Hello,

I'm midway between rebuilding the front solex on the fin, need to reassemble and then tackle the aft carb. Kind of wondering at this point should I make my life more miserable and get into the manifolds with the aim of repairing the heat risers.
One heat riser is stuck but I think in the closed position. The other spins freely but it wouldn't take much to fix it in the closed position.
It looks like the intake and exhaust manifolds share the same gasket on the head so removing just the intake to get to the risers should necessitate removing the exhaust to get a new gasket installed.

Would you guys recommend leaving the sleeping dogs or should I get in there and try to get that area spruced up and take care of any issues laying hidden in the time capsule?

__________________
63 220S W111
76 300D W115
2013 VW JSW TDI M6

previously-
73 280 SEL 4.5
86 300E 5 speed
2010 VW Jetta TDI M6

Hi Josh,

The heat risers on the majority of dual Solex carburetor setups will be rusted in place with spring missing. 1950s winter weather in Germany inspired engineers to create systems that would make the cars operate at optimal in the cold quickly. If you don't live in sub zero temperatures like Siberia then the benefit of warming the carbs quickly probably isn't critical. I would like to make all the systems on my car work correctly, so I would put this item on the to do list and prioritize accordingly.

Would love to see some pictures of your time capsule!

Jeffrey

__________________

1962 220Sb ~ The Emerald Bullet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx6tN1W48_o
1957 Ponton 220S
2001 S600 Daily Driver
The Universe is Abundant ~ Life is GOOD!http://www.classiccarclock.com

Jeffrey,

You are right, it doesn't make much sense to fix them especially since we don't drive these things in winter conditions anyway. But alas, our desire to make all the systems function as they should still draws us to the irrational. At the very least, that manifold gasket probably needs to be replaced.
Here's a shot of the capsule:

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__________________
63 220S W111
76 300D W115
2013 VW JSW TDI M6

previously-
73 280 SEL 4.5
86 300E 5 speed
2010 VW Jetta TDI M6

Messing around with the new spring from MBZ. This is the exhaust manifold that wasn't lost in the mail.

In its resting state it the spring keeps the heat riser flap open. I suppose I could test it by roasting it with a propane torch to make sure the spring closes the riser.

It baffles me sometimes the things you still can and can't get from MBZ.

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
63 220S W111
76 300D W115
2013 VW JSW TDI M6

previously-
73 280 SEL 4.5
86 300E 5 speed
2010 VW Jetta TDI M6

On the '65 220 S that I had many years ago I used the manual heat adjustment only once in 200K miles of driving. Winter of '68, driving back to D.C. after a weekend on the Eastern Shore. Engine began to run very roughly and after a while it dawned on me that it was experiencing carburetor icing (something that never happened during three previous winters in Vermont). Having once read the owners manual I dimly remembered something about a hand control for additional carburetor heating. Got out, opened the hood, found the lever, flipped same and the roughness almost immediately disappeared. It's strange how incidents like that stick in your mind long after the car itself has gone away. By the way, that's one car I really wish that I had kept as it was totally reliable. It was traded on a new '72 28 SE 4.5 that I still have and has only gone 58K miles in 44 years. It too is reliable.

For someone like me living in sunny hot Florida, with temperatures that are likely to contribute to fuel vapor lock, would it be beneficial to disable those heat risers, put insulation under the carbs, and try to get the carbs as far away as possible from the exhaust manifold heat?

I can't speak to this car's situation, but vapor lock in Texas was a real thing when all the cars had carbs.

The solution was to insulate the gas line leading to the carb. This worked most of the time.

Early Datsun 240Zs had the vapor lock problem in carbed form. Nissan's solution was to mount a small fan on the other side of the block and blow air over the carbs via a plastic tube. They even kept this arrangement up when they went to fuel injection on the 280Z. I don't know if this was nationwide or just in the Southwest.

If all else fails this might work. I am not sure how you would mount it, and it would look rather weird, but it might just keep things a bit cooler in the carb area.

For a photo of how this looks then check out some Z cars for sale on Ebay. Many of the advertisers post photos of the engines. The flat plenum thing going over the valve cover is the 'tube'.

Be advised also that exhaust manifolds of that vintage are very fragile castings.

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6