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with Phillip Ramirez
Nikki Carb Install
I was looking for an upgrade to my stock carb and get rid of all of the vacuum lines and what not on LaSwazuki. I have heard from a few Samurai owners in Europe that have used the Nikki carb that it is a direct bolt on. As you can see from the pictures it is a sweet carb. I like the idea of a big window so I can see the fuel level in the float bowl.
Now we will cover what it takes to install this carb on the 88 1/2 samurai. This should be the same as the earlier and later carbed models other than maybe some wiring. First off you will need to find the right carb. I got mine from a local auto parts store here in Tulsa for $194 ($150 + $30 core + taxes). I located this carb from FCProducts was from a 74 Mazda B1600 (model # MAZ608). I installed a Pony Carb last year before Zukimelt 2000 and it crapped out on me so I already had done some work before getting this carb. This is a very simple install and can be done by anyone with a few simple hand tools, barring the Dremel I used to port the isolator plate and the intake. Again this was done last year so I do not have any pictures to show how that was done. This is simple… so in a nut shell you take the plate and a drum sander for the Dremel and sand the throat openings to match the butterflies of the Nikki carb. Then match the intake to the plate and you now have a nice opening to get the fuel into the motor. This takes a little time and patience and if you do not lean on the Dremel you will be able to get this done in about a half hour. If you lean on it you will have to replace the drum a couple of times. I learned this the hard way and went through about 10 drums (2 trips to Wal-Mart)
Passenger side with Throttle cable bracket and choke cable. In the pictures you can see the simple throttle cable bracket I made using a 5″ L bracket.
As you can see I mounted the bracket to the EGR valve. When I bolted it to the bolt I eyeballed where I needed to notch it and then marked it. I took it off and then using a fiber type cut off disk for the Dremel and cut a notch in the metal. I bolted it back on and bent to form. I still have a little work to do on this as I do not know if this is strong enough to keep it from flexing. I may just have to weld on a little brace, or maybe just using 2 stacked and joining them with something like JB Weld. 
Next I had to find a way of mounting my cheap-o 4″ Mr. Gasket ($9) air filter to the carb. This took some thinking as the air cleaner housing is made to fit a throat opening of 2 5/8″ O.D. flange and my carb is 2 3/4″. I hit a couple of hardware stores and found a 3″ “no hub” coupler in the plumbing department. To make it fit I had to trim the flange length on both the carb and air cleaner. To prevent the rubber from bunching I sliced it down the side and overlapped the ends by about an 1″ to 1 1/4″. as you can see in the pictures above it makes a nice tight fit and shouldn’t allow anything into the air flow. If there was a gap it could be sealed with silicone sealant. 
Next step was to make and adapter that went from the 1/4″ fuel outlet of the fuel pump to the 5/16″ inlet of the carb. I went to AutoZone and bought a brass 90* female to female fitting that is threaded to match the 1/4″ barb and a 5/16″ 90* brass barb. I had to find the right routing on this because of the length. I finally got it correct after messing with the fuel lines a couple times. 
To make the Crank case breather work I had to find one that will fit the existing lines that was with the Samurai. I used Purolator part # B23165 ($1) 
The Finished Product: 
My Impressions:
Well after I installed the carb and worked some of the kinks out of it I have noticed a very good off the line improvement, more power on the low end. On the higher end I have a little less then stock carb performance. This might be to the air/fuel mix which I still have to work out. Top speed with the Nikki Carb is around 70 highway driving running 235 15’s and 4.16 t-case gears. With the stock carb I was able to run 75 sometimes 80. Again this is most likely due to me needing to adjust the carb and timing.
Now to the total….
Nikki Carb 72-74 Mazda B1600 # maz608 $194 ($150+core/taxes) Mr. Gasket 4″ Air Cleaner part# 4354 $9 3″ no hub coupler $3 Breather Purolator part # B23165 $1 6′ Choke Cable (part #unknown) $8 Misc. items (brass fittings hose clamps approx. $5 Total $220
08/11/10 15:18
