Ben,
Thanks for the trip report. It's sounds
like you had quite an adventure.
One good thing about having some mechanical
problems is that it makes you more outgoing,
and you meet more people.
I have some first-hand experience with
the Solex dual carbs and the single Weber
progressive carb on my former '72 VW bus.
I drove it across the country 3 times
from Washington state to Key West, Florida,
once towing a 3,000 lb sailboat
(including trailer, motor, and gear) that I
bought in Key West and towed back to Washinton.
I didn't have any breakdowns, but I was
constantly interchanging jets on the progressive
carb. I hit many Ford dealerships
to find the "perfect" jet for the carb.
(the Ford Pinto used that same Weber carb)
After awhile I had a collection of 50 different
jet sizes. I became so adept at changing jets,
that it would only take me about 15 minutes
to take the carb out, take the top off,
change the jet, and put the carb back in.
The progressive Weber carb worked great on
the freeway, but it was balking in town,
and often hard-starting.
It's true, you do have to use an 009 distributor
with that carb, since you can't use a
vacuum advance.
About the solex carbs, all I can say is
that if they have 80,000 miles on them,
they're junk. Rebuilding the solex carbs
didn't work for me.
At that time they were outrageously expensive
new from the dealer, so I switched to the
Weber progressive single carb kit.
In retrospect, I think I would stick with
the dual solex carbs, but I would try to find
brand new ones. The most problematic is leaks
around the butterfly valves, and the idle
system that's on one carb (right side, I think).
I think Bus Depot had brand new ones for awhile.
Anyways thanks again for the trip report,
and I'll look forward to the pictures.
Harald
'90 westy

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