Carbs?!?

[Onedrop01]

there is a wealth of know how here so, here is my question. can someone break down carbs for me? i get lost pct's, ict's. what's the difference with them all. i know it's quite broad but i'd just like to know some of the differences.

thanks folks.

[AlteWagen]

There are many carbs out there, below are the most common used today. Do not get upset if your zenith or bugspray is not listed as they have not been in production for some time and are ususally used on vintage performance or off road applications. There are also a bunch of solex and older weber carbs not listed for simplicity sake.


Dual single barrel carbs used for mild performance on stock or small displacement engines. Good performance excellent fuel mileage when jetted correctly (goes for all carbs)

Dellorto FRDs 34mm -
Weber ICTs 34mm
Empi EPC - 34mm copy of weber ICT
Solex/Kadron 40 or 44mm

Dual double barrel carbs are for mild to all out applications, medium to large displacement engines. Excellent performance, mileage depends more on jetting and driving style.

Dellorto DRLA 36, 40, 45, 48, and my favorite 48 Tri Jet
Weber IDF 40, 44, 48 and the time tested 48 IDA for MAX POWER!!
Empi HPMX 40, 44, 48?? also copies of Weber IDF. Empi now has an IDA copy in both 48 and 52mm sizes!!

The Dellorto FRD and DRLA carbs are no longer in production, but you can get parts from CB performance.

The Weber carbs are in production but of different quality. The old Italian ones seem to fetch a premium as far as price goes, the Spanish ones are better than the current production made in the USA versions.

The Empi carbs were pretty crappy as far as quality control from the beginning but seem to be getting better. If you know how to rebuild carbs you will be sad when working on them, but if you know what you are doing they can be made to work well and all genuine weber parts fit. Their new ECP 48s and 52s look good and already have the popular modifications made to weber 48/52s to make them usable on the street (3rd progression port). There are some compainies blueprinting the carbs before giving them to the cusomer. I would recommed this if buying these carbs.

There are various VW/Solex carbs out there, some were factory dual carbs similar to the frds and icts. Good cores and rebuild parts are out there but as with any 40 year old parts the availibility is drying up.


Sizing between Dellorto and Weber is confusing as well. The 36 dell is the same as the 40 weber, the 40 dell is the same as the 44 weber etc.

Venturi size is what matters in the carb not just what is marked on the carb body. A buddy of mine HAD to have 45 dells and paid the price. He already had a set of 40 dells that already had the update kits and larger venturies essentially making it a 45. Now he know better but is out $600!!


One last thing, you can get a single dual barrel kit in the DRLA, IDF, IDA (real old stuff) and HPMX. Mostly used in off road applications for bumpy roads would cause dual set ups to loose sync. For the street car I DO NOT RECOMMED this set up. VERY hard to tune and not great in performance or mileage. If you dont have the cash for a dual set up, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND WAIT TO BUY ONE!! You will be happier in the end.

Dual carbs are the best performance option (in combination to a free flowing exhaust) for the cash spent but dont go overboard on sizing. Make sure to match the carb to the engine combo. Not just the displacement. The cam and heads should be the more important judging factor. If you dont know much about them READ READ READ!! They can be a pain in the a$$ if you have to take them to the shop for tuning and adjustment and are the cause for much grief to the novice. Get the dellorto perfomance book, the weber tuning book and a snail type syncro tool and you will be on your way to air cooled perfomance!!

[Onedrop01]

wow...... that was a big chunk of info.!!! but it's cool, i got my questions answered.

thanks, i'll be refering to this for a bit, cause i'm bout to start shopping for a beter set.

i got a 1914 with dual empi 34 pict's, stock heads and a tri-mil exhaust.

[todmeg]

so you have the cubes. you have duals already. actually...i'd say get heads!! you can put as big of carbs on your car as you want but remember all that air has to get past the heads. I had a local (and well respected for 40 years) vdub shop do my engine. he never rebuilds heads. always new. when he was doing my engine, he showed me the heads. my first question was " with valves that big, where do the plugs go?" oh... different little plugs. great torque. if your car runs ok, save your cash until you can get the carbs your research show is right for you. keep saving until you can afford those heads. I don't think anybody on this forum will argue that that chunk of money you will spend becomes worth it when you are doing 40 mph at the bottom of that hill you always down shift for, leaving it in 4th, standing on the gas and watching your vdub accelerate.

[Onedrop01]

so i've been told Todmeg.

save the pennies i shall. now i don't know much about heads, but i do know i don't want hi-pro heads. mild is just fine for me.

[todmeg]

hey onedrop...first of all you're originally from this area? where? as far as heads go...let me try to explain. which is easier to breathe in through...a straw or the brown roll that paper towels come on. an over exaggeration i know but the idea is the same..your lungs ( and your engine) create a vacuum. it is up to atmospheric pressure to push air into your lungs(engine). you want to go with the paper towel core. same thing is happening with those carbs. they are more like the paper towel core and your old one barrel is like the straw.

[Onedrop01]

[Wilfredo R]

I was told by my local vw dealer that my Dual Kadrons will ruin my mileage reach on my stock engine, is that true? He said the more fuel will wear the engine quicker.

[madmike]

He's full of $hit
_________________
'Black Ice'Drag Buggy 'Turbo'
Rail Buggy 1915 turbo
76 Drag/Street bug 2180cc 'Turbo' 11:85 @113 mph"If I go any faster I'll burn up the Hamster" ,gets 28 mpg. also 10/09/22 11.90 @115 mph
"If I'm ever on Life Support,UNPLUG Me, Then Plug me back In see if that Works"

[Wilfredo R]

[Art Thraen]