iceageg

The Redline Webber does cost more, but other than waiting for the JB Weld to dry it can be on and ready to drive/tune in under an hour (provided you prepare properly before starting) and as we both pointed out, all of the missing parts can be swapped from one to the other in minutes. The OP asked if there were any kits available. This is the closest thing that I have found or seen mentioned anywhere on the site. There are lots of other options that vary in complexity, cost and long term maintainability but this is the only option for a "kit" and that is worth noting.

The Weber "kit" from Redline came with almost everything I needed to convert from Hitachi to Weber. I had to swap a few parts from the Hitachi to the Weber, modify the throttle cable bracket and buy some JB Weld and, but otherwise it came with the adapter plate and all the other hardware I needed.

When I finally got mine out I found that it was completely coated in a thin, clear rubber/silicon film. It almost looked like somebody used a clear RTV to lubricate the O-ring during assembly instead of an appropriate o-ring grease. The pump would spin but I think that film was acting like a suction cup and preventing air from sneaking in to fill the space that the pump was vacating as it was extracted. If you can try spinning the pump as you pull on the bolt that you tapped into the pump. Or like DaveT said you may have to drill/cut the thing in half while still in the block. at least enough to get it to collapse in on itself. Use EXTREME caution if you go that route though. Very last option.

It hasn't flown yet. When we took the cowling off we discovered a massive crack across the front that somebody had covered with bondo to hide it without repair. So the cowling is off for composite work. But it should be a fantastic performing little plane. We do have a Cruismaster owner interested but he has not pulled the trigger yet. Most of the standard kit will bolt right on but we'll need to get creative with the ductwork. The Cruismaster has a very different setup for the frame that holds the nose gear components than the Viking. Which Vortechs are you using for this? We have stopped using V1's and use V3's for all of our new installs above 360cid. Unfortunately belts are a must for us as they eliminate the potential of a failed supercharger from mechanically damaging the engine in flight. While the belt can not be considered a designed failure point we did demonstrate during testing that if the blower seized the belt would slip until it fell off without damaging the engine. So much destructive testing that you will hopefully never experience. Anyway, more pictures and updates please. Loving this.

Mmmmmm, superchargers. Just finished putting one on a Bellanca Super Viking today. Where did I put my popcorn!

Can't go wrong with the Weber. If you do split the block the Delta torque regrind is a great deal for the money. That combination got me alot (by EA81 standards) of low end performance. Even if you add the SPFI pistons and do all the other stuff that has been tried here you will still struggle to get to 100hp though. So keep your expectations realistic.

I had the commercial counter at Advanced Auto source me a set of Fuii Heavy gaskets. Not sure what the front counter would have given me but we order a fair amount of stuff through them and the commercial guys in the back of the store have always done a good job of seeking out the parts we needed or telling us strait that they can't source it.

Same thing happened to me. Mine was leaking from a visible crack in the pump before I attempted to replace it. After removing the bolts it basically fell into pieces in much the same manner as yours. Here is how I got it out. 1) remove the grill, radiator, etc. to get a clear line strait at the pump. 2) stuff a small rag or paper towel in the holes that access the oil system. 3) drill and tap a threaded hole in the stuck portion of the pump (NOT all the way through). The wide flat internal surface at the 06:00 position worked for me. 4) thread a bolt into the newly tapped hole. 5) use a combination of pliers and pry bars to wiggle it loose and pull it out. After much swearing and wasting of time this is what eventually worked for me. YMMV. Good luck.

The decals are fairly easy to reproduce these days provided you have a sample that you can take a picture of holding a ruler next to it. If you can't source any you might try that route.

Rear disk breaks intact?

Delta Cams can also recondition them.

Russian spam-bots have been mucking up the site for a while now. They get banned and their posts deleted. All is quiet for a while and they come back. Pay them no mind and certainly don't click on the links. Keep up the good work!

Different benefits and drawbacks, usually decided by space constraints. In a nutshell, would the extra routing and twists needed to fit equal length headers end up less efficient than unequal length for a specific application. It's usually not an issue but there are still plenty of examples if you go looking for them. Mercedes has done some unequal length headers in their cars in the past. Talking outright power, their 2015 F1 cars had unequal length headers and dominated that season. Mercedes also did some strange stuff with them way back in the day on airplane engines like having slightly different compression ratios on the left/right cylinder banks to account for the different exhaust efficiency on each side. You can also find them on high end sport bikes like some years of the Aprillia RV series. Of course you can't ignore the obvious example of how well they have worked on Subaru's for so many years. Bottom line is companies with huge R&D staffs full of brilliant engineers have proven that unequal length headers can be a better and more efficient choice in certain applications. Equal length certainly have more power potential but that is not always true when considered as part of an entire chassis design. Besides, as you pointed out they always sound better on 4 cylinder engines and that counts for something too. Glad to hear you are happy with your result.

I just did the webber and cam replacement on my rebuild a few months ago. Made a huge difference between 1500-4400RPM. Above that it isn't noticeable. I will eventually open up the exhaust a bit (it does need replaced) but I haven't got there yet. I didn't take the time to source SPFI pistons but I am still happy with the result. As I understand it the head design is the main limiting factor. For all the improved air in and exhaust out work you can do, the heads are still the roadblock to performance on this engine. Polishing the intake may actually hurt your performance. The way the theory goes, you need a thin layer of turbulent air to keep the fuel from sticking to the walls of the manifold. Like the dimples on the outside of a golf ball. If your engine was fuel injected and only air was passing through the manifold then a polished intake would undoubtedly be effective. Something to keep in mind. Do share the results if you decide to polish yours though.

You might be able to use a rear break pedal or gear change lever from a motorcycle. I have seen them with splined holes and an allen head bolt to clamp them down on the input shafts. Might have to do some searching to find one that was the right diameter but it would definitely be metal if you found one. It's a long shot and certainly wouldn't look original, but it may be a functional alternative.

Welcome aboard. Sounds like a neat project. Let us know if you bring it down into Denver sometime. Not sure if we have anybody else from Loveland here but there are a few of us in the metro area lurking around.

I have the standard jets in mine that Redline ships with all of their 32/36's. I did order a high altitude jet kit with it and I still have all of those jets unused. When I did my rebuild I shaved the heads .020 and installed a Delta Cam so I left the standard jets in thinking that the additional changes to the engine would have needed more fuel than normal anyway. So far it runs great but I have not had to do emissions yet. I am hoping I can drive by a couple of the roadside stations and get it passed that way instead since it already passed pre-rebuild. I still have all of the paperwork and the labeled jets in the kit. I can look them up if you like. If you are ever on the south end of town we can meet up and you can take a look. If memory serves 83 was the last year for solid lifters. 84+ should be self adjusting hydraulic lifters. Hopefully somebody else can confirm. As Sapper mentioned there were 1"x2" stickers that instruct you not to adjust them if equipped. That doesn't mean the previous owner didn't swap something out at some point though. I am not sure how you differentiate the solid lifters from the HLA's visually once the covers are removed. If you dig around in here I'm sure it has been detailed at least once. The FSM I have does not detail how to tell the difference. Cheers

You will be very happy with that vehicle this winter. Provided you don't expect to maintain the speed limit going into the hills. Glad to hear you got it passed. I have to renew the tags on mine soon. Will be the first attempt with the rebuild + weber.

Yup. When you have some spare time for a little experiment, squirt some RTV out onto a screw driver and let it dry overnight. The next day dip it into a cup of gasoline. After a couple minutes squeeze the RTV. Come back later and check it once in a while. It doesn't exactly "dissolve" but it definitely breaks down. Any doubts you had will be resolved.

RTV is awesome stuff and I use it often, but gasoline melts RTV. Should probably avoid it on fuel system components.

I forgot about that point. I had the same issue and was able to bend the stock bracket with relative ease. That thread of Sapper 157's is the main one to read up on. There are a couple of others that have different solutions to various emissions requirements if you need ideas. Just a quick search away.

Read up on the conversion threads here and you should be set. The only real question mark is how much of the emissions crap you have to keep for your local laws. You may need to make a run or two to the parts house to get various hoses and fittings to patchwork it back together. The kit comes with (judging by the older pictures the kit may not have in the past) a couple of plastic fittings to attach your crank case vent tubes to the airbox housing. The only other thing I needed to modify from my kit was the cam/wheel that the throttle cable connects to. I had to take the old one off of the craptachi and put it on the weber or I couldn't get to wide open throttle. I also had to shim things around for alignment to keep the primary/secondary linkage from binding with the old wheel. Good luck!

The hitachi would start and run at WOT just fine. Choke would not stay open after the engine had warmed up, accelerator pump not squirting, and i'm pretty sure the secondary did not open. But it started and ran well enough to get around. All that said, this is also the first time I have converted to weber. I have never had a significant problem with my hitachi's in the past.

Ruby had some stumbling/hesitation/misfire issues the first few days on the road. Once it was warmed up performance seemed unchanged from before the rebuild at wide open throttle when over 3500rpm. Running cold or any other throttle/rpm combination there was definitely a problem. Managed to narrow it down to the craptachi being in serious need of a rebuild. Not entirely sure why it is so much worse than before the rebuild but it is. Solution? WEBERIZE!!! Purchaced through Redline with associated adapters for $269, shipped the same day with a $35 high altitude jet kit. Three hours, one trip to the parts house (for custom parts to keep the emissions system in tact for Denver rules) and some initial adjustment later she starts instantly and runs great. She has only been on a couple short trips so far so I am sure there will be some fine tuning. I decided not to install the high altitude jets yet because of the cam and head changes that were included in the rebuild. So far the results are outstanding. Huge difference in power, particularly between 1500-3000rpm. Warm or cold it starts first hit of the key. Idle rpm is 800 on cold start but 1200-1400 when it warms up so I'll be sorting that out in the coming days. A big thanks to all of the people who posted detailed write-ups about this process in the past. I was not able to follow them exactly but it was close enough that the key points were still invaluable. Next, custom exhausts.

Weber is on the car and the craptashi is on the shelf. Had to make some changes to everything I found written here to maintain Colorado compliant emissions rules but it started right up. 43° morning today and it cold started instantly. After two short trips she runs perfect. The idle is a bit high once it warms up but a little tuning was expected. Combined with the Delta cam and shaved heads it has GOBS more power. We're talking 0-60 times down from 16 seconds to maybe as low as 13!!! Seriously though, the additional torque between 1500-3000 is substantial and should make for a much more pleasant daily driver in traffic.