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VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 12:52 pm
by 4444244
Had my 1.6LS for almost 10 years and it always ran well. About 5 years ago the original VV carb died and, being on a budget, swapped it for a New old stock VV but with manual choke.

Car was laid up for about the past 4 years and the plan now is a restoration to full health with a bit more money to dedicate to it. A lot of the rubber hoses and pipes on the carb are perished and leaking air so the car runs (but badly) and it’s hard to diagnose what the issue is.

I’ve been through a lot of old threads to try and get some answers but a lot of it is quite vague - I think everyone ditched their VV years ago!

Question if I go for the Weber 34 ICH kit, how much of the emissions hoses from the old VV can I put in the bin? I was hoping there’d be an instruction manual for the carb online so I can see which ones are retained with the new kit. Distributor advance, crank case breather?

Hoping for advice from those in the know and not just a lot of hating on the VV!

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 1:08 pm
by Caprigear
You can bin most of them. You will need the vacuum pipe from the carb to the advance/retard module on the dizzy but that's about it. The crankcase breather just needs a pipe from the inlet manifold.

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:11 pm
by 4444244
Thanks Martin,

I’m near Lincoln so will be coming your way for parts as the work progresses!

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 3:17 pm
by Not_Anumber
Is there a reason you aren't just swapping to a good used 32/36 Weber and 2.0 inlet manifold ?

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:26 pm
by D366Y
Not_Anumber wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 3:17 pm Is there a reason you aren't just swapping to a good used 32/36 Weber and 2.0 inlet manifold ?
:agree:
Would be what I would suggest, 34 ICH isn't the worst but 32/36 would be my suggestion - I think I still have an old manifold for one knocking around in the shed that is going spare should you choose to

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:35 pm
by 4444244
Main reason for the easy swap to 34 ICH is just to get the car running better and get it on the road again.

I’ve got a used 32/36 with manifold to go on at some point in the future but I’d more than likely shear the bolts on the block long before I get the original manifold off! Just thinking minimal faff for now.

Is there a big advantage to the 32/36? I didn’t buy it specifically to put on my car but it came with a spare engine I picked up. Better economy/better power?

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:32 am
by D366Y
4444244 wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:35 pm Main reason for the easy swap to 34 ICH is just to get the car running better and get it on the road again.

I’ve got a used 32/36 with manifold to go on at some point in the future but I’d more than likely shear the bolts on the block long before I get the original manifold off! Just thinking minimal faff for now.

Is there a big advantage to the 32/36? I didn’t buy it specifically to put on my car but it came with a spare engine I picked up. Better economy/better power?

Massive change from a 34 ICH for sure - I had a 1.6 with that carb and yeah it worked but never had enough 'oomph' so fitted a 32/36 and definitely notice the difference now - fuel economy isn't really much different to be honest in my experience

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 2:09 pm
by Not_Anumber
The difference between a base 1.6 Pinto and a 1.6 S was the presence of the 32/36 carb and a 2 litre camshaft (both are bog standard 2 litre items). This increased the bhp from 73 to to 91. (The 2 litre is between 99 and 101bhp) Received wisdom is that you can achieve at least half of this bhp increase just be changing the carb.
Thats why a lot of the 1600s now have 32/36s, performance and also reliability.

If you are going to change carb it would really make a lot of sense for you to take this route. Guaranteed the next owner would do so one day when you sell the car on.

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:40 pm
by 4444244
Great, thanks everyone for the advice!

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 7:52 am
by pbar
If you wish to do what is easiest and keep your car going with the least amount of messing as you have said then yes go for the 34 ICH, nothing wrong with having that mindset at all, perhaps keep the 32/36 in mind for a future job. As you rightly imply, one job typically leads to a much bigger one, knackered bolts to remove, more problematic parts, something breaks, a straightforward job turning into weeks of nightmares, such fun!

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:53 pm
by stevemarl
The 1.6S did also have, in addition to cam & carb, a 4:2:1 tubular exhaust manifold which also made a difference.

Re: VV Carb to 34 ICH conversion kit

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:37 am
by Terra-Kotta
It also use valves with a two litre head size and was previously referred to as the GT head. These are very rare heads now as they used to be fitted to the 2 litres as a quick and easy way of raising compression.

Anyway. The 34 is a dead simple carb and the most reliable of all Webber carbs

The 32/36 will give more economy do to the higher airflow speed through the first Venturi, the problem is keeping off the second Venturi... Which you won't be able to.

I can remember 20 years ago tripping over 34 ich conversion kits in my workshop. Most went in the bin as everyone went straight for the 32/36 conversions.. Which I was also tripping over as you weren't anybody unless you had a rack of sidedrafts.