Your Opinion Matters!

All,
I'm in the middle of my build and am considering carbs for my engine. At this point it is a basis 1915cc engine. Since I'm up here in AK, it'll be built sight unseen. Here are the options I believe I have, 34mm or 44mm Solex, or Weber 44mm. I'm planning on using the car as much as possible in the 3 weeks of summer that we have, just kiddin. I would like to have as much uhmph off the line and still be able to remain some what easy maintenance. My other vehicle is a Dodge Ram, so any type of fuel economy would be better than 12mpg that I'm getting now, so not a factor.
On a side note, How about that Iditarod start today, huh! Don't tell me you guys missed it! I'd like to see those NASCAR guys take their cars across 1049 miles of Alaskan territory, Anchorage to Nome. Oh, and do it with 16-18 dogs and a sled, don't get me started.......
I know how everyone hates to discuss names of who makes the best parts, cars, etc. But the carbs suggestions would be appreciated Thanks in advance.

Pat

Forget the Solex; go with 44 Webers.

Thanks George, I wasn't sure if you would make a comment or not, I was hoping you would chime in. After being on the site for a few months now, I value your opinion! I was leaning toward the Webers in the first place, just need some validation.

, Pat

OK George,

Need your opinion on Dells, might go that route on a 2110 but not if the Dells are trouble city. Any opinion on them, good or bad appreciated.

Bruce

I am a Dell o holic...problem is they are becoming scarce.
Dells are basicly trouble free, easy to change out the jets and set up.

Thanks much Alan, What I was needing to know! My potential engine bulder likes Dells also but didn't know if he was talking them up becasue he had a source or not. This is one of the possibilites for a winter engine swap!

Bruce

Hello......I'm Gordon.....and I'm a Del'o'Holic, too.

Running 40mm's on my 2110 - they've been converted to horizontal discharge tubes from the get-go and never had a clogged idle jet.

I can come tearing into the garage and have all the jets changed to a different size and be back out on the road in well under 20 minutes.

Once I got them jetted correctly, they keep me right at 14.7 air/fuel ratio just about all the time, blipping a little around that number depending on how hard I get my foot into it (or back off and watch it go rich). I'm running a CB Performance air/fuel mix gauge.

I agree with Alan, though......they're getting hard to find and we can keep them running as long as places like CB Performance carry parts and rebuild kits for them.

Before I got on the road, I seriously thought of swapping them out for a fuel injection kit but was talked out of it by Pat Downs when he told me that he thought the Dells were as good as whatever EFI was available for aircooled engines at that time, for a heck of a lot less money, so I stuck with them and am glad I did.

Lastly, when you get you foot into them and they open up, they sound gorgeous!!

Gordon
One of the Dell'o'Holics from Beaufort

Oh...BTW...followed another member of my local car club to a meet last weekend, and found that I can easily keep up with a built '67 SS 396 Chevelle at just about any speed. LOVE those Dells!!

I have Dellortos 40's on a 1800 cc type 1 and a set on 2110 type 1. They've been trouble free since day 1. The only thing you have to learn is the symptoms when the jets get dirt in them. (Ask Drclock!)
I'm just now setting up some 44 ida webbers on a two litre type 1 motor (used). The cams or the linkage for the accelerator pumps looks to be worn out, or really sloppy.
Does anyone have a recommended cure or trick for these? Or do I just buy new pieces?

Thnx,
Greg B

Greg

After attending the school of hard knocks I have found that a light coating of grease on the top and bottoms of the rubber rings on the air filters result in a good seal at the air cleaner bases and tops , no more dirt in the jet issues.

I have 48 Dellortos on my 2,387; had 48 IDF Webers on my old 2,110. either make will work fine. 45 or 48 Dellortos are almost impossible to find new.

Pat; Dellortos have not been manufactured for some time now so basically your choices are Solex/Kadron 40's or Webers. Both of them are good but you need to decide if you need dual throats (Webers) or singles (Kadrons). Solex/Kadron were sold in VW dealerships back in the '60s & '70's as an accessory, are very tweakable (go to www.lowbugget.com for a lot of info.), offer good gas mileage and are more affordable. On the other hand, Webers offer great performance but offer less gas mileage, are more temperamental and more difficult to dial in properly.

Thanks for the info everyone, the Webers have been ordered! I'm so glad we still have 3 ft of snow on the ground or I'd really start to to crazy waiting for the delivery date.......

,Pat

Pat,

Are you planning on picking the car up in time for Knotts? Be good to meet you and the car. Ashless,so far, in Oregon by gosh.

Bruce

Pat

48 IDF Webers on my 2110 and I get 21 MPG on the highway. Go with the Webers.

Karl

Unless you've got a really hot 2110, 48s are over-kill. Often, people think that more carb is the answer....usually it's not. 44 Webers on a 2110 is more than enough.
Ron

Hey Bruce,
I don't think the car will be ready by Knott

Gordon.
Are you really sure you are at 14.7 to 1 air / fuel ratio? I've always been been told (and set up accordingly) that all aircooled engnes like 12 or 13 better - for cooling and longevity. Or maybe you are running a more finely tuned engine for max power? it's the old "go rich, add advance" theory.

Dave:

Funny you should bring that up. I spent HOURS screwing around with jets and watching the air/fuel meter last Summer and eventually got it running nicely rich (like down in the 11's and 12's most of the time, and just nudging 15 on really hard acceleration) and thought it was OK because my son is running in the same range with his massively turbo'd 2 litre Eclipse and it likes it - we also agreed that it's always better to be rich than lean.

So then I get to South Carolina and it slowly starts running like crap - running super rich ALL the time, super bogging off the line and eventually started idling at about 250 rpm where it used to be at 1,000. I found the distributor had loosened up and retarded a whole lot so I borrowed a timing light and re-set it at 30 degrees total advance at 3,000 rpm (It was sitting somewhere around 8 degrees, total).

Voila! No more bogging, idled back up at 950 rpm, AND the damn carbs are giving me almost a perfect set-up; goes slightly lean to about 15.5 on hard acceleration for a few seconds then swings over to about 12.5 to 13 for the rest of the run. Let it idle and it starts around the upper 12's and then leans out to 14.7 and sits there. No one was more surprised to see that than me, especially after all the jet tweeking I did last Summer and finding out how hi and lo speed jets AND the accelerator pump stroke all interact!!

So I'm happy with how it's running, it doesn't run hot and I'm not peckin' with it!!!!!!

Gordon

Oh! The air/fuel meter I'm using is a CB Performance with a heated O2 sensor. I know George Brown woould tell me (and he has) that it's not as accurate as some other fancy schmancy (and more expensive) meter might be, but it's good enough for what I want.......
Hell! I'm getting too old to be racing the thing, anyway!

Ok, so after further review and much info from my fellow brethren. I broke down and ordered a 1915cc, 44 webers, 12.5lb flywheel, yada, yada performance, from Pat Downs at CB. What a nice guy! Happens everytime, I listen to you people and I spend more money. Thanks George for the help through your emails, Pat also said to say hi. Also very helpful was the posts about the VS engines, make you wonder if your getting a good engine or not, so I went with a know instead of an unknown. Also the trip from Jim to IM and all of the talk about the CB motors being of such fine performance. Disclaimer, I heard nothing bad about the engines that Beck is installing, most are from CB, mine wasn't going to be. It is now, I just got greedy and wanted more POWER! On a side note, Pat told me that Weber has shut down it's carb building business in Spain, and has/is moving it's operations of building carbs to the US. This means shortage till Oct. Pat said he's getting tons of calls, but can't sell any stand alone carbs. The operations in the US won't be operational till Oct.

,Pat

Hmm...

On a semi-related note, I have a real wideband (and display) that I'm almost done soldering up. For those interested, it's the Techedge kit (www.wbo2.com). Pretty sure without too much trouble I can wire the power into a cigarette plug, or even make a battery-powered version of it to carry around. I'd just have to figure out a way to attach the sensor in the tailpipe, but I'm sure I can probably fab something up.

If I can get it done in time, is this something people would want to try at Carlisle to dial their car in? I could certainly pack it for the trip if so...

Chris

Chris: I'd be interested in seeing your set-up.

BD