Original Hitachi carburetor removal

[ducky]

Am I the only one that's incapable of moving my brain into motion long enough to figure out how to remove the original 2bbl on my truck? It's an L20B with a tube that connects the ports of the manifold and would have likely gone to the EPA stuff it it was still there. I got the two front nuts off, but the two closest to the engine are basically impossible to get to without removing a ton of other stuff. Or maybe pulling off the manifold completely is the best practice here. I plan to remove the tube that's doing nothing for me.

 

Here are the super helpful instructions from a 74 manual:

[datzenmike]

It's definitely a pain in the ass. I cut an old 14mm? open end shorter so it doesn't hit everything and that helped.

 

[ducky]

Ah yeah I figured it'd be something like that. My stuff is still original, so the nuts are 12mm JIS hardware. I bought a crows foot, but you can't attach anything to it to work lol Maybe I'll try with just it and my fingers... Or I could 3D print a curved handle that can click into the 3/8" socket hole. Hmm. I'll have to mess with it some more. Thanks!

[datzenmike]

I originally typed 12mm but that wrench is 14mm. Maybe for something else but I'm sure I trimmed one for the carburetor. After having it off 4 times the threads and nuts were so clean you only had to loosen and you could spin the nuts on or off with the flick of your finger.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Instead of cutting a wrench, heat it up with a torch and bend it to the shape needed to fit. Then it still has a handle on it.

[ducky]

On 5/11/2023 at 10:58 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Instead of cutting a wrench, heat it up with a torch and bend it to the shape needed to fit. Then it still has a handle on it.

 

I did end up cutting down a 12mm wrench from Harbor Freight and used it with a telescopic magnet for when it fell between the runners. It sucked taking off, sucked putting it back on, and when the carb crapped itself again less than a week later, sucked removing again. I noticed that there was an intake leak on the nuts closest to the head, so clearly I couldn't get enough force on them with the tiny wrench.

 

As a side note, I got a Weber after reading quite a bit, but cannot find the pictures posted of modifying the OEM air cleaner to make it fit. Does anyone have that thread?

[datzenmike]

 

[ducky]

23 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

 

 

How the crap doesn't this pop up on the first search results page? Thanks!

[datzenmike]

I knew it was in the 'How To' section. Go to Google, the search engine is much better, type in. How To, Stock air filter on 23/36 weber, Ratsun. Bam

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That thread is missing a ton of pics, but it does show the basics.

 

One issue you may have is hood clearance. But with the Weber, you can only sink the air cleaner housing so far down over the carb before it hits the carb body.

 

Here is one I modified for my 320.

 

[yenpit]

I took a cheap 12mm open end wrench & bent it 90deg, tight enough to clear the valve cover, but still long enough to get a flat turn at a time.  Patience grasshopper!

[flyerdan]

Here's  mine, got about a 25 degree bend and has the edges ground down for more swing.

 

[ducky]

On 7/29/2023 at 4:40 PM, flyerdan said:

Here's  mine, got about a 25 degree bend and has the edges ground down for more swing.

 

I wanted to do this, but my dad absolutely SWORE that the wrench would break. I'm like, dad, people have done it all over online. There's one in our toolbox right now! It's clearly possible.