Do you have duel kad carbs?

I'd like to here from some guys that have experience with these carbs. How did they perform? Reliable? Would you do something different? I know they are fairly resonable price wise. Sould I be looking at 40 Webers? Lot's more expensive!! Some advice please!! I have a Fairly Fresh 1641cc engine, lightened fly wheel, 009 distributor, merg header with sport muffler, J tubes, and a single stock carburator. Would putting on duel kads be the simplist and cheapest way to get more performance or ? Is it even worth doing? I don't want to spend alot of money now because I know down the road .... maybe as soon as next winter I'll move up to at least a 1915cc but probably BIGGER! By putting on duel carbs, is it going to make this thing more livable,untill I can move up? Anyones wisdom is appreciated! Thanks, Mike

lowbugget.com/main_page.html

This guy has a bunch of info in the Kadron carbs.



Jerome

During my car's growth spurts, I had a set and they were very reliable and 'perky'...I had just gone from a single carb stock dealie to my next bump up in performance on a 1776 a while back.

Easy to tune and they had an automatic choke as I recall, so easy starters with no hiccups!

Hi Michale this question comes up quit a bit here and I should know I once had the same question.

The Kads have been great! I have had them for about two years and besides having to clean the filters, little needs to be done.

And if you want to add a turbo it can also be done without changing the carbs out. AJ does this kind of thing all the time.

AJ sims is the king of Kadrons. He can tune a set by ear. So if you are looking for some good HP ganes and only spend around $400 then call AJ and have them set up for your motor.

But this new speed you will find may only make you want more. So think about were you want to be as far as power and go for it! Even if it takes you longer you will spend less money in the long run.

By the time you add in the cost of all the up-grades, labor and time to your stock motor and the power ganes you will get you may have been able to buy a well made 1935 or even a 2110.

But for me two years & 5000 trouble free miles with my AJ kadrons! And a hell of a lot of smiles.

Hope this helps bud, have fun whith your SEEDSTER!
MRDS

Hi Michael; I do have a set of Kadrons in my car and they work reasonably well (maybe they're not perfectly set up). As Paul said, the car starts right up in the morning, just like a stock engine. From what I gather, Kadron/Solexes were sold at VW dealerships as accessories back in the '60's.

Considering the displacement of your engine, those could work for you as well as dual Solex 34's or dual Weber 34 ICT's. I've read good reviews on those two and they are even less costly than the Kads. I think those three are good choices for you. Good luck!

Hey Guys, Thanks for your responses! And advice. Question: Is there going to be a significant noticable difference between a single stock carb on a near stock motor compared to the dual carbs on the same motor? Or am I just blowing money and wasting time thinking that the dual carbs will make a noticable difference? Your advice is appreciated!! thanks, Mike

Also (opions please) What's the very best set up for this engine? What would you DO? thanks, mike

A fairly fresh 1641cc engine, lightened fly wheel, 009 distributor, merg header with sport muffler, J tubes,

The dual Kadrons carbs will give you some noticable increased throttle response , I would surely change out the single carb for the Kadrons then add a decent breather system, a low profile oil sump, Pertronix Ignitor ignition

Michael; you know what else you can do and it's basically a bolt-on procedure but gives you 10% increase in horsepower? If the car has a stock cam put in a set of 1.25 ratio rockers. CB Performance sells the Genuine VW version. Just replace your stock ones using the stock adjusters and stock pushrod tubes, retorque them to specs, adjust the valves, put on the valve covers with new seals and you're ready to rock.

Alan; I forgot to ask you, why a breather box for a modest displacement engine? I thought they were meant to be used on the large monsters.

With all the added goodies we tend to push the motor a bit harder and for $50 it's a inexpensive investmentto keep oil from seeping out of the dip tube, breather etc.

Hey Alan, Were can I get the breather system,(box) How does it hook up? to what,etc. How expensive is the rocker set up? thanks, Mike

Mike,

My experience when I went up the carb ladder was great. There was a noticable difference well worth the money. When I went to a better exhaust system my power band really began to open up.

The lesson I came away with was to do more research in the beginning and build or have built what floats your boat all at once. No one in this field is truly reinventing the wheel with Type1 powerplants.
The engines are out there, all the best components are proven and sorted.

One frequent poster here went out on a limb and combined a whole bunch of rocket science high performance stuff we just read (and drool over) about and found that it wasn't a compatible fit and he had to start all over. I went the opposite route and had a legend (in his own mind)build me an engine and I too had problems with some of the mystical big-motor maddness.

The VW rocker set at CB Performance sells for $119.95. Here's the link www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=112 Also make sure that your existing adjusters and nuts are the "traditional" German size so you can reuse them with the new rockers. Some of the newer rockers manufactured in Mexico or Brazil, even though manufactured by VW, use a different size adjuster/nut combination (bigger).

Mike
The breather set up is about $60-$70 from any VW Beetle aftermarket supplier including JC Whitney.... be sure that you get one that doesn't have the cheap black plastic hose as it kinks and collaspes over time .
You also need to get one additional "nipple" (only 3 are include in the kit) that attaches to the breater box.
The hoses get connected to each valve cover and then to the breather box, another hose runs from the oil filler nipple or at the top of one of the carb air filter covers and to the to the breather box, the fourth nipple on the breather box gets a small aftermarket breather (looks like a mini K & N filter and available from any auto parts store.

The 1:25 to 1 rocker set up can ...only... be utlized on a stock cam, runs about $100 for the set.

I've got a mild 1641 engine in my Speedster. It was originally equipped with dual Weber 34ICTs and performed great. But when I wanted to simulate a Super 1600, Kadrons were the only carbs I considered due to their physical appearance. And to top off the deal, I installed a Gene Berg oil breather tower that also adds to the Super 1600 look.