weber or stock rebuilt carb?

[87civvygal]

has anyone installed a weber carb on their civics- years 84-87 1500 cc, d15a2 engine? i still have this idle problem. i'm beginning to think its in the carb. so i'm beginning to research the possibility of slapping a new carb on my sedan. i can either buy a weber or a rebuilt stock carb. any pros or cons with either? i'm waiting for my factory manual to come and then i'll make sure that i can't adjust my carb and get rid of the intermittant idle/stalling problem. it is running rich. i don't have a clue what screws adjust what. i'm also going to try that sea foam too .... seems like i've tried and checked everything else that i know of.
thanks!

 

[Celerity]

Anyway... as I was saying...

A new carb or carb setup (Manifold as well) will do neat things for you - but not for what you may think.

Putting a new carb on the car will do more for power and delivery. BUT it won't make it run any better, pass emissions, or improve much of anything as far as reliability. The carb replacement has been done many times, and I think the result is amazing, but you will lose certain things like reliability, emissions controls, and weather resilience (as well as altitude adjustments).

I'm prepared to take that hit, so I would go for it. But if you do this, then plan on spending a few hours every week under your hood tweaking things.

Not a bad idea, though. First be sure that the stalling problem is even fuel related.

 

[87civvygal]

okay. i don't mind tweaking some. but my main concern is fuel mileage and reliability. altitude won't matter. its mainly a work car and i need good mileage and for it to start. i sure don't want to buy one and go thru the work and then have the same problem. if that happened i'd shoot the car and then myself! if there was a shop nearby that would work on it i'd take it. but mine won't touch it. they said its too old and too complicated and i'd be better off living with the problem or buying a different older car. IF the car was a POS otherwise i'd agree. but it looks good, doesn't use oil, has great compression, drives nice and gets good mileage. even when running crappy. so i don'twant to give up YET.

since adding sea foam really made the car act different- idles now between 3-4k ..., engine races when the clutch is pushed in, and i can get the engine to slow back down by bumping the gas pedal lightly. then it will drop back to 1-1250k idle speed..... would it be safe to assume i've most likely have a carb problem? i'm wondering how i can be sure. if thats even possible.

 

[Celerity]

Maybe you have a stuck choke ?

 

[87civvygal]

i've wondered about that. there are 3 rivets that hold the adjustment plate . my dads car has phillips head screws in his. mine have rivets. so i bet mine has never been tinkerred with. when it was acting up my dad held the choke plate a bit more open and it helped. so thats certainly a possibility. he joked if i could just tie a string to it and run it thru the dash and pull it when the car starts to die i'd be all set! i've lubed the linkage the best i can withoutremovingthe carb.... and all those hoses!

i'm waiting for my manuals and hoping i can read about anyadjustments...
thanks again for your help!