Installing a weber - what else should I order?

[sith33]

Been getting to know my new 86 Ram 50. It's running OK, but the Mikuni is clearly about done - choke is shot, it's idling at ~1600rpm, and running through the factory manual to tune it does nothing. Also appears some past owner has really gone to town on the idle mixture screw.

It's an automatic truck. I went ahead and ordered the K614 kit. I'm going to use a pressure regulator for now, as I happened to have one - I can go to electric when/if the pump dies. I've got a metric tap and grub screws. Is there other stuff I should order to be ready for the install? I've read through lots of threads, but I'm still a little unsure about the setup since most folks aren't using the 614/automatic, so any other tips are welcome. (Or, if you're in the Twin Cities and want to help, I'll feed you delicious snacks)

[geezer101]

Change the coolant barb to a single upright for the heater hose connection. The OEM barb with the outlet to the carb is tough to remove. I would consider removing the intake manifold and flushing it out. Chunks of iron from the block can settle in the coolant plenum under the base of the carb and it leads to electrolysis. This is a known common problem that causes the underside cover plate to develop pin hole coolant leaks. They can be repaired but it requires the base plate to be carefully ground out and a new plate welded in.

*tip - drain some coolant before removing the carb. If you forget to do it, coolant will backlog into the intake manifold and make a mess + potentially make it's way into an open inlet valve.

[sith33]

Stupid question maybe - when tapping the coolant port, do folks generally do it with the intake in place? Just wondering how much chance there is of ending up with metal bits in the coolant line - overthinking in?

[geezer101]

You would definitely end up with some metal debris passing into the coolant galleries. How much grief or risk of damage it could potentially cause? - don't know. It could jam the thermostat, get lodged in the heater valve etc. I would remove the manifold. It isn't necessary to tap and block the coolant port as it was standard practice just to seal over it with the gasket and adapter, but it massively reduce the risk of a coolant leak.

[SubGothius]

Applying ample grease to the tap (esp. in the vertical grooves) will help capture any shavings. I did mine this way with the manny in-situ, didn't find any shavings left in the tapped hole.

I'd also suggest tapping just deep enough for the grub/set screw to bottom out tightly with its head flush with the carb mounting face, rather than tapping it all the way down, then clean the threads with solvent and insert the screw with a hi-temp thread sealant (e.g. Permatex 59214 or 59235).

[sith33]

Success! What an improvement! Thanks for the guidance everyone (and for all the old forum posts!). I'm sure I've got lots of tweaking and whatnot ahead, but she fired up which is the important bit.

A few notes for anyone finding this post in the future - I put a K614 kit on an 1986 2.0 with an automatic transmission and the mechanical fuel pump.

* I kept the mechanical pump and added a Mr. Gasket fuel pressure regulator. I'll switch to electric when/if this pump dies, but I figured I'd tackle one thing at a time. The lower output on the mechanical pump went to the carb (via the regulator). The upper output on the pump went to the return line, which was previously connected to the Mikuni and goes to a hard line, closer to the firewall than the inlet from the tank.
* My mechanical pump outlets were 1/4", the inlet on the pump is 5/16. I adapted the lines at the pressure regulator.
* I transferred the kick down bracket from the Mikuni to the new carb. The K614 kit does come with a bracket as well, which you could rig to the kick down. This seemed a little cleaner. I had to grind down the bracket to fit. Here's a photo
* Don't disconnect the temperature sensor and then wonder why your gauge is dead

Finished Product

[sith33]

Oh, and take lots of pictures! I took at least one for every hose/line/wire I pulled, and it was super helpful when I started scratching my head on things.