Winter work and result

[Ax2020]

Hi all,

Over the winter I spent some time working on my Robin Hood 2B, mainly focusing on the cooling system.

Originally, I replaced the old Ford Sierra radiator with a cheap aftermarket one I found online. After rerouting all the hoses and getting everything fitted, we quickly discovered it had a major leak… not worth repairing considering the cost and quality.

So, back to square one.

In the end, we sourced a radiator from a Subaru Justy II (1995). We grabbed the radiator along with some hoses and reworked the whole setup again. I’ll admit the welding work wasn’t exactly professional, but after chasing down a few small leaks here and there, everything is now holding properly.

While we were at it, I also replaced the fan and added a manual switch for better control.

Now that spring has finally arrived, I’ve been able to test it properly. Temperatures are still on the cooler side, so it’s not the toughest test, but the engine temperature now seems stable and within a good range—definitely an improvement over before.

I also started tinkering with the carburettor (a Weber 38 DGAS), which is completely new territory for me. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get advice from anyone experienced with it.

The issue I had was hesitation under acceleration—even mild throttle would cause the engine to stumble initially. It was worse at higher RPMs or under load (like climbing hills). At one point, after some overheating, even shifting from 1st to 2nd caused the engine to not respond to throttle for a moment, leaving me stranded a couple of times.

After opening up the main screw slightly, things improved quite a bit. At low and medium load, the hesitation seems mostly gone.

However, at higher RPMs and speed something still feels “off.” I can reach around 70 mph, but beyond that the engine struggles to gain more RPM. It doesn’t feel like a loss of power exactly, more like the engine has more to give but can’t quite get there. Hard to describe, but something isn’t quite right.

Overall though, I’m pretty happy with the progress. The car is running better than before, and it’s always great to get it back on the road.

If anyone has tips or advice, especially on the Weber 38 DGAS, I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks

[phaeton]

1 hour ago, Ax2020 said:

While we were at it, I also replaced the fan and added a manual switch for better control.

Personal choice but I don't like them being on a switch, much prefer the system to do it, maybe as an override but not a replacement.

[Ax2020]

Yes, i agree with you, i ordered a new one, the old one was a bit butchered during the process of disassembling everything and is not working properly right now, i think i'll leave the button as an ovverride just in case, cabling is already done.

[Foz]

What engine do you have fitted ?

The 38DGAS is generally aimed at "V" engines with each barrel feeding one side of the V although there is no reason why they can't be fitted to something else.

The design is "standard" Weber - the idle jets control the mixture on part throttle and low revs whilst the main jets control the mixture at full throttle and high revs.  The idle screw only controls the mixture at tick-over.  There is also the pump jet which controls how much extra fuel is squirted in as the throttle is opened.

You can waste many a happy hour swapping jets and trying to get it right (guess how I know) but a session on a rolling road is the best solution.   However, if the car has run OK previously on this carb then the jets are probably correct.

If the car has stood for a while I would recommend you strip and clean the carb as modern fuel seems to like evaporating and leaving a residue in there.  Check the float height is correct as this also affects the mixture slightly.  Also check your fuel pump and filters.

While it's apart you can check the jets sizes.  These will depend on the type & size of engine, camshaft and ignition but I would expect somewhere in the region of :- 

Idle jets 50,  Main jets 145,  air correctors  200,  Emulsion f50     for a 2L pinto.        Both barrels operate together so both sides should have the same jets.

There are some good videos on youtube about stripping and setting up these carbs such as -        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsnF-kjCxYo   

Hope this helps,  Steve

 

Edited April 4 by Foz
Forgot a bit !

[Ax2020]

Thank you! 

I have a 2.0L pinto. Unfortunately when I've acquired, the car the carburettor was not working fine, the father of my mechanic cleaned it but didn't touch anything else as he's quite old and didn't know much about them and no one else worked on carburettor. After the cleaning it got better, at this point I will disassemble it and check the components against your list to see what I've on it and work from there. 

[Peter Bell]

It can be tricky to get a degas (from a v6) working correctly on a pinto, it was a long time ago when I set mine up, apart from the main jets being a bit big there are a couple of the little brass air jets (pressed into the casting) which need changing and possibly pump jet a big big. I assume it’s not a standard engine?

A 32/36 dgav is easier, and and the choke size of the smaller side is only 1mm smaller than the degas. 
The Dgas feels more powerful as both chokes open at once instead of progressively, but ultimately power is pretty much the same.

[Ax2020]

From the looks of it i think it's a pretty standard 2L Pinto, i don't think it's modified in any way, i bought it here without much information and the previous owner bought it from a friends without any particular documentation. 

Here a couple of photos of it

[Peter Bell]

Looks like an adjustable cam pulley so it may not be a std cam at least. But personally I would try and get a 32/36 with standard settings to get it running. Where are you?

Next time you take the cam cover off use a mirror to look at the end of the cam it may have a number on it.
 

[Ax2020]

 I'm quite far, north west of Italy, near Turin. 

I try to search for a 32/36, here they are quite expensive, maybe on ebay i can find something.

I also have a couple of dellorto 40DCOE lying around but i don't think they are a good idea with my current knowledge, or the car in general.

[Peter Bell]

Wow I hadn’t realised you were there! Perhaps eBay is a good bet, I suppose there’s not many sierra or cortina breakers locally.