Buying Carbs

PostPost by: ScottBeddow » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:49 pm

Hi there.
I have my +2 130/5 in a mechanics garage at the moment and he has informed me that my carbs are shot and that i need to replace them. :x
The carbs currently fitted are dellortoes, but i know that i can fit webers if i so wish.
My two questions are;

Which ones are best, webers or dellortoes?

And where is the best place to buy either of these?

One last thing, is there any possibillity of having my old ones reconditioned? If so where is the best place to have this done?

Cheers Scott
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PostPost by: ScottBeddow » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:50 pm

Hi there.
I have my +2 130/5 in a mechanics garage at the moment and he has informed me that my carbs are shot and that i need to replace them. :x
The carbs currently fitted are dellortoes, but i know that i can fit webers if i so wish.
My two questions are;

Which ones are best, webers or dellortoes?

And where is the best place to buy either of these?

One last thing, is there any possibillity of having my old ones reconditioned? If so where is the best place to have this done?

Cheers Scott
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PostPost by: steveww » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:07 pm

There are a number of shops that can clean and rebuild your carbs. There is one shop that specialises in dellortoes, unfortunately I can't remember their name at the moment. However a quick skim through the ads in one of the usual classic car mags will find them.

Unless the bodies of the carbs are dammaged they can always be rebuild.
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PostPost by: CBUEB1771 » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:24 pm

ScottBeddow wrote:Which ones are best, webers or dellortoes?


The Dellorto carburetors are reputed to have a superior idle transition circuit compared to the Weber. I believe Lotus worked with Dellorto to produce a transition circuit that has six holes near the closed throttle plate location. If your Dellortos are not of this specification you won't see much difference from Webers.
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PostPost by: john.p.clegg » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:24 pm

Scott
By "shot" does that mean that he hasen't a clue how to set them up properly or new ones are required...

John :wink:
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PostPost by: ScottBeddow » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:25 pm

I'm not sure, he said he thought the insides were corroded away and that the carbs had become porus. He's dealt with carbs like this before so i'd say he knows how to set them up, or at least i really hope he does :?

Scott
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PostPost by: ScottBeddow » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:29 pm

Cheers steve i'll have a look in one of those mags and maybe go down that avenue.
I don't suppose anyone knows what price i'd be looking at to have them reconditioned?
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PostPost by: chrishewett » Mon Dec 18, 2006 4:48 pm

When I thought I might have my webers reconditioned the price was about ?150 per carb and that did not include new spindles if they were worn. In the end I bought a pair that had been reconditioned on ebay for ?212.
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PostPost by: chrishewett » Mon Dec 18, 2006 4:49 pm

.... and then sold my old ones on ebay for ?190!
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PostPost by: JJDraper » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:30 pm

Might be worth trying Gower & Lee in Watford.. I have used them to supply jets, emulsion tubes etc and they seem to know their stuff. They also offer a ?100 rebuild service for Weber DCOEs, but that probably doesn't include VAT.... Good phone service, as well as web (I suspect they farmed the web stuff out.... not their thing!)

They don't seem to touch Dellortos though...


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PostPost by: JJDraper » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:31 pm

Forgot the web link....

http://www.gowerlee.dircon.co.uk/

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PostPost by: alaric » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:17 pm

According to the book I've got on Dellortos and Webers, "How to build and power tune Weber and Dellorto DCOE, DCO/SP & DHLA Carbs", by Des Hammill, bought from ebay, the Dellortos were developed after the Webers and incorporated some design improvements. There's apparently no real difference in performance that can be sensibly measured. The Dellortos are apparently less prone to going out of tune, and the choke mechanism actually works. I've got Dellortos, and thought I should have Webers, but have decided to stick with the Dellortos now.

I had my carbs rebuilt by QED as part of the engine rebuild. They looked like new when they came back. I was very impressed. I had to tune them when I got the engine running, however, and bought a Carbtune from Eurocarb on ebay to get the balance right. It connects directly into each of the four barrels in parallel to allow you to balance the carbs accurately. I followed the procedure in the book, and the carbs were brilliant by the time I'd finished.

Hope that helps.

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PostPost by: chicagojeff » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:22 am

sean is right, and no good reason that I know of to switch --all things being equal--to webers. go buy that Des Hamill book on powertuing webers and dellortos. it is very very good. well worth the money to learn a lot.
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PostPost by: kenny » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:13 pm

Double post :oops:
Last edited by kenny on Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PostPost by: kenny » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:21 pm

Just my tuppence worth but I've heard this before about carbs being "shot" and to be honest there is not a huge deal that can go wrong with dellortos. If the casing's are ok the main issue I've found on dellortos that can be a problem is the non-springed idle screws becoming siezed and people butchering them to make extraction difficult.

Years ago I used to play with Westfields before I had Caterhams and all of my carbs fitted to them were "shot" Dellortos purchased for circa ?50/60 per set.

I armed myself ith that wierd pitch 7mm tap for idle screws, and could buy refurb kits cheaply, if the bodies are OK and spindles are straight theres not a lot to go wrong with them.

You also have the advantage in already having correct jets and emulsion tubes fitted.........this is what used to bump up cost for me. ie having to get them set up on the rollers then paying a p/x fee for correct jets. chokes and work on tubes whilst there. After a good vapour blast they are like new, I'd try and get a local lotus/kitcar owner to look at them. These carbs have to have serious physical problems to be deemed scrap.

I'd look at re-furbing them yourself, very straighforward if daunting at first, but they really can only go back together one way.

Another thing I'd highly reccomend (through my own experiences) is that if you haven't already fit the Cosworth mounting kit (rubber bobbins in metal end caps) as opposed to the standard thackery washers. I've seen carbs on friends cars which are not performing and these washers have been tightened up like spring washers and broken, causing poor running issues. With the new kit the carbs move up and down quite freely but are airtight. Also on the carb to manifold I always use Misab plates as opposed to the old plastic and O seal jobbies. I've already ordered this kit and when I've finished this nightmare wiring job I'll be refreshing my carbs and hopefully things will be OK.........good luck anyway.

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