The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Weber 32/36 on 235

I keep reading where people are putting Weber 32/36 DGV carburetors on 235 inline sixes. Does a single Weber 32/36 produce enough CFM for the 235? I know that some here have put dual Webers on the 235 but would a single Weber work in reference to increasing mpg and performance? Thanks.

The consensus of those who know much about such things is a firm No to both questions.

Some claim to have gotten the 32/36 Weber to run well with a single carb on a 235. I have run them in pairs and they run pretty well in a dual configuration. On the other hand I had two different people bring me a car and a truck with a single Weber to look at and I was not impressed with power From off idle or at wot. To me, using a single Weber, it’s just too small all the way around.

I can see how they would bog at low rpm in normal traffic. With the primary at 32mm.

I don't think there are many straight bolt on 2 barrels that would be adequate with the 2 to 1 manifold adapter for the 235. Probably the best 1 barrel would be the Carter YF.

The later larger Carter yf is a pretty good carb.

The Carter 3211s is a nice option.

I originally had a Rochester B in my truck but replaced it with a Carter 2100s. The Rochester ran well but I just got tired of the leaking.

You can stop the leaking by straightening the castings. There were instructions on doing that a couple of months ago. You didn't like the 2100s? I prefer auto choke types (because I believe they may be more capable of doing their job than I could) but either the 2100s or 2101s should be good options.

I enjoy reading your threads on the B. I've never tried an auto-choke on my truck. Might be an improvement. I still like having the control with the manual choke.

My answer is about my MGA, it had dual carbs and I replaced them with a single Weber sized for the car and it seems to have less of the line and club members said the same thing.

Thanks Mark, A few people have written to ask me which of the carburetors I like the best...the Rochester or the Carter. That isn't an easy question to answer...at least not yet and not without some reservations. Bottom line is I like some things better about the Rochester and some things better about the Carter. If you drive the truck fairly frequently, I believe either one will be ok, but honestly there are fundamental reasons the Carter is a better unit. If you drive the truck fairly [i]infrequently[/i], I believe the Rochester (fitted with one of the newer type non-leather accelerator pumps) might be less prone to need service, but I do believe there are reasons it will run richer and I'm not certain yet those can be changed. As you may have seen, I'm currently working on a way to make the power system work better. It will take months before I know if that scheme works or not. The problem for infrequent use with the Carter is the accelerator pump. Neoprene suffers when it gets wet and then dries completely. It cracks and then it fails. As for the Weber, I've not had one of the 32/36 models. Seems there is an interesting and very rigid dichotomy of opinions. Some think they're great and some think the opposite...not just on this forum. They don't get all that much air time here. On other forums and from what personal friends have told me, I believe I'd avoid them and stick with a good Carter or Rochester. I don't know why it would be so but it seems like some of them are ok and some are defective or at least they simply don't work right from the start. A friend in the UK told me he had to re-jet his several times to find wouldn't cause his engine to starve or flood. From what I've read and been told they use a similar thin neoprene accelerator pump, so I'd expect the same problems there with infrequent use. I'd suggest calling Jon (CarbKing). If anyone can answer this, he can.

Jon, I've heard that same thing about re-jetting frequently on the Weber in order to find the right setting. I don't mind running the 1 barrel on my 235. They are always a good fit for that engine. I try to drive my truck 2 or 3 days a week. My mileage hasn't been very good. I get around 13mpg on a good day, but I think most of that has to do with stop and go traffic and lousy gas. In addition to the Rochester B, I've run a Carter YF 966s which is almost identical to the Carter YF 2100s. I think I will stick with the 2100s. It has been very dependable. I think I did something right this time when rebuilding it.

When you get into the Carter (966, 967 or 2101s) please check the orifice size of the seat (needle and seat assembly). Carter had specs on these and any of the kits bought at your FLAPS will have seats with larger orifices. If memory is correct, .081 inch is the size needed and .102 is what you'll get. You might be able to compensate for this with a lower float setting, but I'd feel better using the right size seat from the start (the larger size will let too much gas into the float bowl before the float can react). On the Rochesters, I really don't know what the proper answer is, and I have not been able to find any data. I have, however found 3 distinctly different sizes of orifice openings. You can see them here:

https://beta.photobucket.com/u/JonGoodman/p/78f73e21-6739-4252-9b4f-1d3c397f77fe

Thanks for that info. I appreciate it.

MarkT,

The Holly/ Weber 32/36 is a fine carb on the 235 with the Chevy cast iron manifold and adaptor + linkage from Langdon. I've set up many and have one on my 235 for years. Fuel pressure is an issue, too much being the case. However I think I saw where he's exhausted his supply of the Webers and is now selling the Carter Webers. The Carter / Webers that Langdon sells are a smaller CFM and will only be adequate in pairs on the 235. The issue with most 32/36's when you get them is jetting to make them run. It's not hard, just takes some patience.

I still think they are a tad too small to use as a single carb but if you want to tinker with one, try one from a 74 ford pinto. That year had a threaded fuel inlet as opposed to a pressed in brass bung. Rock auto is where I got some of mine from although they sometimes don’t have the cores for an outright sale.

These are the carbs I got from rock auto for my Weiand set up that I was redoing. I switched to a Clifford intake and 38 mm Webers later. The air cleaner studs are from tom Langdon. This set up ran really well on a 235, and ran pretty good on my 261. Yes, those are homemade adaptors, I did this swap initially in the 80s before Internet and had to work with whatever I could find at the speed shop. The adapters that tom Langdon and others sell are just fine to use.

Make sure you orient the carbs with the throttle arm toward the firewall. Theses carbs have the main jet positioned in the bottom crease at one end of the fuel bowel. Fuel level is critical with these carbs and the height is not all that much. If you set the carb up the other way, you can uncover the main jet on acceleration resulting in a bog that will drive you crazy. I ruined two carbs trying to sort that bog out until the lightbulb finally came on.

Thanks.