Re: To Carb or Not to Carb

[Jon Pike <jhpike@domain.elided>]

> I must respond to Jon's assertion that a Spica pump rebuild can be equal 
> in cost to converting to carbs - check ebay - there are all kinds of 
> possibilities there (crass advertisement - I am even selling a set 
> starting at only $125.00), all of them much cheaper than a rebuild that 
> would possibly (probably) not improve a 1981 strangled Spica.
I was thinking of the "bought new" price of a Weber conversion kit, 
from IAP it's pushing $1300.
I imagine you could find used parts on ebay..  seems like the resale 
prices there might be anywhere from
$100-400, for a pair of carbs...  and you'll need a manifold, brackets, 
linkages, etc  that may or may not be included..

The general wisdom (now) is that a well adjusted Spica can be the equal 
of  Webers,  in a stock or near stock
situation.  Having not driven a Weber equivilant of cars I've owned I 
can't directly comment on what kind of "personality change" it might 
give the engine..  
A Wes Ingram rebuilt standard Spica runs $685,  which I was thinking 
might be close to the possible price of having to get a lot of separate 
parts,  if you weren't lucky to find everything you need in one low 
priced package.

Yours being the dreaded '81,  I don't know if you would want to convert 
to the four throttle setup,  there might be hidden cost and hassle in 
getting the different throttle body,  klugding the throttle cable, and 
who knows..  but some of that you'll have to deal with on the carb 
conversion..

So,  that's what I was thinking..  and I must say that most of what I 
said I am just conjecturizing.. besides looking up some prices and 
such..  Hopefully some on here who have actually done this will chime in 
for a closer approximation on relative difficulty and costs..

Jon
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