chikaskia

my apologies, how's this: has anyone had experience/luck with converting from oem carter/weber (1983) to hitachi, and if so; what all is involved?

howdy all, am going to try and resurrect my 83 wagon which has been sitting since 2008. (i have spent time poring over previous pertinent threads seeing if this has already been adequately addressed, but did not find what i am looking for) when last running, "olive" had developed a problem in which she would fire up and idle just fine, but had no power and would not accelerate beyond a crawl. i am no mechanic, back in earlier days i learnt how to replace the clutch, axles, steering knuckles, but not much beyond that, my pal joe, who gave me olive, and i spent three hot days trying three different c-w carbs to see if we could affect a cure, but gave up, i left her parked and jumped on my bicycle and the bus for a few years until i found an 84 2wd sw ("silver car") locally for $800, which served me beyond the call of duty until she blew a head gasket on the james river parkway south of springfield, coming back from the eastern ozarks sunday evening. i managed to limp silver car adding water every 15 miles to get to the oklahoma border and within range of a free AAA tow back to tulsa (the gasket blew a hole between the water jacket and the exhaust, so no water in oil yet, but there is something knocking, perhaps a lifter, when started). anyhow, the next door neighbor came over having heard the tow truck come in and offered his services as a shade tree wrencher, since olive was sitting back in back with the mysterious ailment above mentioned, he thought it would be cheaper and easier to get her running again rather than trying to fix silver car which will need the engine pulled regardless. he spent the last two afternoons working on olive, he established that the fuel pump was working and fuel getting through the filters to the carb, and has dissasembled both c-w carbs and found the accelerator pump diaphragms on both to be rotted/perforated and thinks that may be the source of the no power/stall issue. am now waiting for surfside aauto parts to call about a new accelerator pump i ordered yesterday. meanwhile, the reading i have done on this board leaves me with the impression that the carter weber is a problematic unit, and i never did get very good gas mileage out of it, whereas the hitachi on silver car, even in the neglected state i allowed her to be in had delivered 28 mpg on the tank i used getting over to the ozarks. ok, so enough background ramble, the thesis question is, can i switch carbs from the 84 to the 83, and what all is involved? there is extensive documentation about fitting ea81 with SPFI, but i do not have interest or locally obtainable resources for that, but i do have both cars. i am thinking the dizzys may be paired to each carb, but are the manifolds and wiring different? as the carter seems to be a problem, and the hitachi seems to deliver better mpg and is much more widely available, i think the detailed discussion may be of use to others in the future. finally there is the chance that another part/function/system other that the fuel/carburetor may be the problem causing the idle fine but no get up and go that i last experienced when i parked olive six years ago. please help, this is not a leisurely project, being broke down right now is extremely destablising, i have had a challenging year of transition, and have only began to get on my feet, as recently as three weeks ago experienced being flat broke for the first time in years and really need to be able to get around to take care of some pressing tasks. i had planned to be spending this week running loads and assembling a multi ton uhaul load of vintage records to haul up to kansas. the title says it all in a nutshell, but i am also looking for insight about the c-w, i am so hoping just replacing the accelerator pump will fix the issue. thanks for any reply, and for being here to ask!

wanted to put an unfortunate end to this attempted project, sorry for taking 18 months to post about it. the mechanical issues all seemed surmountable, but i learned that to get the car legal would take $500 in back tags, and i just could not invest that in it, so got out while i was ahead. i ended up going to denver to get a 92 honda vx with the d15z1 vtec-e (my overarching goal is acquiring a 40 mpg+ vehicle to commute long distances). that honda developed starting issues and then a coolant hose came loose and overheated enough in just a few seconds to blow the head, and has now been sitting at surfside waiting for me to round up the $1500 to get it fixed. my apology to lead you all on, but it was a fun look at a rare remaining gf in situ...

as noted above, my engine is a (single, bottom) port wet sleeve and yours are for dry sleeve so unfortunately i can't use either of these. thank you though!

the engine is #62xxxx so is wet sleeved, and doug, your heads are for the rarer, and more desirable dry sleeved 1400. wish they would work! hopefully there will be no issues with the stud end extraction i should clarify that sam, who is 15, and who was given this car as a toy to run in the yard, and who did all this dis-assembly, has agreed as a part of the deal to help me fix and repatriate everything. he currently plans to weld nuts to the stud ends and then torque on those to get the ends out before we try any drilling

and a few more!

more pics of bee

more!

got some pics today! try not to make too much fun of me

(ea61=1100/ff-1), they are stamped e63 and are single exhaust port, so probably 1400 ea63. are these two identical (l/r) heads or a set for both sides? i can't tell. i might be interested in the left side, won't know until i fail at broken stud extraction/tap

won't be back out there until at least this weekend but will get some up for you then. meanwhile just imagine bug ugly, like the tan 83 gl sedan i won on ebay back in '02 for $100. and rode the hound from okla to king of prussia for. bee is currently in pieces. with rust and front end damage, but salvageable

how do. been lurking for at least a decade, have ran various ea81 2wd, mostly c/w, since @ 1990, 74 gl coupe and two ff-1s before that. i have agreed to acquire and reconstruct a 1400 gf coupe with manufacture stamp of 1-76. the young man who had it last snapped two intake studs, one near flush with the head, so that is the first obstacle to clear. have read the pdf found here as well as other info, if extraction fails or ruins the head, may need to replace, if so may be looking for head gasket replacement advice for wet sleeve 1400. he also pried the balls out of the control arm and tie rod, and totally chewed the clutch (the car was a toy for him to drive on their rural property), so all need replaced. i have spent a week reading all posts i can find on usmb with relevance to the gf, even tried to call mr. borges in dighton today as per seahag's suggestion, but he denied being a resource, however he did take my email and said he would "send some pics". he had never heard of usmb previously. paid particular attention to the topics of wet sleeves, seec, gft, and gsr, dual/single exhaust ports, various conversions and exchanges. particularly interested in hearing more discussion about head gasket issues/problems/fixes to apply preventative maintenance. my goals with this project beyond just getting the car back on the road are pretty utilitarian; safety, preservation and fuel economy. advice i am seeking would include optimum carb and carb jets/settings for best mpg, opinions on best size/brand of tires. i plan to use the car primarily for secondary road medium distance touring/commuting, i want it to be able to enter and maintain speed on the interstate, but mostly going to be babying it along back roads in oklahoma and the surrounding region. i will be satisfied with 30 mpg but don't understand why i could not reach 35 mpg, is it possible with this 1400? i have yet to find the thread(s) that deal with fuel economy in general, but will be glad to be referred to any. the 74 1400 gl coupe my farm mate in missouri had would do 75 at 3300 rpm, to get 33 mpg. i am very curious to distinguish the minute differences between all models gen 1 coupes from rx to the intro of the ea71, both mechanical and cosmetic. i have posted in the marketplace what parts i am needing. as i progress i will try to post some pics of "bee" thanks for any replies!

howdy all. been lurking for at least a decade, have ran various ea81 2wd, mostly c/w, since @ 1990, 74 gl coupe and two ff-1s before that. checking to see if anyone has the following before i commit to other sources, the best prices i have found incl s/h are given for each. would prefer to buy from a list member if i can get a better price, to be paid via paypal. 130 1400 clutch kit, or parts: 12 disc 78 plate 16 t/o/b 10 p/b 2 pb seal 8 alignment tool (i question if i really need this) 24 tie rod end 28 control arm ball joint 50 complete gasket set (head, intake, exhaust, valves) or individual gaskets oh! i may need a heater core, wondering if there are any options here or is there a specific 1400 core? i am fixing to start a separate thread to discuss the car in the appropriate forum, thanks for any replies here!