Weber progressive intake manifold

My new engine came with a SCAT intake manifold and Weber carb that has exhaust heated air running only along the bottom of the carb base horizontally. Aircooled.net says a better manifold will have the air running up through the base right to the bottom of the carb and they sell them for $179. Anyone had experience or knowledge of either type ? I will be running preheated air up to the air cleaner from the heater box. Also, any concerns with the Weber electric choke ? I know manual choke conversions are available. Thanks.

I had one on my bug for 15 years.

It ran pretty well. I used it on a stock 1600 with dual port heads. It ran right out of the box with minimal adjustments. The only issue I had was with the electric choke. You will most likely have to put a small dimple in the fan shroud to clear the electrical hook up for the choke. The choke also never seemed to work like it should. When the engine was cold the idle was slower than when the engine was warmed up. Which is the opposite of how the choke is supposed to work. I even bought a new choke coil assembly, and it did the same thing. I never really figured it out, but I lived in a fairly warm climate.

It had the manifold you are talking about with the heat risers that ran under the carb.

Other than the choke issue, it was a great carb. I never had to rebuild it in the 15 years and 100,000+ miles I had it.

Depending on the temperature/humidity carb can ice in as warm as 50 f .
Better to warm the bottom of mnfld if possible .
And INSULATE THEM CARB RUNNERS.

Goto SAMBA and lookup PREHEATER TUBES . Make custom ones if you're handy.