Hello folks and greetings from Finland!

It seems that I´m the only classic MB owner in Finland who is interested about the Zenit/Inat to Weber conversion.
I have been happy to read Your comments about the topic. i´m the proud owner of an MB W108 250 S -project with bad interior and several Zenith problems.

http://www.kamera-petteri.fi/W108_1.jpg
http://www.kamera-petteri.fi/W108_2.jpg
http://www.kamera-petteri.fi/W108_6.jpg

I have thought not to renovate those Zeniths but rather to invest on JAM-conversion kit.
And now the question: I have several times red about supposed improved gas mileage after conversion. Is that true and those who have done the conversion how much better has the mileage got?

Thanks for interesting topics!

I've topped 20mpg (US) with my old 250S running the original zeniths. When they're properly rebuilt and tuned, reliable enough for daily driving.

My guess is that any improvements people post are new webers vs. zeniths in need of a rebuild. Not much of a comparison!

You've got a great car there... my favorite W108 model. Good luck!

Jaime

I too routinely got over 20 mpg with my '68 250S. I also agree that the stock Zeniths are more than adequate, when working properly. They are easy to work on and parts are readily available. The performance/economy gain, if any, would not be enough to warrant spending the $$, IMO.

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My roommate has a 1965 220S that was converted from Zeniths to Webers.

Hmm thank.. So Your gas mileage calculated to amount that we here use it makes 11.761 litres / 100 kilometres. Not bad. Mine´s automatic so I will not reach that good mileage. Anyway I will only use the on summertime (we have a Alaska-winter) and certainly not everyday use.

Problem is that everything what specialists do here in Finland costs almost as much as in Switzerland. So the Weber kit will be cheaper than rebuilding, even if I ordered the 2 Zenith carb renovation kit from Your country - four times cheaper than the specialist asked.

First I should probably start carefully examining the soul of the Zenith. Jaime Kopinski kindly has some advice on his website:

http://www.jaimekop.com/CarbManual/index.html

My car was an automatic also. If labor to rebuild them is so expensive, then I can see why you'd like to exchange for webers. You can rebuild them yourself with mostly basic tools... and perhaps a few specialized tools for measuring. If you buy the kits, get them directly from Mercedes. These are the only kits I found that have the correct original style gaskets for these earlier cars.

Jaime

Thank Jaime!

These are the only kits I found that have the correct original style gaskets for these earlier cars.

Damn, I have already ordered the two of those for Zeniths

Anyway, when I get the car next week to the carage I´m going to start with removal of the carbs and dragging them to the ultrasonic washer which one of my customer has. Lets see then what happens.

I would be very careful using an Ultrasonic cleaner on carb body and top. Sometimes, if there are any soft plugs in these parts, they become loose when cleaned in the ultrasonic. Personally, I would use only regular carb. cleaner, water rinse, and low pressure compressed air to blow the parts off. Just my opinion though.

Hey man, if you decide to convert, I'll buy your original carb hard fuel lines and fittings off of you! Hell, I'll buy the carbs too! ;-)

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1967 230S automatic
Boston, MA

Well, it seems that I have now two sets of carbs since I found a W114 250 S from that same car-demolisher which saved my W108 250 S.

I bought the engine for 71.39 dollars (that´s 50,00 euros).

Aren´t the carbs same on both engines M108.920 and M114.920 or am I wrong?

Next week I shall unmount, disconnect or how do you say take apart the carbs from the engine. Lets see then what happens.

Nice score! That's about what I paid for a pair of carbs! :-)
I would think they'd be the same or at least very similar. I have a pair of 250S carbs from ebay and the jetting is almost the same as my original 230S carbs even despite the displacement difference. I noticed that the (presumably) later year intake I got has a small brass vacuum nipple on the side of the front carb mount flange, just under where the throttle plates would be and also a large screw-in port about the size of the brake booster attachment right behind the PCV port. My original 67 230S manifold has neither of these despite having the same part number starting with "108".

Even more strange is the w114 intake I got from thorsen, which I believe is from a 250C and has a different part number but a manifold without those extra ports, it's almost exactly like my early 230S intake but with a "114" part number.

Somewhere online I found a manual which had all the carb jetting specs from year to year, I'll see if I can dig it up.

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1967 230S automatic
Boston, MA

Oh yeas!, as Borat would put it. If You do find it link it here.

Have You folks by the way thought of replacing the main nozzles in the carbs when doing the repairing, are they usually in the need of replacing or just cleaning?

Yeah, I haven't done it myself, but somebody on here strongly recommended measuring them with pin guages. What year is your 250S? Do you have the extra holes in the intake too? I wonder if the emissions models had different jetting here in the states...

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1967 230S automatic
Boston, MA

I have a complete weber conversion kit if anyone is interested, they are
32/36 dgev carbs with all linkage/gaskets etc., I pulled them off a parts car about 5 years or so ago, they were used less than 1000 miles. I believe the weber part # is K245. Production date of the carbs is 07/99, Current list is around $1100, discounted you can find the kit for $850, I am looking to get around $400, thanks, tk

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In process of installing Weber carbs & K&N air cleaners & filters. I've owned the car for 3 years & I've been reading this post for 3 years. Thanks to guys like Jamie, I've learned a lot about Zenith carbs. I am not a good mechanic but a pretty good graduate research professor & spent numerous hours researching before deciding to go with the Webers from Jam Engineering. Also spent hours reading the material on K&N vs. other filters. More airflow may result in more dirt, I get it. I live in Florida, away from the beach & do not drive dirt roads. I will closely monitor the situation with the K&N's. I was determined to keep the 32/36 Zeniths - even bought a back-up pair of identical carbs off a running car. The only part I took off the spare carbs was the dashpot. I do not have a show car - but it's all original to include the Arabian Gray. Car has 105,000 miles, I am the 3rd owner & have all records to include original bill of sale. Interior is flawless, chrome is showroom. I know the car is not a collector car, in fact, I read an article referring to the 230s as a "bargain collector". I will post some pictures after the job is complete. I will share this conversion experience. I will never sell this car - it runs & looks too good. I would never get back the thousands of dollars I spent preserving it. Something tells me that I won't be going back to the Zeniths so I would be interested in selling the 4 carbs & old housing. I've got 2 Zenith rebuild kits also.