The great carb debate

[Mjhayes]

I also bought a T25 2.0l Aircooled with the DGV single carb fitted and found it pretty much undriveable when it was cold, what happens in a carburettor is that air and fuel are mixed in a certain ratio which is then drawn into the engine and burnt, without preheated inlet manifold the mixed air and fuel hit the cold tubes and the fuel falls out of suspension making the mixture lean, so you adjust for more fuel which cools the tubes more and so on. When I removed my DGV I poured petrol out of the inlet manifolds. I fitted a pair of original pdsit's, easy to tune once you understand them and if you also fit a wide band A/F ratio meter you save on paying someone who may or may not know what they are doing, you can also see if its running lean which will kill your engine very fast. Of course if you fuel tank is full of rust etc it will not help, but beware running too lean. 

I’d like to change the carb for something better is there a better option for a single carb rather than changing for twin, difficult to get originals now and very expensive -

[Gavrilo]

The problem with single carb setups on air cooled engines is the unheated inlet manifolds, the single progressive is a good carb on a water cooled with water heated inlets. You could try heating the j tube from the exhaust like the type 1 engine but is easier to buy some second hand 32/34 pdsit's from some one who is up grading to webers, as I did, you will need everything, balance tube, linkage, little brackets, airfilters etc, there is a lot of info on the internet, haynes manual, bently, about setup and when setup they drive really well (almost as if they where made for it !). In my opinion you will never get the single carb driving well, I have been where you are and giving up on the DGV and going pdsit's was the best thing I did, a lot of work tracking down all the bits, rebuilding and setting up the carbs but well worth it. So far you have probably spent more money on trying to sort your carb then it would have cost to go back to original. I hated my van just after I bought it as the previous owner had 'improved' it so much it was barely driveable, I now love it and normally have a big grin driving it. Check previous Mot milage on DVLA website, mine was so bad to drive it had done less than 700 mile in 12 years.  Work through the problem yourself, do lots of research and stop paying people to do stuff, inch by inch life's a sinch, yard by yard life is hard.

[Mjhayes]

I know your right - I’m just reluctant to spend loads of money on the van in case after all the work I’m still disappointed with the performance

I know they are not quick by any stretch but I’m not sure I’m up for holding up lorries on inclines on motorways. I love the idea and simplicity of Aircooled just not convinced I’ll be able to live with it.

I had an auto 1986 with a dg 1.9 petrol engine and bloody loved it - it got down the road great but London ULEZ charges have forced me to go 40 years old for exemption.

I guess my worry is will I end up doing all the work and still hate it ???

[Gavrilo]

You don't need to spend loads of money, ask nicely on this forum explaining what you need and why, (there must be people on here who can help with cheap parts), and when you have everything ask again about fitting, you may get lucky and get a good set that doesn't need rebuilding, I bought all the bits to convert mine back including rebuild kit for less than 200 pounds, if you decide to cut your losses and sell the van (as it looks like the previous owner did) then its worth little as a non runner. A good 2.0l easly keeps up with the traffic and I find a lot better to work on than a more modern van . Try to find out as much as you can about T25's, buy a workshop manual and read it and stop paying people to do what you can probably do yourself, just because you pay someone it doesn't mean they will do a good job, I believe an enthusiastic amatuer can do a far better job than a paid professional, and don't worry, once you have it sorted you will love it, and have a great sense of achievement .