Weber lift off

[rokndad]

Well, after months of lurking around the various forums on CC, I finally pulled the trigger and retired the old Shelby Sidewinder and 950 DaVinci carb and went for a set of Weber 48 IDA's. I was torn between going with the Dynatek EFI and the carbs, but at the end of the day, it was the old school mechanics of the carbs and the pricing that made the decision for me.



I am very very happy with the Webers and can't believe the difference in throttle response. They're not quite fully dialed in, but like I think ENTDOC once said, it's the most fun I've had with this car.

I want to thank Phil Riobe from Miami and Stefan from Mallorca, Spain who put up with my millions of questions and for giving me their insight and experiences with these carbs. Once you get into it, it becomes relatively straight forward and all that scary talk of emulsion tubes and holders and correctors and jets starts to make sense. Without this site and the contributors, I wouldn't have had the confidence to tackle the whole tear down and reassembly alone. Thanks CC.

[Rick Parker]

Welcome to the club.

[767Jockey]

I could never tolerate the hassle, but boy, there is NOTHING that looks as beautiful as a set of Webers on a Cobra. Outstanding, enjoy them!

[RodKnock]

Tom, where's the video? How about thanking me? Let's see, now what did I do? Oh, yea, I did nothing. It's always those obscure friends from 400 miles away that never get the thanks when they're handing out the Oscars.

You da man! Nice job! If I had your car, I'd throw mine away.

[Stentor]

Very nice--congratulations! The Webers look awesome and it's interesting to hear that throttle response has improved.

Any other details you can provide on your impression of how performance compares between your old carb and the Webers?

[Bernica]

Great Job! You're finally there!!! Can't hardly wait to see it in person.
A little nerve-racking performing that kind of surgery over the fenders, I'm sure....

[rokndad]

where's the video? How about thanking me? Let's see, now what did I do?

Rodney, if I didn't already know I'm way older than you, I'd say, "When I grow up, I want to be like you!" You get full credit for "WEBER LIFT OFF", and for helping me through my decision process on buying these things. And if you ever get around to it, I will most definitely fly up to help. I loved doing this. Regarding the video, I looked at our old video camera and it won't link up to a computer.....with kids being gone from the house for over 10 yrs, not much call for videos. And since we're so old school around here, we don't even have a camera or a phone that takes videos. I'll ask my son who has "gadgets" next time he's over.

If I had your car, I'd throw mine away

I don't think so. Maybe we can talk about a trade.

Any other details you can provide on your impression of how performance compares between your old carb and the Webers?

Stentor, other than a totally different sound which takes getting used to, the Webers are extremely quick, and I mean no hesitation whatsoever when you blip the throttle. I thought my car was scary fast before, but the acceleration is even more dramatic. I haven't had it over 100 mph yet, but it got there pretty quickly. The carbs seemed to have smoothed out the lumpy idle. You know something's under the hood at idle, but it's much smoother and purrs a little. The air flow is also perceptible and sounds great.

The whole thing is wonderful, and the tuning and tinkering is a blast. Most of it can be done with your ears, nose, a synchometer, the tach, looking at your sparkplugs and a screwdriver and 5/16" wrench. Very simple, if you do some homework ahead of time and understand the theory of how they work. Then you have to find sources for the various parts that stack into the jet wells and set the floats. I made a couple of tools from photos I saw in my research. I am guessing it will be a while before I get the quartet fully dialed in, but they're running pretty good right now, just a little rich at idle, and virtually no popping on decel.

Thanks to everyone for the great comments. Now I have to open up the scoop hole in my hood just a little to clear the pass side front stack and give it better air.

[Rick Parker]

The first thing you notice with the Webers is that it does calm the lumpy idle down, almost like you removed the radical cam. It changes to sort of to an even "Gurgle". The most impressive thing however, is the tremedous increase in torque, flat spots seem to be eliminated and the torque increases quite a bit. You have to relearn the powerband.

[rokndad]

The most impressive thing however, is the tremedous increase in torque, flat spots seem to be eliminated and the torque increases quite a bit.

Rick, you are exactly on point. When I first got the engine running again, and the timing and idle re-set (by the way, I upped the intial timing to around 16 degrees and 40 all in which allowed me to decrease the idle mixture screws, thanks Phil) the engine now noticably torques the car when you hit the throttle. A totally different car, and I have observed just in the little time I've driven it for test runs, that the acceleration band is totallly different as you say. A lot of re-learning ahead, but FUN!!

Here's a picture I just took, after I installed the jet screens. When I bought the carbs, the screens had almost a chromate-type dull greenish finish on them, and I know they should have been plated with that old gold iridite (Gold cadmium) with the red and green hues in it, similar to linkage pieces. So I had them plated locally, and I think they look a lot better.

[Great Asp]

Rok,

Glad to see you made the jump to 8 throttle plates!

It looks fantastic!

I still have to get my title, then plates, and then I will report further on the DynaTek system.

But you have "real" webers

Eric

[rokndad]

Thanks Eric.

Thanks to you also for helping me along on this build. Our cars are almost "twins". And they probably sound the same as well. Good looking set up you have and am looking forward to hearing how your tune comes out. Are you going to attempt it yourself or are you having someone locally give you hand with it?

I'd be curious to know (Rodknock too) where the demon is and how the fix was made. I know you said it was very slight, but that can drive you crazy and makes it hard to sleep when your head hits the pillow. At least it does for me, but I'm old.

Tom

[ERA Chas]

rokn,
First class set up. Beautiful job. You seem about 90% dialed-in.
What chokes are you using for 482 inches?

[rokndad]

What chokes are you using for 482 inches?

Chas,

I didn't even try to start the car with the 37's that came with the carbs. Put 40mm's in purchased from E bay.....2 for $25. I followed the lead of just about every other BB owner on CC who swear by the 40's. Went with F11 E-tubes (after trying F15's...too lean) and 135 main jets....65 idle jets. I had heard that it would be difficult to tune out of the box with the 40's, but over two weekends, it's coming together. Thanks for the positive words.

Tom

[Allan A]

That looks great, I have not touched my carbs since they were set up about four years ago. I drive it everywhere.

Allan

[ENTDOC]

glad you are having fun, they do look nice and the throttle response really has to be experienced to be believed. My advice to new weber users is to make sure you get the third progression hole, go to bigger venturies if your engine calls for it and enjoy the experience.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by rokndad

Chas,

I didn't even try to start the car with the 37's that came with the carbs. Put 40mm's in purchased from E bay.....2 for $25. I followed the lead of just about every other BB owner on CC who swear by the 40's. Went with F11 E-tubes (after trying F15's...too lean) and 135 main jets....65 idle jets. I had heard that it would be difficult to tune out of the box with the 40's, but over two weekends, it's coming together. Thanks for the positive words.

Tom

Hey, sorry to pester but have you/will you drive minus air filters? Any other Weber owners pro or con on filters and what effects if any on engine health?
I'm a dual quad diehard who always had a bad case of 'Weber envy'.

[rokndad]

Hey, sorry to pester but have you/will you drive minus air filters? Any other Weber owners pro or con on filters and what effects if any on engine health?

Chas,

Right now I'm driving without any screens or filters. I have the thin foam element screen with rubber around the outside, but most likely will not use them while driving until I get somewhere to prevent kids or idiots from throwing pennies or something stupid down the throats. I mostly drive on freeways and pretty clean roads here in SoCal.

I've noticed, that over the 4500 mi put on the car, there is very little debris, if any, on the intake manifold or around the valve covers. So I'm fairly confident that I'm staying out of the dirty stuff. But, the filters/screens are for that time I never expected. And it may happen sooner or later.

[rokndad]

Tom, where's the video?

OK Rodney, you chided me into going to Costco and picking up a Flip video camera so I can send you a video. It's the first one I took and the first uploaded to You Tube, and I could only figure out to take it from inside the car. Hey, my son's getting married next Saturday, so my wife can use this little camera to keep her busy.

Hope this works. The shakiness is from the idle and the torque when I hit the throttle. Now I have to figure out how to actually show the video screen player in the reply on CC. Couldn't figure out how to do that. Next time. Enjoy.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXjUVQeKTjg

[Garage10]

Rokndad
Wow, that sounds awesome. Great car. I'm jelous.
Take Care
Brent

[car4jim]

Hey Tom. Awesome! A work of art. Looks great and sounds even better. Looking forward to seeing in person!!