Weber ich vs solex pic(t)

Hi,
Been trying to get my 1300 running right for months. It would miss or stumble, and hated running, especially idling when hot. Replaced all ignition components except from the dizzy and the ignitor unit (no points) and all the rubber fuel lines. Cleaned out the weber 34ich (came on the car when I bought it) and checked all jets. The only thing that was different in the carb to the reccomended jetting was the emulsion tube, but I couldnt find the correct one. Took it to a garage, they put another old skanky weber on it, made no odds, so they cleaned it up in acid (awful job if I must say!) then put the bottom half on, with the top half of mine cos it had a bigger choke, and played with the jets. Then they messed up all my correct fuel lines, and installed the wrong sized ones on, which meant that they pi$$ed out petrol when I got it. Oh and they had a fire in the engine bay.

So I got it back and it ran OK, probably a little better, but nowhere near good enough for a daily. So I took it to a mechanic mate, who drove it around and said to me that it was a fuelling issue. Looked in the carb with a torch whilst running, and it would almost drip in fuel every so often, causing a rich and then lean condition, causing a stumble. He concluded that it was definently not a ht problem, and it was advancing perfectly.

So I rung up crazyquiffs. They supplied me with an original PIC(T) carb. Bolted it up today, and after some initial problems with and airleak, the carb seemed fine.
Just took her for a spin, and can hardly fault her, runs better than she ever has. Will start with no choke, just a bit of revs and a few pumps when cold (my choke cable is too short ). Seemed to pull as well if not better than she did with the weber and no longer jolts. Really pleased!

So what is the deal with the webers? I have heard many good things about them, in terms of fuel economy, power and reliability. However, mine has been nothing but trouble, even after the garage replaced over half of it!
I am going to be using the car as a daily, 50 miles a day after the summer, and love the idea of better fuel economy. Is it worth persisting with the weber, or should I stick with the tried and tested 'ancient' solex?

Cheers,
Rob

Solex PICT carbs have been used in VWs for donkeys!! Beetles mainly. Weber seem to be a good upgrade when your old Solex/ Pierburg unit id fubared, If you have a Solex unit that works a treat, keep it on there IMO. Would be daft to change it for no reason

Thanks for the reply. May just flog the weber then. 

It appears that the solex drips a bit once switched off. Any ideas what it could be?

always worth getting aservice kit for carb if its no working right,you get needle vavlve ,gaskets seals etc,evererything to recon it and they no dear,try price one.i would

 Cheers, do you know where to get a rebuild kit for a solex 34 pic(t)  5?

i usually order things like that through my local sports tuning accessory shop,they have a catalouge of what they have,even if not listed they should be able to get you one,the shop at my area does them but i north o border from you,but definetely try youre local boy racer shop,if no luck i will forward you the shop in edinburgh i use for service kits

Thanks, fixed it now. Tweaked needle valve. Seems fine on that front. 

One problem now is that it likes a little rev before heading off anywhere. Is this normal or not? Not sure if I have the choke setup quite right with the spring tension. Seems to run fairly ok when warm. Not perfect but pretty good! Odd fumble if 
Revving up from low revs in 3rd, but apart from that pretty good. 

However, not keen on the fuel economy. It has little 13x7 ats classics on it, and low profiles. Putting some 15x7's on it soon. However, done '35 miles' (not really darn small wheels, speedo out)  So probably around 25 miles, and used about 1/8th a tank, about a third of the way down until the first line. 

So I would say that it is doing like 20 to the gallon! Greedy…  This was all town or country lane driving, stops and starts, shopping, quick 10 minute drive with my dad around the lanes, getting some practice in. 

Still, cr P fuel economy. Could it be that the carb just isn't set up right? 
Really annoyed. It's a slow as duck 1.3ffs. I am going to be driving 50 miles a day along a roads for most. At this rate it would be cheaper just in petrol to get the darn bus!!! 

Anyone had any experience with MK3 polo 1.4 fuel injected lumps? Or is there anything I can do with my 1.3 lump? Love the car and love working on the 1.3, but if it would be cheaper to do an engine conversion, buy petrol and pay the extra insurance, it may just be worth it

I am too considering chaging my 1.3 for something that wont put the insurance throught the roof... if you do do a 1.4 conversion then tell us how you get on with it

Will do mate, have a read of my other recent thread in this section, some useful info there. Seriously considering it.