Well I thought I would post my findings after changing the carb and exhaust on our Raider. First my stock mukuni was shot! And I decided to go with the weber 32/36. I had previously found a header at a yard for under $20.

First thing I found out was there was no way to get the header on without pulling the head. So scrap that idea for awhile. The Weber was a piece of cake to install and only took us a few minutes to get it tuned decent. Took it for a drive and it was like a new toy. Much more responsive and fun to drive. Power was night and day from the worn out but once nice Mukuni. Things quickly went down hill!!! Blew a head gasket on the 10 minute trip around the block. Water coming out of the back of the head. Oh well we had an oil leak we wanted to check anyway. My son came over and it only took about an hour to get the head off, very obvious where the head gasket failed. Good news was the head looked great, so we ordered a head gasket set for a starion. It came with the wrong rear cam seal even though the inventory list showed both. Three more tries and the same results so we finally just ordered the seal by itself. We also decided to put the header on since the head was off. My son got it all together while I was out of town last week. Got a few bugs worked out this week, itÆs amazing how things just stop working when youÆre not looking.

These are my thoughts on the results. With the Weber and stock exhaust manifold the Raider was very responsive. With the open header and Weber, No bottom end at all! Top end was fair. And with the exhaust all buttoned up it runs a little better than stock. But this Carb starts right up, almost like my diesel trucks, just think about touching the key and its running.

Johnny from Peoria had thought that it would have more bottom end power with the stock exhaust manifold and I would agree with that idea. I may take a couple pictures just for fun; I know I always enjoy looking at everyoneÆs photos. IÆll have it up on some forest roads next week and will get some photos then also if all works out ok.

Mark

Good to hear back from you on this. I would also forward the idea that with the header on there, you should be careful to have small diameter piping on the rest of the exhaust, and not to have a low-restriction muffler. It seemed counter-intuitive at first, but experience proved that these engines do indeed like back pressure to develop decent torque.

And I do know what you mean about that rear cam plug. The one they say will fit often isn't the right one included. Which one did yours take, the plain rubber one or the one with the metal edge that you have to tap in?

Enjoy!

John B.

Curious as to why the header wouldn't fit without removing the head? That sounds like a LOT of work just to install a header. Also, where did you get your Weber 32/36, and what did you pay for the kit?

my head used the rubber seal with rtv. the rest of the exhaust is 1 3/4" .

No way that header would fit in there without removing the head. I had even tried lifting the motor and tilting it, it was a no go...

now I have a small leak out of the tail housing to take care of... do you all know what oil the transfer case takes?

I would also like to look into a mild lift if anyone has any pointers.

oh and I think I paid $280.00 or so for the weber. got it off ebay

That's the cam rear seal I had to use, too, even though I was told it should use the tap-in one. Curious, isn't it?

The transfer case uses regular 90W GL lube, or the close equivalent, i.e., 75W-90, bla, bla...(Please correct if I'm way off, but I think that's right. They're not too sensitive, as I recall).

You can do a body lift for about $100 or add-a-leafs for even less. I have both. Others substitute longer rear shackles for the leaf springs instead of add-a-leafs. Either way, if you lift the rear, crank the torsion bars for front lift and trim the rubber bump stops on the front suspension for a little more travel. You'll see which ones as you start cranking on it (use an air rachet, if you have one, the bolts take a lot of turning to raise the front). Don't crank the front up so far that they rest on the bump stops or the ride is really horrible.

I like the body lift, myself. Pretty straightforward.

John B.

The factory exhaust is a tri-y and tunes to a very wide rpm band. The header looks to be a 4 to 1. It will tune to a narrower band thats probably at a higher RPM.

When you run an open header you need to put an extension after the collector to get the tuned RPM right. Typically it should be from 10 to 20 inches long.

Looks great,

Kevin

JB, for some reason, I'm thinking that I'd read that they like GL4 instead of GL5. Something about the synchros maybe? Perhaps that only applies to the tranny and not the t-case... Might be wrong, though...

You can always count on me to muddy the waters <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

GL4 - agreed

thanks for the replies. John, with the body lift do you loose the fan shroud?

I'll be taking the little raider up north this week to give it a try on some forest service roads and sand washes. Lookig for a fun time and to see what other problems I may have.

I'll take some pictures and post them in a week or so.

On the Gen 1 you can just take the bottom half of the fan shroud off and leave the top half in place with a body lift, or relocate the radiator 2" (or whatever the body lift height is) lower with a bit of metal strap attached to the top two mounting holes. You'd just drill new holes in the radiator flange for the bottom two holes. Not hard at all.

I've done a few body lifts, and there are a couple of how-to's in the archives.

John B.