Ways to enhance silence & economy on carb cars?

[herrgolf]

I know this is the performance thread, but I don't have that great a desire for greater speed. The 98 hp is enough for me, as long as it's not an automatic.

What I want to know is, can one modify their carbureted cars in such a way that the idle isn't constantly too fast and the car isn't so loud? I know weber carbs are a great upgrade over stock, but I don't have much experience... what exactly are the benefits? I have a feeling that all primitive emissions controls ruin the ability of the car to run well and don't actually really clean the exhaust much at all.

Basically, what I want to know is:
-Are weber carbs any louder than stock? Can they be made to be more quiet?
-Can one remove the emissions controls and have a simpler, more smoothly running carb system?
-Can one modify the car for better economy and smoother running without reducing performance below the already marginal levels?

My first car was an '86 Accord and when I buy a car in a few months, I'd like to buy another.

Also, does anyone have any experience with power steering removal?
Do any manual steering racks fit these cars?

[4literranger485]

as far as fuel economy, your driving style would probably be the biggest factor.

you can always remove the A/C belt

[lostforawhile]

first for a lot of the questions, ,why do you want to make this car so quiet? my Lincoln is quiet, that doesn't mean I want my accord to be, you can always add 500 pounds of dynomat to make it silent. most people here remove the sound deadning, these are not bad sounding engines.

[Dr_Snooz]

I've never heard anyone complain about the noise of these carbs. Perhaps you could be more specific as to what you're hearing and when.

I'm not sure what the idle problem is, but idle speed can be adjusted with the turn of a screw. That's a lot cheaper than a new carb.

As far as economy, we have members on this board getting 40 mpg out of the stock carbs. You'll have a very difficult time beating that.

I get the sneaking suspicion that you have a vacuum leak somewhere. We need to know more about what's going on though.

[Xaisk]

Its definatly possible to remove the emissions and vacuum hose crap. im pretty positive that there is a how-to in there but it takes a bit of work.

[herrgolf]

-I want to retain A/C.
-I just want the engine to be quieter at idle. It was embarrassing how noisy my car was when I had it.
-Never mind why I want my car quiet; that's my preference.
-I rarely encounter a carb'd Accord which will reliably idea below 1,000 RPM, and they all seem to idle around 2,500 when cold.
-40 MPG from these cars is a lie. I got about 45 in my Golf TDI. 24-29 MPG is the norm.
-Right on about the vacuum leaks. What happens if you simply remove the vacuum hoses?

[turabaka]

first for a lot of the questions, ,why do you want to make this car so quiet? my Lincoln is quiet, that doesn't mean I want my accord to be, you can always add 500 pounds of dynomat to make it silent. most people here remove the sound deadning, these are not bad sounding engines.

Agreed on the sound. Mine sounds like a beast with the bike carbs. Absolutely ridiculous.

[car6289]

-40 MPG from these cars is a lie.

40 MPG, if you use imperial gallons, is attainable with stock carb, actually hovering in the 39.?? MPG range. My quasi-accurate fuel economy calculations have produced, on occasion, 14.0 and 14.1 km/l which converts to 39 + MPG (imperial). Close enough to 40 for me if you round up. To get 40 MPG from a US gallon, all driving would be downhill in 5th gear or in the draft of a semi.

As far as being loud, my carbed 3G is not. It makes enough noise to let me know it's still alive without looking at the tach.

[Vanilla Sky]

The idle is either a function of one of the idle control valves being bad or a vacuum leak. I've had 3 carbed Accords that idled perfectly. If you have a lot of vibrations being transferred into the cabin, you have bad motor mounts. All of that stuff is easily fixable.

[charliekuney]

You think these cars are loud? I often forget mine is running...

[Dr_Snooz]

-Never mind why I want my car quiet; that's my preference.
-40 MPG from these cars is a lie. I got about 45 in my Golf TDI. 24-29 MPG is the norm.

It's very rare for anyone to complain about these cars being noisy and getting bad mileage, unless something is wrong with the car. We're trying to help you by figuring out what is wrong. If you'd rather keep your secrets though, that's fine. Just don't expect to get good help.

[itzdave]

i got 47 mpg when i drove my old 4dr from oklahoma to washington. NO BS! weber was running a little lean and the car was totally stripped out...

[A18A]

40 MPG, if you use imperial gallons, is attainable with stock carb, actually hovering in the 39.?? MPG range. My quasi-accurate fuel economy calculations have produced, on occasion, 14.0 and 14.1 km/l which converts to 39 + MPG (imperial). Close enough to 40 for me if you round up. To get 40 MPG from a US gallon, all driving would be downhill in 5th gear or in the draft of a semi.

As far as being loud, my carbed 3G is not. It makes enough noise to let me know it's still alive without looking at the tach.

yay someone else on here who uses km/l!

[herrgolf]

What exactly is different about the Weber carbs vs the standard Keihin? What makes it better? Does it bypass a lot of the emissions controls? Also, how can't it be louder if it's using a different aircleaner without the stock intake tubing?

[Vanilla Sky]

The same way a side draft carb, such as a DCOE, is louder.

I'm betting a lot of the "noise" you're hearing is caused by bad motor mounts and/or a perforated exhaust system.

[car6289]

Also, does anyone have any experience with power steering removal?

About 6 years ago I removed the power steering belt. The p/s pressure hose that runs across the exhaust manifold was leaking on said manifold with the associated smoke, smell and fire hazard potential. Cheap and lazy way to remove power steering. I must still be cheap and lazy as I still haven't bought a replacement p/s hose.

[Vanilla Sky]

Flyin' Miata has the best how-to for power steering removal. Their rack and pinion is extremely similar to ours. Depower the rack like the how-to and go through and remove the lines and pump and you'll be fine. The power steering runs on its own belt on these cars, so you don't have to go through the trouble of finding another belt that works.

http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/depower.php

[car6289]

yay someone else on here who uses km/l!

Km/l is the mostest directest metric equivalant to MPG. (distance/amount of fuel). Makes perfect sense to me.

I think some government retard reversed convention and came up with l/100Km (non metricly stated would be quarts/62.14 miles). l/100Km has become the defacto fuel economy rating standard here in Canada.

[2oodoor]

-I want to retain A/C.
-I just want the engine to be quieter at idle. It was embarrassing how noisy my car was when I had it.
-Never mind why I want my car quiet; that's my preference.
-I rarely encounter a carb'd Accord which will reliably idea below 1,000 RPM, and they all seem to idle around 2,500 when cold.
-40 MPG from these cars is a lie. I got about 45 in my Golf TDI. 24-29 MPG is the norm.
-Right on about the vacuum leaks. What happens if you simply remove the vacuum hoses?

The carbed cars did work quite well for emmisions and driveablity when they were new. That is why there are so many controls involved with them, but when one or more pieces of hardware in this system gets sloppy then it throws off the whole system. An example of that is too fast idle after the car has warmed up already. There are any number of half a dozen or more hardware items that could cause it.
When I first got my 86 LX it had the same problem and I finally decided to disable/remove the entire choke and fast idle hardware. After that it cranked up fine on cold mornings but I had to sit with it about 1 minute to make sure it would stay running while I went back inside while the heater started working. No more fast idle issues at all then. I removed the fast idle unloader and plugged vac line, removed the choke blade linkage and wired it open.
Weber carbs are great, esp the 32-36 series. They are noisier only because of the air cleaner assy that is used normally. You could possibly modify another assy that is not open element but enclosed which would quiet it down to nothing.
I did get 40 mpg, well ok 39.6 mpg, golly geez.. with my DX which was a five speed oem carbed car. That was interstate driving.

[lostforawhile]

The same way a side draft carb, such as a DCOE, is louder.

I'm betting a lot of the "noise" you're hearing is caused by bad motor mounts and/or a perforated exhaust system.

exactly,just get a half inch drill and drill holes in the exaust, this will let it out faster, and it won't be so noisy,better yet, do this like in the video, just tape up the window good and people won't be able to hear the intake sounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbZg8QBJaMM

[herrgolf]

I want to apologize for not posting this in the carbtech forum. I wasn't aware of the subcategories within the mechanical forums. I'll post new threads pertinent to carbs there in the future.

For the time being, does anyone know of someone who's used a weber carb with a stock air filter assembly and intake tubing? It'd be great to get the power and drivability gains without extra noise.

What changes have people noticed in fuel economy with the Weber 32/36?
Can someone also explain the meaning of DCOE and DGEV and DGAV?

I'm VERY sorry for all the questions at once. I have a nostalgic attachment to these cars and am looking forward to buying one soon.

[lostforawhile]

I want to apologize for not posting this in the carbtech forum. I wasn't aware of the subcategories within the mechanical forums. I'll post new threads pertinent to carbs there in the future.

For the time being, does anyone know of someone who's used a weber carb with a stock air filter assembly and intake tubing? It'd be great to get the power and drivability gains without extra noise.

What changes have people noticed in fuel economy with the Weber 32/36?
Can someone also explain the meaning of DCOE and DGEV and DGAV?

I'm VERY sorry for all the questions at once. I have a nostalgic attachment to these cars and am looking forward to buying one soon.

all you have to do is pm a mod to have it moved to the carb section

[Vanilla Sky]

This touches on more than one topic. It should be in technical, not performance. No need for it to be in the carb forum. There are already plenty of threads about the DG series carb in the forum, in the how to section, and in the FAQ section.

[turabaka]

I want to apologize for not posting this in the carbtech forum. I wasn't aware of the subcategories within the mechanical forums. I'll post new threads pertinent to carbs there in the future.

For the time being, does anyone know of someone who's used a weber carb with a stock air filter assembly and intake tubing? It'd be great to get the power and drivability gains without extra noise.

What changes have people noticed in fuel economy with the Weber 32/36?
Can someone also explain the meaning of DCOE and DGEV and DGAV?

I'm VERY sorry for all the questions at once. I have a nostalgic attachment to these cars and am looking forward to buying one soon.

Just so you know. The only noise increase is a slight sucking noise from under the hood. The motor doesn't get any louder, nor does the exhaust. The added noise sounds about the same as when you inhale sharply through a half closed mouth.

[Vanilla Sky]

Just so you know. The only noise increase is a slight sucking noise from under the hood. The motor doesn't get any louder, nor does the exhaust. The added noise sounds about the same as when you inhale sharply through a half closed mouth.

That's more noise than a lot of people want with a daily driven car.

You can adapt the OEM air cleaner to a Weber, but from what I understand, the linkage that comes with the kit interferes with the bottom of the air cleaner.

Where are you located? Any state that has an emissions check will likely not pass you if you have a non-stock carburetor.