for you and THAT's what's causing your problem. Inadequate timing advance will cause it to bog between shifts.

The only other thing I can think of is messing with the stroke of the accelerator pumps on the carbs or checking the idle mixture screws (both easily messed with), but I would first check the igntion timing. If that's set correctly, then we can look elsewhere but I wouldn't mess with the carbs just yet.

I agree with Jim - go see Larry Jowdy.

gn

I know all too well how difficult it can be to diagnose a problem over the phone or on the net, but I think you may be overlooking the obvious... I doubt they screwed up an oil change, but the valve setting? Improperly adjusted valves can be the equivalent of a slight timing change as well as several other potentially negative side effects.

Was this an experienced aircooled shop, or a shop familiar with VW valve adjustments? Did they let the car sit and set the valves cold? Do you know if you have stock or chromoly push rods? If the answer to any of the previous 3 questions is "no", call Larry. You might want to call him anyway, he's a GREAT person to have for routine maintenance. :)

Yo Matt still having problems, we're for a set of webbers to work on Tech nite ( check Events page )

I'm a hands-on kinda guy. Changing oil, adjusting valve lash, tinkering with carbs, setting timing.etc, are things I like to do myself. I have never found a shop who cares more about my car than I do.

I used to be just like Russell.

Then I got older. My eyesight went to hell. My back was sore all the time. My arthritus made it tough to move around. My memory of where I stored the damn spare parts started to go. Had to run into the house to pee all the time.

Then I fund a VW guru. Gurus are good. Some day Russell will find his guru too. Ask me how I know.

David, very funny.
I like working on my cars, but I will no longer work on anything underneath my dash. Gone are the days when I will lie on my back, with my shoulders and head in the foot well and my ass hanging out the door.

If.... I have to be under a dash (I refer to this as "dash sex") I first unbolt the seat and sometimes the steering wheel then lay in a triple folded moving blanket and two old pillows for a head prop....then my only issue is that I'm too close to the wiring to see clearly. ... Did I mention that I'm slightly shade color blind, the only way I can be sure which is brown or black, gray from green is to hold a piece of white paper behind that wire...the joys of age!
:~( ~Alan

Yeah. Don'tcha just love it when you get under there close enough to do somethng, but you're either too far away for the Bi-focals to focus, or too close for the distance lenses to work (which for me is the range between 12" and 6 feet). You can feel the wires, but you can't see'em!

....and "Smoke Get's In Your Eyes" is playing on the radio .

... or "I Got Tears In My Ears Laying On My Back Crying Over You".