2.6 is better than 2.2

[foamermetal]

I knew that subject line would get some attention.I don't undestand. People blast the 2.6, I modify a carb to take the place of the Mikuni that noone wants to touch and I get 2 replys. I even posted pictures. I hardly ever see any pictures of anything here. We can have 40 something replys to a car having scary problems though. Whats the deal.

[dodgeariesguy]

I think you did a wonderful job converting to the Holley, I really think that what you've done could solve alot of problem's people have with their Mikuni, you solved the main problem with the 2.6 so I would like to thank you on behalf of the club for showing how this common problem can be solved with some inginuity.

[Silverbeard]

I have defended the 2.6 many times as I have never had a problem with mine. It has a couple of quirks but it has been like that for the 22 years that I have had the car. The car is stored every year for the winter and come spring I put the battery back in, fire it up and listen for the same sounds I have always heard and think OK good to go for another season.
Love my LeBaron and the 2.6.
Martin

[88 aries]

good work on the carb, but still im not a lover of the Mr squishy engine. Id rather have mopar powered K-cars

[88AriesLEwagon]

For some reason,the 2.6 Mitsu was a decent engine in Mitsu vehicles,but the FWD transition in Chrysler vehicles (in my experience) wasnt so rosy.Take a 78-83 Challenger/Sapporo,a Plymouth Fire Arrow,a Conquest turbo.....even a Dodge Raider/Mitsu Montero,and the 2.6 was a trusty plant.For some reason,the FWD K applications (and minivan) suffered carb issues,driveability problems,crankshaft failures (around 80K miles usually),and balance shaft chain slop that would wear holes in the timing cover.For years,balance shaft elimination kits were a hot item.Chrysler did not want to use the 2.6 at all,especially in its "all American K cars",but they had no choice,as their lack of funds at the time negated any development of the 2.2 (originally planned to be a 2.0)past its base output rating.They knew that a turbo 2.2 would come along eventually(it was in development in 1980/81),and an enlarged 2.2 "regular" engine to finally replace the 2.6.Plus the working relationship Chrysler had with Mitsubishi already in place was a natural for a source of a larger than 2.2 engine.
Generally I have no problem with Mitsubishi or their engines,
but their 2.6 was an engine in need of further development and polish.Why they never made substantial upgrades to it as far as carburetion (kick Mikuni off the planet in other words),those blasted balance shaft chains,and a seemingly flawed lower end oiling system is a mystery.The engine could have been a Honda/Toyota beater,and the template for future Chrysler engines,as it was,Chrysler ignored it,kicked it to the curb (went 2.5) and never looked back (except for a nod in the "silent shaft" department with the enlarged 2.5).Even the follow up Neon 2.0 was based around the 2.2 architecture...not any Mitsubishi engine.

[Kabrio82]

I'm new and I have a 2.6...what exactly did you do to the Holly to make it work with the 2.6?

[foamermetal]

As you can tell from the pics I got another mikuni carb at the yard to use as a template for the bottom adapter and the upper adapter came off of a latter model aries with a Weber two barrel carb. I cut the adapter out of some scrap aluminumm. with this setup be careful of he overall height. The carb can be found on 70s pinto, mustang, chevy vega,and monzas. I wanted to use the same breather so i took one off of the aris that had the weber carb, it has the same base as the Holley 5200 series. I also got another breather off of the mikuni and modified it to fit(one hold down bolt vs two with Holley). The linkage needs to be in the same locations as the mikuni and operate in the same movements if you need I can get some more pics. It seems to work really well. I used the wiring from the old mikuni to go the electric choke. three vacuum lines (1) to the vacuum advance (2) to the choke (3) to the thermal sensor in the breather that opens and closes the heated air door in the breather.

[foamermetal]

Hey Kabrio82 I forgot to tell you that you can find the pictures in one of my other posts about the Holley 5200 carb swap

[90plydance]

my brother had a 2.6 mitsu in his minivan,what a nightmare,dealership left him high n dry on warranty/repair work....BUT i had a 2.6 RWD mitsu/dodge d-50,motor i pulled from a ply arrow,5 spd,strong as ever,no problems,even on propane.....VERY EXCELLENT gas mileage....no carb problems.....thats what held these motors back in the first place....over ten years on my 2.6 transplant,still running strong....truck is a 86,motor is a82....maybe some kind of difference between fwd to rwd......physically,yes...internally,no....?