3 Carb Setup for 258 Engine?

47-3025 DCOE Side Drought Manifold

Side Draught Weber Intake Manifold Quantity: Side Draught Weber Intake Manifold Made for Tripple 45 Weber carbs. You must run

45 Weber carbs and 280 cam or higher duration. Kit includes throttle cross shaft and linkage arms.

Back in the late 60's I put a set of these on an E-Type Jaguar, in place of its stock 3 SU setup, as well as a "matching" cam set. MAJOR PITA to install and get dialed in, including getting the right jet combination, which was strictly trail & error. However, once they were properly set up the thing was insane to drive. Sounded cool, too. Owned by a local furnace contractor, I don't think the guy drove it more than 500 miles a year.

Offenheusers were 270 or 255 CID for "Championship" racing and there was a Midget Offy at 91 CID. The "Turbo Offy" was around 160 cid and made just short of a thousand horsepower at the end of its reign-killed after 50+ years by the superior DFX Cosworth.

When the Offy was put out of business in turbo form for Indy racing by the DFX and in Sprint cars by Chevies, there was a few years where you could get one to play with. A street rod or Kurtis 500S with an Indy Offy was an economically semi-feasible hobby project befoore the vintage racers drove the price clear into the asteroid belt. Carburetion was typically Webers on these and a 45 or 48 was too small, a 58 too big.

Holley makes some fine carburetors but on an inline NOTHING beats Webers, nothing, nothing, nothing, except a speed-density controlled mechanical FI setup with slide throttles. Bill just can't admit someone outside the USA did something the best. But the Weber DCOE is the BEST float bowl individual cylinder barrel carb. He's welcome to design and cast a better one if he likes, it would give him something productive to do.

Unless you are a hobbyist who wants the satisfaction/education it's best to send them to a Alfa/Ferrari/VSCCA pro who does Webers every day, pay them once and be done with it. (Most will do anything with IDA or DCOE Webers as long as it doesn't fly.) However, the 3.8/4.2 Jag is so commonly Weberized all the vendors can tell you the right setup and it will bolt on first time assuming you have stock cams and pistons and haven't radically ported or milled the head.

Heavy but superb running, what a great engine the Jag 6 is if you keep clean oil and coolant in it and keep the cam chains tight (and get rid of the Lucas.) Probably outlast two smallblock Chevies.

The VW guys are making a downdraft aftermarket Weber in California, but it's a downdraft. And it costs more than a real Weber. I'm glad to see someone doing it.

The most impressive thing is the guys in Argentina who make entire Bugattis from scratch. Not rebodied VWs or Pintos, real Grand Prix Bugattis, every single part interchanges perfectly. Why can't we do that here? Maybe not Bugattis, something else.

There are several dealers in the US and others in the UK and Italy who send Webers here just fine.